The GKD Group in Düren has now completed the reorganization within its Management Board.
Effective March 1, Ilonka von Bodman will assume the post of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the global market leader for mesh solutions. From July 1, Lara Kufferath will take over the reins of the family business as CEO and complete the generational change.
The Management Board of the GKD Group is becoming younger, with a better balance of female executives, and is clearly focused on the challenges facing the global technical weave specialists. Ilonka von Bodman steps up as a CFO with extensive international management experience and expertise from comprehensive sustainability projects.
“Ilonka is a perfect fit for us – both professionally and personally. She has more than 20 years of experience in the financial business, is experienced in cross-border transactions and cooperations, and appreciates the corporate cultural characteristics of SMEs, such as a sense of family, responsibility, and decision-making power. She also brings with her the background in all sustainability issues that is so important to us,” says Lara Kufferath.
Ilonka von Bodman replaces Markus Kosel as Chief Financial Officer, who is retiring after more than 20 years with the company.
She completes the Management Board with Dr. Stephan Kufferath, Lara Kufferath, and Dr. Daniel Holstein. Von Bodman comes from the Freudenberg Group, where she spent the last seven years as CFO of various subsidiaries. In the course of her career, she worked for ten years at Deutsche Bank Group in various positions in Frankfurt and London.
At GKD, her task will be to ensure financial stability in the context of international growth and at the same time to promote innovation and digitalization.
“Markets, supply chains, and technologies are currently changing at an as yet unseen rate. This is also a challenge for financial management within companies. We need to become more flexible and facilitate fast transformation,” says Von Bodman.
The generational change at GKD will finally be complete on July 1. Following his brother, Ingo Kufferath, Dr. Stephan Kufferath will also step down from the Management Board and pass responsibility for the company to his daughter Lara, who will assume the role of CEO of the company.
GKD will then be headed by the Kufferath family in its fourth generation. Lara Kufferath has been at the company for five years already, and a member of the Management Board since 2021. To date, she has primarily been responsible for GKD’s digital and sustainable transformation as well as for managing the global locations.
About GKD Group
As a privately owned technical weaving mill, GKD – Gebr. Kufferath AG is the global market leader for metallic mesh, synthetic mesh, and spiral mesh solutions. Since 1925, the company has provided solutions for a large number of application areas in the fields of: Architecture & Design, Industry & Filtration, Process Belts, and Mining Equipment.
In all of these sectors, GKD strives to make a key contribution to securing a healthier, cleaner, and safer world. With headquarters in Germany, six other production sites in the US, South Africa, China, India, and Chile, as well as branches in France, Spain, and representatives all over the world, GKD is never far from its customers or markets.
Further information: www.gkd-group.com
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