(L-R) Berry Wiersum, Rosemarie Asquino and Thomas Kratochwill
Sappi Europe has appointed Thomas Kratochwill as the new sales and marketing director for Speciality Papers, to expand the division and further strengthen Sappi Europe’s position.
Austrian-born financial and corporate strategist Mr Kratochwill will take from his predecessor Rosemarie Asquino who, after 38 successful years at Sappi, is entering retirement.
‘We thank Rosemarie Asquino for her outstanding work. She has revolutionised the Speciality Papers Division at Sappi. Recently she was critical in designing and implementing the 60 million euro expansion of PM2,’ said Berry Wiersum, chief executive officer. ‘As we move into the future, we will be placing our full trust in her successor, Thomas Kratochwill. With his natural vigour and expertise, he will take the Speciality Papers Division at Sappi to a new level and implement the agreed-upon strategy in full.’ Rosemarie Asquino will be available until the end of July 2015 as an advisor on strategic issues.
‘My personal motto is: first listen, understand the customer, and then implement together. In this way, we can be an approachable and innovative partner in the tailor-made customer solutions sector, providing top quality and the highest service level. Packaging manufacturers, brand owners, designers and print finishers are set to profit even more intensively from the fact that Sappi is more than just a packaging material manufacturer’, said Mr Kratochwill.
Thomas Kratochwill joined Sappi in 1995 in the Finance department, following his studies at KPMG. He soon became involved in financial systems and process optimisation methods, where he managed several system migration projects as a result of business expansion. In 2010, he succeeded Alex Thiel as project director, and in this role successfully led and implemented significant transformation initiatives for the group.
