We have recently appointed three new members to our Senior Leadership Team: The new leadership team will bring a fresh organisational approach that seeks to be open, fluid, and adaptable; unleashes the collective energy, passion, and capabilities of its people; reimagines strategy; and focuses on delivering greater value to all stakeholders.

All three additions within the new leadership team are internal Saint-Gobain personnel progressing successfully through the internal mobility and personal development programme.

Julie Le Pape as Operations Director, Effi-Svende Dammenhain as Customer Value Chain Director, and Mark Jeffreys as Finance Manager.

Operations Director and Customer Value Chain Director are two new roles for Artex, created to support continued growth and sharpen our service propositions as we look to expand our business over the next few years.

Taking on the role of Operations Director, Julie brings a wealth of knowledge in Supply Chain and Distribution, with over 17 years’ experience within the Saint-Gobain group. Julie joined British Gypsum in 2006 as an Export Administrator, progressing her career within the business to hold roles in both Supply Chain and Logistics. Most recently she worked at Artex as Supply Chain and Distribution Manager, where she led the team to ensure a full supply of products to customers.

As Operations Director, Julie will focus on delivering improvements to our flexible service proposition, as well as managing our EHS and sustainability roadmaps to achieve net zero carbon by 2050.

Effi-Svende joins us from Saint-Gobain Weber, bringing a wealth of experience after 20 years in Supply Chain and Logistics. Effi joined Weber in 2017, progressing through their Supply Chain team to the position of Head of Supply Chain and Logistics where she managed end-to-end supply chain.

‘After my MSc Supply Chain Management, I applied for various roles and ended up with a 12-month contract at Weber, Saint-Gobain. From this role I had the opportunity to develop my career further within group, it was always my goal to work for an international corporation as there are so many benefits, e.g., international mobility, diverse colleagues and best practices from different business units and cultures.’

In her newly created role of Customer Value Chain Director, Effi will oversee our end-to-end supply chain, underpinning this with strong customer experience and sustainability to ensure a focus on driving out inefficiency, reducing carbon footprint and delighting our customers along the way.

‘The training and development opportunities given within Saint Gobain enabled me to become a leader and grow and develop with my team. Everyone should get involved and use all possible opportunities to learn about a business, other departments, and people. Never say “this is not my job” but try to support and learn from this and implement change that makes the job easier for everyone – which automatically positively affects the customer.’

And joining us as Finance Manager with 11 years’ experience in Finance, Mark is also progressing his career within the Saint-Gobain Group. Mark joined the central Saint-Gobain Finance team in 2019 as a Senior Financial Accountant before taking on the role of Financial Services Manager to manage the General Ledger team for 16 of Saint-Gobain’s brands in the UK and Ireland. Now in his role of Finance Manager at Artex, Mark will manage delivering and analysing key financial information to support our business health and continued growth.

Mark, Effi and Julie join our Commercial Director Rob Stewart who has over 16 years’ experience in the industry, and who has been with Artex for two years. Rob leads our Commercial team to deliver new products and services to the market, with two exciting launches pending later this year.

Completing the leadership team is Amy Marshall, leading our HR function. Amy previously worked in the Public Sector and Not for Profit sector before coming to Saint-Gobain.

‘I wanted to work in a commercial environment and for an organisation who put people first and strived forward. From my first interview, I knew this was a company I wanted to be part of and haven’t looked back since! Since joining Saint-Gobain, I have had continual opportunities to grow, develop and push myself outside of my comfort zone and the opportunity to collaborate with some great people and teams.’

Leading the team is our Managing Director Jason Smith, who has also had a varied career at Saint-Gobain.

Jason said, ‘These are fitting examples of how colleagues can progress their careers and continued development at Artex and within the wider Saint-Gobain group. With the creation of two new roles in our leadership team, we are excited to develop our customer experience, strengthen our service proposition, and continue our sustainability journey to further support our customers.’

‘It is important to acknowledge that Saint-Gobain have a long history of advancing possibilities for employees within our business, between business units, nationally and around the world. We are building a resilient supply chain solution for the industry to access quality construction products flexibly, but we also want to reflect Saint-Gobain’s commitment to conscious inclusion, diversity, and empowering women.

‘In 2022 less than four in 10 new leadership roles were secured by women, I am pleased to say that my leadership team is achieving gender equality. We are on this journey, and I am hoping that it is just the beginning of a ripple effect across the industry in the pursuit of conscious inclusion and authentic diversity.’