People on the move: 12/16

Marine Concepts/Design Concepts (Sarasota and Cape Coral, Fla.) has named John Burgess as the new president. He holds a BS in Engineering from the University of Missouri and an MBA from Pepperdine University in Los Angeles. "John has worked with our parent company LPH (Leisure Product Holdings) in the past where he has focused on process improvement and manufacturing efficiency. We are excited to have John become a part of our team,” says Bob Long, CEO.

Burgess was recently president of American Trailer Works with business units including Carry-On Trailer and PJ Trailers that built products in 11 plants with distribution through big box retailers and independent dealers. Prior to his 14 years in the trailer business, he worked for several tier one suppliers that produced cast aluminum wheels for the OEM and aftermarket channels.

John and his wife, Denise, look forward to relocating to Sarasota from the Atlanta area.  

International machine builder and fiber handling specialist Cygnet Texkimp has appointed Warren Battle as vice president of sales for its U.S. operation, Cygnet USA, in Greenville, SC.

Battle’s career in the international textile market spans almost three decades, most recently as managing director of Gibbs Asia Co, which is part of Gibbs International, the largest used textile machinery dealer in the world.

Cygnet USA is the American arm of UK-headquartered Cygnet Texkimp. The 40-year old business was born out of the British textile trade of the mid 20th Century and now designs and builds fiber processing machinery including creels, handling and automation equipment and end-to-end lines for the international composites and carbon fiber markets.

The U.S. makes up the company’s largest market, accounting for 50% of sales annually.

Working alongside Cygnet USA Technical Engineering Manager Iain Graham, Battle’s role will be to build the company’s team of sales and technical staff and to grow its share of the US market from its local base.

“By expanding our permanent presence in the US with an experienced sales team, we can give more focused support to our existing clients and to make the most of the considerable opportunities that are available to us in this market,” says Battle, who is a Chartered Textile Technologist with an MBA from the China European International Business School.

Following the 2nd International Composites Congress in Düsseldorf on Nov. 29, 2016, the members of the German Federation of Reinforced Plastics (AVK) held a members meeting at which a new board was elected under AVK’s regular cycle.

Two members are leaving the current board for personal reasons at the end of this year: Heike Wolfangel, managing director of Wolfangel GmbH, and Gerd Esswein, managing director of Freudenberg New Technologies SE & Co. KG.

The two new board members are Michael Polotzki, managing director of Menzolit S.r.L. and Dirk Punke, managing director of BÜFA Composite Systems GmbH & Co. KG.

The following previous board members were re-elected: Chairman Michael Effing, managing director of AMAC GmbH, Deputy Chairman Prof. Jens Ridzewski, business development manager at IMA Materialforschung & Anwendungstechnik GmbH, and Treasurer, Tilman Schultz, managing director of CEMO GmbH.

The AVK board members will serve another 3-year term of office from the 2017 financial year onwards.

Camfil Air Pollution Control (APC) has appointed Graeme Bell to the position of vice president of Camfil APC Americas.

Bell will relocate from Europe to Camfil
APC corporate headquarters in
 Jonesboro, Ark., where he will
hold full responsibility for the
manufacturing, technical and training
facility here as well as North and South
American sales operations for the
company's dust, mist and fume
collection products. He states: "I very
 much look forward to leading the Camfil
APC business in the Americas and
 delivering substantial growth in line with
 our global strategic initiatives." Bell will
 report to Christian Debus, global executive vice president of Camfil APC.

In the four years since Bell joined the company, Camfil APC has promoted him to a succession of sales and general management posts in Europe. His most recent title was vice president, Camfil APC Europe, where he handled UK, German and Czech operations including manufacturing sites as well as full strategic growth responsibility for Europe.

Bell comes to Camfil APC with 26 years experience in the air pollution control 
industry. Directly prior to joining the company, he was global market manager for Porvair Filtration Ltd, Fareham, UK, a manufacturer of liquid and gas filtration products. Before that, he spent nearly 14 years with Donaldson Filtration IAF, Leicester, UK, where he started as an area manager and eventually became a country manager for the Industrial Air Filtration Division, which markets dust collectors and aftermarket filters in the UK. Bell holds a diploma in mechanical engineering, and his professional experience also includes several technical and sales engineer positions.

STRUCTeam Holdings Limited, the holding company of consultancy firm STRUCTeam Limited and software company CompoSIDE Limited, has announced that Paul Peters and David Van Dyke (Managing Director of Arthur John Capital Limited) have made a strategic investment in the company and have joined the company’s Board of Directors.

The investment provides a boost to the growth plans of both companies. Paul has considerable experience building and managing a large FinTech company which was acquired in 2011. David and Arthur John Capital bring strategic advisory and financial experience in addition to synergies with other investee companies.

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