The supervisory board of BASF Aktiengesellschaft, Ludwigshafen, has appointed two new members to the board of executive directors: Dr Harald Schwager and Dr Wolfgang Büchele. The appointments will take effect on January 1, 2008. In addition, the contracts of two current members of the board- Dr Kurt Bock and Dr Andreas Kreimeyer - were extended until the annual meeting in 2012.

Stefan Rydin is now with the European Commission, working at the European IPPC Bureau in Sevilla where he will be responsible for the review of the Reference Document on Best Available Techniques for the Tanning of Hides and Skins (BREF for tanneries). The review of the BREF document will start this year.

Swift & Co announced that president and CEO Sam Rovit relinquished all executive and director responsibilities immediately following the sale of the Greeley, Colorado-based company to Brazil-based JBS SA.  Rovit, who has been with Swift since July 1, 2005, is succeeded by Wesley Mendonca Batista, who is currently the executive director of operations of JBS SA, Latin America's largest beef processor.

Clariant have made a number of key senior management appointments which they herald as changes to strengthen their commitment to world-class performance. Two of four divisions - PA and TLP - are to be led by externally-recruited executives and there will be increased focus on people management. The head of group technology is to retire by year-end and the search for a replacement underway.

John Hubbard has been appointed to lead Satra's research team, adding his experience in chemistry to enhance the group's all-round capabilities. He worked previously in Satra's chemical analysis team and has regularly led seminars in the UK and Far East on managing restricted substances in many types of consumer product.

On June 29, 2007, the awards ceremony for the fourth Global Communications Project, an international competition for public relations and communications students, was held in Lisbon, Portugal. This year, the project was sponsored by global specialty chemicals suppliers Cognis.

At the late June meeting of ASSOMAC, the national association of Italian manufacturers of footwear, leathergoods and tannery machines, held in Vigevano, Giovanni Gaia, stepped down after two years. The four years with Gaia as chairman have been the hardest for the sector: 'The harsh data may have been initially disconcerting but forced us to ask ourselves questions and look for new ways to reassert our right to compete on all markets', said the outgoing chairman.

Jean-Luc Chirat, formerly with Mercier Freres in France and in recent years living in China where among other things he and his wife represented Leather International, died suddenly earlier this year. His Chinese wife Zhao Xiao Yan (Shelley) continues to represent us.

Guy (Buzz) Grove of Twin City Hide Co, died at home in his sleep. Buzz was a pioneer in many aspects of hide processing and marketing. His industry leadership led to his being honoured by the USHSLA in 2004 by his election to their Hall of Fame. He built Twin City Hide from a small business salt packing hides that was started by his father to become one of the largest hide processors in the US. He was innovative in establishing a wet-blue tannery next to his hide plant as well.   

Chris Flear, formerly with Lincoln Hide and Skin Co Ltd, died earlier this year. He was a past president of the National Federation of Hides & Skins Markets and always supported the Fellmongers Association annual dinner. He was expected at the dinner in 2006 but simply never arrived. According to his long-term friend C P (Patrick) Hird he never recovered from the failure of his company.

This year's graduates from the BSLT received their awards at a ceremony held on June 12 at Leathersellers Hall in London. The following prizes were awarded to Graduates of the BSc programme: 1st prize: Tanveerul Amin; 2nd prize Ankit Sondhi; 3rd prize Eldon Leo.

Trumpler International and their Taiwanese agent C H Sam & Co. Ltd., in collaboration with the Taiwan Bulls Golf Association held their second annual golf competition at the Agile Golf and Country Club in Zhongshan City, Guangdong, in March. The event was a huge success with its 68 participants, in terms of the outstanding golf played as well as a social gathering of tanners from Taiwan and China. In addition, through the generosity of the sponsors and players alike a substantial sum of money was raised which was donated to a well deserving children's charity.

At a recent ceremony in Campinas Brazil, Steve Buckman, CEO of Buckman Laboratories International, presented the Edward Weiss Memorial Award to Telmo Seganfredo. The Edward Weiss merit award is given annually in recognition of individual excellence for contributions in the fields of research, applications technology, marketing or technical support and sales.

Stephen Braude, president of Braude Brothers Tanning Corp, Woburn, USA, from 1954-1985, died on May 3, 2007, in Palm Beach, Florida.

Shanghai Richina Leather Co Ltd have announced the appointment of Neil Perrin to be the general manager for bovine production, reporting to Roger Wang, office of CEO, effective March 19, 2007. Neil brings with him a wealth of experience in the leather industry; he spent 16 years with Pittards in the UK, and ten years with Prime Asia and Prime Tanning.

The Rohm and Haas Company board of directors has elected Brian McPeak a vice-president of Rohm and Haas Company.

Michael Vennard, who joined Clariant just over seven years ago, has decided to take up the opportunity of moving to Thailand to join the agent of Clariant as a partner. In this way he can retain his ties with Clariant while taking up a new challenge ('perhaps my last chance to try something new and challenging. I sincerely wish that Clariant will continue to grow and prosper and be more and more successful in the future').

At LANXESS, Dr Werner Breuers has succeeded Dr Ulrich Koemm on the management board. Dr Breuers takes up his duties on May 14, 2007. At its meeting on May 8, the supervisory board of LANXESS AG agreed to Dr Koemm's request that he leave the company prematurely. Supervisory board chairman Dr Rolf Stomberg comments: 'The supervisory board and management board of LANXESS AG would like to thank Dr Koemm for his enormous contribution to the company's success, and especially for his work to strengthen the businesses for which he was responsible.'

According to TFL, the company are starting 'with a new spirit' by rearranging their management board: Dr Peter Amann, Dr Christian Csaki and Eugen Katzenstein are sharing the presidents' responsibilities in addition to their current functions. All of them have substantial experience in the leather field and have been with the company for many years.

Ernesto Moos (right) has received the latest Frank Johnston Award for services to the hide, skins and leather industry. The presentation was made at the annual dinner of the International Council for Hides Skins and Leather Traders Associations which is held annually in Hong Kong the night before APLF opens. Ernesto is one of the oldest members of the trade who are still actively engaged in the business and he was a friend of Frank Johnston and later his son Michael, both past presidents of the association.