BIC: BIC strengthens its Executive Committee to Accelerate Transformation

BIC – Press Release

Clichy – 16 January 2020

BIC strengthens its Executive Committee to Accelerate Transformation

To further drive its transformation journey and better address strategic and operational challenges, BIC is bringing new and incremental capabilities to its Executive Committee.

With 30 years of experience in leading international commercial strategies and customer relationships for best-in-class consumer goods companies, Chester Twigg has been appointed as Group Commercial Officer. Chester has first-hand experience working in India, China, Singapore, and the US at companies like Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble.

In addition to Chester Twigg, BIC recently appointed Chief Strategy and Business Development, Sara LaPorta, and Chief Administrative Officer, Charles Morgan, to its Executive Committee.

Responsible for developing Business Strategy and Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) activity, Sara LaPorta joined BIC in October 2019 with more than 20 years of experience in Strategy, M&A, and Consumer Insights for global companies.

Charles Morgan is responsible for the implementation of BIC’s new Shared Services Center and in charge of Group Information Technology. He joined BIC in September 2019 with extensive experience in leading transformation programs for global organizations.

“As we enter a critical phase of our transformation journey, the addition of Chester Twigg, Sara LaPorta, and Charles Morgan to BIC’s Executive Committee will help maximize BIC’s performance at every level. Their leadership will be instrumental into pivoting from a category-led series of businesses to a single consumer-focused global organization,” said Gonzalve Bich, Chief Executive Officer.

In addition to Chester Twigg, Sara LaPorta and Charles Morgan, and reporting to Gonzalve Bich, Chief Executive Officer, BIC’s Executive Committee comprises:

• Jim DiPietro, Chief Finance Officer and Senior Executive Vice President, responsible for establishing reliable, transversal processes, and ensuring the accuracy of financial reporting and efficient planning to drive BIC’s global financial performance.
• Thomas Brette, Group Insights and Innovation Officer, responsible for reinvigorating innovation processes, collecting data, and generating insights to create new products and services aligned with BIC’s brand strategy and sustainable development commitments.
• Peter Dalsberg, Group Supply Chain Officer, in charge of enhancing efficiency throughout manufacturing operations, centralized procurement, and “end to end” Supply Chain while maintaining product safety, quality, and affordability.
• François Clément-Grandcourt, Group Lighter General Manager, accountable for growing the Lighter category through its unique manufacturing processes and R&D, maintaining a strong focus on safety and quality.
• Alison James, Chief Human Resources Officer, responsible for building BIC’s organizational and people capabilities in support of long-term strategy and leading the evolution of the BIC culture to drive organizational effectiveness to meet key business objectives.

  

Contact

Sophie Palliez-Capian – VP, Corporate Stakeholder Engagement -

Investor Relations Contact:

Michèle Ventura 98 -

Press Contacts

Albane de La Tour d’Artaise   51  -

Isabelle de Segonzac : 85 -

For more information, please consult the corporate website:

2019/2020 Agenda - All dates to be confirmed

About BIC

BIC is a world leader in stationery, lighters and shavers. For 75 years, BIC has honored the tradition of providing high-quality, affordable products to consumers everywhere. Through this unwavering dedication BIC has become one of the most recognized brands and is a trademark registered worldwide for identifying BIC products which are sold in more than 160 countries around the world. In 2018, BIC Net Sales were 1,949.8 million euros. The Company is listed on “Euronext Paris” and is part of the SBF120 and CAC Mid 60 indexes. BIC is also part of the following Socially Responsible Investment indexes: CDP A list and CDP “Supplier Engagement rating Leader board”, Euronext Vigeo – Eurozone 120, Euronext Vigeo – Europe 120, FTSE4Good indexes, Ethibel Pioneer and Ethibel Excellence Investment Registers, Ethibel Sustainability Index (ESI) Excellence Europe, Stoxx Global ESG Leaders Index.

APPENDIX

BIC Executive Committee

Gonzalve BICH – Chief Executive Officer

Gonzalve, a French-American, is Chief Executive Officer and Director of SOCIÉTÉ BIC since May 2018. Prior to this, he served as Chief Operating Officer from January 2017 until May 2018, as well as Executive Vice-President from June 2016 to May 2018. Gonzalve joined BIC Asia in 2003, where he developed the regional business for four years. He moved on to serve as Group People Development Director before joining the Shaver Category as Marketing Director. From 2008 to 2012, he led the Northern European business and was then named Deputy General Manager, responsible for the Middle East, Africa, Oceania, and Asia Pacific.  He was promoted to General Manager, Developing Markets in July 2013, and took responsibility for BIC Consumer Business Categories & Latin America operations in Spring 2016. Gonzalve earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History with Honors from Harvard University in 2001. 

Jim DIPIETRO – Executive Vice-President, Chief Finance Officer

Jim DiPietro joined BIC in May 1998 as Senior Vice President, Finance, of BIC Corporation, and was appointed Chief Finance Officer in 2002. Prior to joining BIC, Jim was Director of Finance for Bayer’s consumer pharmaceutical business in North America. He began his career as an internal auditor with Chase Manhattan Bank. Jim is American and holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from St. John’s University and a master’s degree in Finance from Pace University, both in New York.

Sara LAPORTA – Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer

Sara LaPorta joined BIC in October 2019. She began her career as a partner at Boston Consulting Group, where she led a variety of growth-oriented engagements for well-known retailers and CPG companies. Most recently, Sara spent ten years at PepsiCo as a Senior Vice President, developing and coordinating consumer-driven growth strategies for the Beverage business in the Americas and globally, adding a $5B+ portfolio of growth brands to the portfolio and the identification of new growth opportunities. Sara is British and holds a Master of Science in Management (MBA) from M.I.T. Sloan School, and a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology and Biotechnology from the University of London.

Chester TWIGG – Chief Commercial Officer

Chester Twigg will join BIC on January 20th, from Johnson & Johnson where he was responsible for the global oversight of all commercial capabilities at J&J Consumer Inc.  Prior to this, Chester held several Sales and Marketing positions at Procter & Gamble and A.S Watson in India, China and Singapore. Chester is Indian, and graduated in Economics at the University of Mumbai and completed an MBA in Marketing before beginning his commercial career (marketing, sales and strategy) at the Godrej Group in Mumbai.

Thomas BRETTE – Group Insights and Innovation Officer - Stationery and Shavers

Thomas Brette joined BIC in 1999 as Cost Controller in Greece, then Finance Manager for the Shaver Category. He was appointed Finance Director for BIC Sport in 2005 and Business Unit Manager, BIC Stationery in 2007. In 2009, Thomas rejoined the Shaver category as Marketing Director and was appointed Deputy General Manager, Shavers in 2013. He joined the Leadership team in 2015, responsible for Shavers. Before joining BIC, Thomas held positions in the French Bank Credit Lyonnais. Thomas is French and holds a Master’s level Diploma in Accounting and Finance from the Institut National des Techniques Economiques et Comptables – Paris, France.

Peter DALSBERG – Group Supply Chain Officer

Peter Dalsberg joined BIC in October 2017 as head of the Stationery category. Peter joined from Amcor, where he was responsible for Global Strategy and Business Development in the Asia Pacific region. He previously ran Operations for Amcor’s business in the Americas. Prior to Amcor, Peter held positions in Operations with British American Tobacco, including running the Supply Chain for the Asia Pacific region and leading Western European Operations. Peter is Danish and received his Graduate Diploma in Business Administration from the Copenhagen Business School.

François CLEMENT-GRANDCOURT – Group Lighter General Manager

François Clément-Grandcourt joined BIC in 2000 as Marketing Product Manager for BIC Shavers. He moved to BIC Lighters & Shavers in 2004 as Marketing Director Europe-Middle East and Africa, and then served as Country General Manager, BIC Eastern Europe. In 2007, he was appointed as Division Deputy General Manager for BIC Lighters. He joined the Leadership Team in 2016 and is responsible for Lighters. Before joining BIC, François held positions in Coca-Cola and Danone. François is French-Swiss and holds a Master of Business Administration degree from INSEAD.

Charles MORGAN – Chief Administrative Officer

Charles Morgan joined BIC in September 2019. Prior to joining BIC, Charles served as Vice President, Finance Shared Services for Aetna. Charles served as Executive Director, Global Business Services for General Motors, where he was the architect and leader of a major financial transformation and optimization. He’s also held senior roles at American Express, Marsh Inc., Reuters and HSBC. Charles is British. He began his career qualifying as an accountant with Deloitte in London, prior to joining their consulting arm and holds a degree in Computer Science from Cambridge University.

Alison JAMES – Chief Human Resources Officer

Alison James joined BIC in 2014. Prior to BIC, Alison was Head of Human Resources for Life Technologies in San Diego and held various positions in Human Resources for several other companies, including Encore Capital Group and Gateway. She began her career at Mars Inc. where she held several different positions.  Alison is American and British and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Management Studies and French from the University of Bradford (GB).

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