People

Forty years ago, C F Stead were primarily suppliers to the UK domestic shoe trade. During his early years, the focus was on establishing the reputation they enjoy today of being foremost in the specialist area of suede  leathers, exclusively for branded footwear.

It was Bailey who identified the challenge of taking the product from the UK, where progressively the customer base was shrinking, and introducing it to the rest of the world, where shoe and accessory brands were increasingly looking to source their footwear. This initiative has taken Bailey around the world and, as a result, he has met and worked with many of the international names we recognise today as well as to many centres of excellence in the manufacturing world.

His marketing expertise and experience of the international marketplace, make him an ideal leader for UKLF as the organisation, together with its members, works towards enhancing the influence of UK leather around the world.

Claire Forster recently joined BLC as regulatory and standards adviser. The main focus of her role is to provide support and advice to members regarding restricted substances that are relevant to all aspects of the leather supply chain. She will also be responsible for managing leather standards and specifications.

Forster has a BSc in applied chemistry with biochemistry and has gained varied experience as a development chemist within the household cleaning manufacturing industry. During this time she gained a working knowledge of regulatory issues within the detergent and cosmetics industries. She has also worked as a laboratory supervisor for a global cement, concrete and building supply business.

George Stockman has been promoted to the position of director of business development for the US Leather Chemicals Division of Buckman Laboratories. Stockman has been a member of the Buckman team since 2001, serving in the capacity of corporate accounts manager.

Prior to employment at Buckman, Stockman worked at the Pfister & Vogel Leather Company as manager of R&D and vice president of manufacturing and later served as vice president of environmental affairs for P&V's parent, US Leather. While at P&V, he pioneered many aspects of the chrome recovery practices that have become industry standards. Similarly, he helped demonstrate and implement sulfide handling and treatment procedures to protect tannery personnel and the community.

This promotion is largely the result of Stockman's extensive leathermaking experience coupled with his great enthusiasm for developing new concepts and turning them into commercially viable products and services. For the past six years, Stockman has focused on assisting customers by applying Buckman's existing functional chemistries as well as promoting the development of new alternatives. His unique insight into practical leathermaking concepts has led to the resolution of industry application and chemistry related problems, often using nontraditional means.

Stockman graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a BS degree in chemistry. He also earned an MS degree in environmental health engineering from the University of Cincinnati.

Former shooting champion John R Gorman has been named in the Queen's birthday honours list for his outstanding service to the Australian hide, skin and leather export industry and the community. The Moonee Ponds resident was awarded a medal of the order of Australia (OAM) in the general division.

He was president of the International Council of Hides, Skins and Leather Traders Associations from 1999-2004; the first Australian to hold this position since its foundation in 1930. In 2004 he was awarded the ICHSLTA Frank Johnston award for outstanding service to the industry.

He has been president of the Australian Hide, Skin and Leather Exporters Association since 1996, and the president of the sheepskin exporters association since 1989. He is a life member of both associations.

Gorman represented Australia at the world shooting championships in Melbourne in 1973, Munich in 1975 and Seoul in 1978. He is a life member of the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia.

As president of the Australian association he was instrumental in securing a permanent presence at trade fairs in China, Australia's biggest buyer, with sales approaching one billion dollars.Gorman is also chairman of the bombers' cancer support group of the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Huub van Beijeren is the new chief executive officer of Stahl as of February 1st, 2007.Prior to joining Stahl, van Beijeren was director of the paper and packaging division of D S Smith where he managed a e1 billion turnover business with 5,500 employees and 39 factories.

From 1996-2005, he was a main board director at British Vita, a polymer manufacturer, where he held functional responsibility for two of the three divisions - Nonwovens and Cellular Foam - with a total of over e900 million turnover, employing 5,000 people. Van Beijeren holds an MSc in Company Law from the University of Leiden, and a Bachelors degree in Law from the University of Utrecht.He stated: 'I am very excited to take this position within Stahl. Stahl offers a unique opportunity to join a world leader in leather finish and high performance coatings. In partnership with the exceptional professional staff and board of directors of Stahl, I look forward to building on Stahl's core strengths and seizing the many growth opportunities ahead of the group'.

'Huub van Beijeren's appointment brings valuable skills and experience to Stahl, which are key to further strengthening the group' said Dirk Jan van Ommeren, chairman of the board of directors. 'We look forward to working closely with Huub to capitalise on Stahl's leading position.'

The board would like to thank Peter Beaumont for his tremendous work and dedication as interim CEO. Beaumont, who will remain COO, has done a great job in setting the path for future growth.

Professor Geoff Attenburrow has become the first Leathersellers' Chair of Materials Science at The University of Northampton following a formal inauguration ceremony in January at Leathersellers' Hall in London. The chair will be fully funded by the Leathersellers' Company and marks a significant development of the existing partnership between the University of Northampton and the Leathersellers' Company.

Accepting his new position, Professor Attenburrow said: 'It is a great honour for me to be the first Leathersellers Professor at The University of Northampton and I am very grateful to the Leathersellers' Company for their generous support. Since taking up the appointment of Leathersellers Reader at The University of Northampton's British School of Leather Technology in 1991, I have endeavoured to lead the development of research and knowledge transfer and establish the school as an internationally leading centre for leather-related research.'

Looking to the future Professor Attenburrow added that he would be making it a priority for the leather division in the School of Applied Sciences to further develop work on collaborative projects with partners across the university as well as with external businesses.

'Within the University's School of Applied Sciences we are collaborating on projects examining the environmental impact of leather production', he explained. 'We have also formally set up a Centre for Research on Leather and Materials Science, which encourages the exchange of ideas between staff carrying out materials research at the University of Northampton.'Outside the university it remains my ambition to involve the leather division in meaningful partnerships across the East Midlands, nationally and internationally. For many years we have collaborated on a wide variety of projects with colleagues at the BLC Leather Technology Centre.'I now believe the time is right to further build on Northamptonshire's unique heritage in leather and footwear.'

Vice Chancellor at The University of Northampton, Ann Tate, added: 'We are extremely grateful to the Leathersellers' Company for this generous donation. It serves to underwrite the University's pre-eminence in the field of leather-related research and teaching and acknowledges our excellence in developing the application of leather in the field of design both in fashion and footwear and in interior design.'

The council of the Bureau de Style Chaussure Marroquinerie Cuir met on February 2 and elected Jean Claude Ricomard to the presidency of the association. Ricomard is president of Tanneries Roux of Romans, is also president of the administrative council of CTC. In this latest role, he succeeds Guy Canselier, who had been president since 2001.

The Indian International Leather Fair, Chennai (IILF) is the time when the industry likes to hand out various awards and this year was no exception. M M Hashim, chairman of KH and former chairman of CLE, was presented with the 'Doyen of the leather industry' award. He received his plaque from Dayanihi Maran, Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology.

Niels Kildegaard Pedersen is the new global business manager for leather enzymes at Novozymes A/S. He will be focusing on introducing lipases and new fungal bating enzymes to the leather industry. In his previous 28 years with Novozymes, he was involved in sales and marketing introducing new enzymes to many of the industries served by Novozymes A/S.

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