ForFarmers nominates first female executive board member
The ForFarmers supervisory board has nominated Roetgerink to join the company's executive board, subject to approval at the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders scheduled for May 28. Assuming her appointment is confirmed, she will commence her tenure as CFO on June 1, serving a four-year term.
The CFO position had remained vacant since the departure of Roeland Tjebbes in December of last year and was temporarily filled by Hans Kerkhoven.
Roetgerink, with over a decade of experience in senior financial roles at Royal FrieslandCampina and Heineken, would bring a wealth of expertise to her new role, said the company.
She has an academic background in industrial engineering and management.
Diversity targets
In 2023, 22% of ForFarmers employees were female and 78% male, according to its latest annual report.
Women accounted for 21% of newly hired employees (2022: 27%) last year and 26% of all internal promotions (2022: 17%), with 4% of these being promoted to a management role (2022: 28%).
The male/female ratio for senior management is 87%/13% and for managers 80%/20%.
"In line with legislation, by 2030 we want at least 30% of executive board and executive team members to be female and at least 30% male. In addition, we want to see more variety in age and nationality in management positions."
UK executive set to retire
Meanwhile, Steven Read, who has been with ForFarmers UK for 38 years, will retire from the business at the end of 2024. Until then, he will oversee the divestment of two UK sites and fulfill interim duties at the group’s headquarters.
Reflecting on his tenure, Read expressed satisfaction in seeing ForFarmers UK thrive and emphasized the promising prospects of the expanding CirQlar business, which focuses on environmentally sustainable and cost-effective livestock feed solutions utilizing co-products.
Dr Mark Cole will succeed Read as managing director of ForFarmers UK’s compound feed, blends, forage, and straights business, transitioning from his previous role as MD of Ruminant OpCo.
ForFarmers UK says that with over three decades of industry experience behind him, Cole's appointment underscores its commitment to all sectors of the UK livestock industry.
He held various leadership and technical capacities during his tenure with Provimi (now Cargill), as well as with ForFarmers, where he previously led the integration of Tasomix, a Polish business the company acquired a few years back. Additionally, Cole has contributed to development of the Carr’s Group.
In another move, Peter Lyon has been named the managing director of the coproducts business, CirQlar UK.
Efficiency initiatives
In the past year, ForFarmers implemented measures to structurally reduce its cost base, which included a reduction of approximately 200 full-time employees (FTEs). The company said the reduction was attributed to a range of factors, including the divestment of the Belgian compound feed activities, resulting in a decrease of around 70 FTEs. Additionally, organizational changes announced during the period affected the number of FTEs in the Netherlands and the UK.
