The water disinfection company appoints Johan Milliau as its new CEO.
appointed Johan Milliau as Chief Executive Officer. Johan Milliau (41, engineer) takes over the duties of Carmen Cordier, who as a board member temporarily assumed the role of CEO. In his role as CEO Milliau will lead all strategic and operational activities of the company and report to the Board of Directors. The Board has observed slower growth, a trend which could continue for some time. Restructuring took place both by immediately integrating the newly acquired A-engineering and by reducing costs and the total number of staff members.
The perspectives for growth initially proposed in the prospectus and the market potential for technological applications are now more limited than at first envisaged. In the light of this, the development of technology for the swimming pool market has been stopped.
The growth recession is being made worse by the current economic downturn. Potential customersare postponing investment decisions and this is having a direct impact on the previously proposed development of turnover of the company. However, prospects for the sale of Calc-Tech® , the patented environmentally friendly calcium prevention systems developed by A-engineering, are positive.
The company remains committed to its planned international expansion.
In future, the focus will be placed on the disinfection of drinking and process water and the handling of calcium related problems in professional markets.
The newly appointed CEO, who will begin working in his new position as from 5th January, will draw up a new strategic plan together with his team.
His experience in transforming technically oriented and R&D companies into successful commercial businesses – on an international level – combined with his managerial talents must allow Ecodis to grow at a more rapid pace.
Johan Milliau: “In Ecodis I can find the right ingredients which I, as CEO of this technologically state-of-the-art company, can use in order to build a profit-making commercial company. To begin with we have a passionate team with a strong sense of innovation, making Ecodis a high-ranking technological firm in the field of water disinfection. We must seize every opportunity to play these assets both efficiently and internationally.
I am also looking forward to cooperating with the Board of Directors. I have found people here who share my drive and entrepreneurship and who have a passionate desire to put Ecodis on the ‘technology map’ in Europe”.
Carmen Cordier: “I have full confidence that, given his experience, Johan Milliau is the right person to lead this company forward.”
Leon Van Rompay: “For a young company, the right CEO is of the utmost importance. With Johan Milliau, Ecodis will obtain the necessary impetus to develop faster and more solidly.”
Johan Milliau began his career with Bureau Veritas in Antwerp and quickly became a commercial engineer with Merlin Gerin, Schneider Electric in Uccle. In 1993, he became sales & marketing manager with Dräger Belgium and in 1996 he moved over to Vitalo Plastics, where, as business unit manager and later as general manager,he contributed to doubling the company's turnover within 4 years. Subsequently, he joined the Katoen Natie Groep, where he became managing director of the Business unit Consumer Goods, Retail & Electronics. From 2004 until 2007 he held various managerial positions with the Fabory group, an international group comprising a number of high-ranking technology companies represented in 14 countries. In his latest position he was the CEO of the Belgian company Packing Creative Systems, an engineering and automation company in which Fortis Private Equity had been the main shareholder since 2005.
Throughout his career he was able to successfully link the necessary entrepreneurship with technology, a healthy commercial expansion and building strong teams.
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About Ecodis
Ecodis desires to be a reliable, professional water treatment company centred around durability, efficiency and technology and showing respect for both man and the environment.
Passionate about this mission, Ecodis has developed an innovative concept in order to disinfect water efficiently without adding chemicals, heavy metals or salts and without radiation. The food processing and pharmaceutical industries, hospitals, rest homes and care centres, sport facilities, leisure parks and hotels rank among Ecodis’ customers.
Today, the company employs 40 staff members,including R&D-specialists, engineers and scientists such as PhD’s in microbiology and chemistry. At present, Ecodis is active in Belgium and the Netherlands as well as in the United Kingdom.
Ecodis has been listed on the Alternext Brussels Stock Exchange since June 2007. More information on the company and its stock exchange listing can be found on www.ecodis.eu
Download here the press release in pdf.
For more details and information:
Carmen CORDIER, CEO ad-interim
Tel: +32 (0) 3 641.91.00
Email: carmen.cordier@ecodis.eu
Leon Van Rompay – Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Ecodis
Tel: +32 495 36 30 30
Registered office:
Brechtsebaan 30, B-2900 Schoten
www.ecodis.eu
Financial calendar:
Publication of annual accounts 2008: March 2009