19th Jun 2012 07:00
For immediate release 19 June 2012
Board and Senior Management Changes at Millennium & Copthorne Hotels plc
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels plc announces the following Board and senior management changes.
Mr Sean Collins FCA will join the Board as an independent non-executive Member of the Board with effect from 1 September 2012. Mr Collins, 62, was formerly a senior audit and advisory partner at the accounting and advisory firm, KPMG, where he had worked since 1972. From 2009 until recently he was Head of Markets for KPMG, Asia Pacific, responsible for the firm's business development across 17 countries in the Asia Pacific timezone.
Mr John Chang has been appointed with immediate effect as Chief Financial Officer, based in London and reporting to Chief Executive Officer Wong Hong Ren. Mr Chang qualified as a certified public accountant in Singapore in 1994. He was previously employed by a Singapore diversified real estate company which operates 3,000 rooms in six hotels in Asia and has interests in a significant stand-alone food and beverage business where Mr Chang led a management team responsible for the successful turn-around of the business . He gained significant experience of legal compliance and governance processes during a four year period with Singapore's Commercial Affairs Department. As CFO, Mr Chang will be responsible for all financial management, risk management and corporate affairs functions, including accounting, reporting, tax and treasury, as well as supporting corporate financial and strategic activities conducted by the Group. The Group anticipates that Mr Chang will be invited to join the Board of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels plc in due course following a period of familiarisation with the Group's operations.
Mr Fabrizio Gaggio was appointed as the Group's Senior Vice President, Global Asset Management, with effect from 4 June 2012 reporting directly to Wong Hong Ren. Mr Gaggio was previously Managing Director at Starhotels, Italy's largest owned and managed hotel group, and prior to this he developed the "Lungarno Hotels Collection" for the Salvatore Ferragamo Hotel Group, where he was CEO for more than ten years. He also held the position of CFO for Forte Hotels PLC in Italy and gained experience of corporate finance with an Italian merchant bank and Arthur Andersen. Mr Gaggio's responsibilities will include oversight of renovation and repositioning projects for the Group's hotels including the development projects at Millennium Mayfair in London and UN Plaza Hotel in New York City.
"I am delighted to welcome Sean, John and Fabrizio to Millennium & Copthorne," said Chairman Kwek Leng Beng. "These are significant appointments which are part of our ongoing management restructure and will strengthen our strategic, financial and operational management capabilities at an uncertain time for the global economy. They will help us to maintain and develop the high standards of prudent financial management that have served the Group well since its inception and further develop the Group's risk management and internal control framework."
Separately, the Group announces today that it is seeking to appoint a new Company Secretary, following the decision of Mr Adrian Bushnell to pursue other interests outside the Group. He will leave Millennium & Copthorne in October 2012.
"I would like to thank Adrian for his excellent service to the Board over the past nine years. We all wish him well in his future career," said Mr Kwek.
Enquiries
Millennium & Copthorne
BengLan Low, Senior Vice President Finance 020 7872 2444
Peter Krijgsman, Financial Communications (Media)
No information is required to be disclosed pursuant to LR 9.6.13R (1) to (6) in respect of Mr Collins' appointment.
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