Woodbois Ltd (AIM:WBI) has appointed former LafargeHolcim and Compass director Federico Tonetti as chief executive officer with immediate effect, following a three-month period where he provided consultancy work.
Paul Dolan, previously chair and CEO, will take the position of executive chair, the company said, and will remain fully involved in the day to day running of the business and especially its strategic development.
Tonetti was most recently group safety & sustainability director at FTSE 100-listed caterer Compass Group (LSE:CPG), and before that was country CEO in Poland for LafargeHolcim, following other roles at Lafarge.
He has also worked as a strategy consultant for Bain & Company.
"As previously advised, we have been searching for a CEO in order to both broaden and deepen our management team in this period of rapid growth and as part of the improvements to our governance by splitting the chair and CEO roles,” said Dolan.
“We are very pleased to welcome Federico to the team and we are impressed by the start he has made since consulting for Woodbois over the past three months. He brings extensive experience of operating internationally with companies of considerable scale. His background in successfully delivering increased operational efficiencies and executing on successful business transformations will be important to Woodbois, as we look to continue to deliver long term value creation for all stakeholders.”
He highlighted Tonetti’s ESG credentials, having advised multi-national corporations on their sustainability strategies, which is of importance to Woodbois in its role to help organisations achieve their carbon reduction objectives.
Dolan said he firmly believed in Woodbois' potential to create value and play a growing role in sustainability and reforestation, and as executive chair and a significant shareholder he will be “fully involved” in the company.
Tonetti added: “I am very pleased to be joining Woodbois on a full-time basis. At an operational level, Woodbois has delivered a robust performance to date in 2021 and I look forward to working with the team to increase output and deliver further operational synergies going forward.
“Woodbois is also well placed to make a significant impact in the voluntary carbon market, a high growth market segment that continues to attract high levels of interest from governments, corporates and investors the world over. This is a tipping point in the company's development and I look forward to working closely with Paul and the wider team as we look to build the business and generate value for the company's stakeholders.”