18.05.2011

New head for Gardemann

Lavendon’s German operation, Gardemann Arbeitsbühnen, is to have a new leader, following the departure later this month of managing director Maarten Mijnlieff.

He will be replaced by a new recruit to the Lavendon group, Matthew Hickin. Hickin previously worked as director of strategy & business development at the Vaillant Group, Germany, before becoming a member of its management team in the Netherlands and Asia-Pacific.
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Matthew Hickin

Mijnlieff has been a director of Gardemann for nine years after he led a management buy-in with Christian van Eeden in 2002, purchasing the business from their previous employer -Brambles, which had acquired it from Arnold Gardemann.
The two then sold the business to Lavendon in 2006. Mijnlieff was then appointed to head both Gardemann and Lavendon’s existing German business – Zooom, which was merged into Gardemann at the start of 2008.
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Maarten Mijnlieff (L) with Hubert Gardemann, head of marketing

Lavendon’s chief executive Kevin Appleton said: "We began discussing Maarten's desire to leave the company and develop his own business interests, along with the associated changes in the management structure some time ago. We then reached a mutual decision that now was the right time for a change, both for him and the company.”

"In Gardemann, we have a company that enjoys a solid position in the market, an excellent reputation and one that offers an outstanding base for further expansion. Maarten Mijnlieff has made a significant contribution to the company's success, for which we would like to thank him.”

"It took quite some time to find a strong new manager with the right skills and experience, who is capable of taking our business further forward. But I am confident that we have found exactly this person in Matthew Hickin."

Vertikal Comment

After Mijnlieff sold the business to Lavendon it was always likely that he would eventually want to move on and either enjoy his 'spoils', or use his profits to build up his own venture or investments. It is a tribute to Lavendon and its management team that he remained as long as he did.

The first challenge for the new man will be to win the respect of long term employees and major customers of what, for much of its history, was a very particular family run business. In Gardemann he has all the ingredients to make a success and as market leader a strong position from which to develop.

As many non-German companies have discovered, running a German business really profitably is for some reason a particularly tough challenge for foreign owners. There is no apparent reason for this – it just is.
Hickin will want to prove that he can - timing in terms of the market, is on his side.
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