Both changes are said to reflect the company's ambition to be an industry leader on the road to carbon neutrality and become the first industrial technology group in the building materials industry.
Dr. Nicola Kimm, 51, will take over the newly established managing board position as chief sustainability officer of HeidelbergCement, responsible for Environment Social Governance, Global Research & Development, and New Technologies. She is a renowned sustainability expert, currently serving as an executive committee member and chief sustainability officer with Signify, the Philips lighting business carve-out. As a trained ecologist and chemical engineer with a PhD in business engineering, she has gained almost 25 years of international professional experience. Dr. Kimm held sustainability roles with BASF, Corbion/CSM and Philips and worked in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
Dennis Lentz, 39, will take over the newly established Managing Board position as chief digital officer of HeidelbergCement. He will be responsible for the company's digital transformation. Since 2010, he held management positions as head of Group Energy Purchasing, director Logistics and Group CIO at HeidelbergCement. Before joining the company, he worked as a management consultant in the building materials and mining industry, focusing on process optimisation.
"With Dr. Nicola Kimm and Dennis Lentz, we are strengthening our Managing Board with two renowned experts. We are convinced that they will accelerate our initiatives on the path to become the leading building materials company in the fields of sustainability and digitalisation and wish them the best of success in their important roles," said Fritz-Jürgen Heckmann, chairman of HeidelbergCement's supervisory board.
René Aldach, 42, will take over the role of chief financial officer at HeidelbergCement from Dr. Lorenz Näger, who will retire at the end of August 2021. Aldach currently works as director Group Reporting, Controlling & Consolidation for HeidelbergCement. He joined the company in 2004, proving his management excellence in numerous international roles in Germany, Africa, and Australia, including CFO of Hanson Australia, since then. As a member of the managing board, he will be in charge of Finance, Accounting, Controlling, Taxes, Treasury, Insurance & Risk Management, Data Governance, Shared Service Center, and Purchasing.
By best mutual consent with the supervisory board, Dr. Näger, 61, decided to take his well-deserved retirement after more than 22 years as HeidelbergCement chief financial officer. "We express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Lorenz Näger”, said Fritz-Jürgen Heckmann.
"As Group CFO, he has played an instrumental and successful role in shaping HeidelbergCement for almost two decades. During his term of office, HeidelbergCement's revenue and result has almost tripled, and free cash flow has nearly quadrupled. We wish him all the best for his future. With René Aldach, an internationally experienced manager from among our own ranks, is taking over as Group CFO. We are convinced that he will carry on the successful work of Dr. Lorenz Näger and wish him well for this challenging task."
Dr. Dominik von Achten, chairman of the HeidelbergCement managing board, said: "To continue with the implementation of our strategy and the successful development of the Group, it is very important that we have been able to attract proven experts and strong team players. Together with my board colleagues, I am looking forward to a great collaboration with Dr. Nicola Kimm, Dennis Lentz and René Aldach. They will strengthen our Managing Board team decisively."
All changes will become effective as of 1 September 2021.
