V.Group announces new leadership team

V.Group is pleased to announce the appointment of Ian El-Mokadem as Chief Executive Officer and Martin Gaard Christiansen as Chief Commercial Officer. Both will assume their positions in the autumn.

Ian joins from Exova, the global provider of technically demanding testing, calibration and related advisory services, where he served as Chief Executive for the last six years. Ian was responsible for professionalising and growing the business, which operates in 33 countries, has a network of 4,200 experts across 138 laboratories, and is trusted by customers in industries such as aerospace, defence, and oil and gas to test and advise on safety, quality and performance of their products. Prior to this Ian was Group Managing Director, UK & Ireland of Compass Group where he led a multi-site business of over 60,000 employees with sales of circa £1.8bn. Before Compass, Ian held leadership positions with Centrica and Accenture.

Martin brings considerable experience of the maritime sector and joins from Wrist Ship Supply, the world’s largest supplier of stores and provisions to the shipping and offshore sectors, where he served on the Executive Board and was CEO of the company’s operations in Asia. Previously he worked for the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group for 25 years, most recently in the APM Terminals subsidiary where he held a number of positions, including Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Executive Officer of the Asia Pacific Region.

John Pattullo, Chairman of V.Group, said: “I am very pleased to welcome Ian and Martin to V.Group. The appointment of two such high calibre business leaders is testament to V.Group’s ambitions to consolidate its position as the global market leader in its sector. Their leadership, coupled with the recent completion of Advent International’s investment in the business, marks a critical new juncture in V.Group’s development. The new highly able and motivated leadership team, backed by Advent’s financial and operational experience, means the company is better placed than ever to deliver superior world-class solutions for its clients and shape the future of the ship management industry.”

Commenting on his appointment, Ian El-Mokadem said: “I am delighted to be joining V.Group as Chief Executive Officer at what is an exciting time for the company. As we move forward, with the support from our new owners and a strengthened and energised leadership team, I am confident that we can achieve our ambition of becoming a blue chip, innovative, highly professional service provider to ship owners around the world. I am looking forward to meeting with as many of our customers and my new colleagues as possible when I join the V.Group team later this year.”

Regarding his new position, Martin Gaard Christiansen added: “Having worked in the maritime services sector for 25 years, I am a strong believer in the opportunity for V.Group to shape the future of its industry. I am delighted to be joining as Chief Commercial Officer and look forward to applying my skills, contact base and knowledge to this exciting new role.”

Haris Kyriakopoulos, a Director at Advent International said: “Since Advent’s investment completed in March, we have been working on assembling the strongest team in the industry. Ian’s experience of leading a global services provider, coupled with Martin’s expertise of driving commercialisation in the maritime sector is the ideal fit for V.Group as it enters the next stage of its development. We are delighted that Ian and Martin have decided to join V.Group and look forward to their arrival at the company.”