GERMANY. Family-owned travel retailer and distributor Gebr. Heinemann has named Dr. Kai Deneke as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective from 1 July 2022. Currently Director Controlling, Deneke will replace long-time CFO Stephan Ernst in the role and will join the Executive Board.
Ernst worked for the Hamburg-based company for 20 years, supporting its expansion through the period until the pandemic struck.
Ernst said: “It is simply the right time: following losses in 2020, we managed a turnaround last year. We now expect good results for 2022 and are again focusing on growth issues. I will preside over the close of the 2021 financial year and Dr Kai Deneke will help steer the 2022 financial year from the very beginning.”
He added: “I’m looking forward to having more time for things that have been rather neglected in recent years and know that my Finance, IT, Procurement and Facility Management departments are well positioned and ready to face future challenges.”
Co-owner Claus Heinemann, who with his cousin Gunnar appointed Stephan Ernst to the Executive Board in 2010, said: “We would like to thank Stephan Ernst for his support throughout the years, especially in recent, difficult months. On a personal level, I really appreciated the critical and constructive way in which he always focused on the interests of the company.”
CEO Max Heinemann added: “We owe Stephan a great deal and we look forward to continuing our relationship in a spirit of friendship outside of daily business. As a family company we are pleased to fill the position of CFO with an ideal candidate, Dr Kai Deneke, who has been selected from within our ranks.”
During his tenure Ernst led the Financial division and subsequently the IT division, the Procurement and Facility Management divisions. A company statement added that in 2012, Ernst led the change of company name to Gebr. Heinemann SE & Co. KG [a limited business partnership – Ed] “and set the course for the future expansion and internationalisation of the company”.
Ernst added: “With the appointment of Max Heinemann and Dr Dirk Schneider, the Executive Board has undergone a generational shift, which will now continue. Actually, we had planned to transfer the position of CFO at an earlier date but the onset of the pandemic put paid to that and we had to defer it. Now we are charting a course for the future. After a very difficult 2020, we had a very acceptable result in 2021. Now we are hoping for a pick-up in the travel sector in 2022.”
