Sören Hartmann, 59, the current Management Board member responsible for the Travel and Tourism division of REWE Group, will be stepping down from the Management Board as planned when his current contract expires on 31 December 2022, but will continue to serve the company in an advisory role. Group CEO Lionel Souque will assume responsibility for the Travel and Tourism division from 1 January 2023.
In addition, effective 1 July 2022, Jan Kunath will take over responsibility on the REWE Group Management Board for the DIY Stores business segment, including the toom Baumarkt DIY stores in Germany, from the department headed by CFO Dr. Christian Mielsch, who is leaving the company.
“The expansion of the Management Board will create the conditions needed to improve our efficiency and Group-wide synergies even further with regard to strategic tasks relating to human resources, sustainability, procurement, technology and digitalisation”, says Lionel Souque. “In addition, the appointment of the COO for REWE Deutschland as a Group Management Board member underscores the huge role our core business plays in the development of the entire Group. I am convinced that given our business success and the dynamic growth we’ve achieved over the last five years, we still have tremendous potential for even more innovative and rapid development. Group-wide collaboration and cooperation in cross-sectional areas and activities play a key role here. All of our future Group Management Board members are outstanding and competent managers who believe with a passion in our cooperative company’s values, and also set an example for the rest of the workforce in this regard. In addition, our many years of cooperation with one another have made us an experienced and well-coordinated team. I would like to express my sincere thanks to the REWE Group Supervisory Board for the trust it has placed in our planned development path and in our future Management Board members.”
The Chairman of REWE Group’s Supervisory Board, Erich Stockhausen, had the following to say: “Our company has developed very rapidly over the last few years. Numerous innovations both large and small have had a positive impact on the development of our stationary business models and have also led to the creation of entirely new formats. Given this very dynamic and successful development, it makes sense to divide the work in the REWE Group Management Board among a larger number of people – and this will also ensure that an adequate level of efficiency can be maintained. In my view, it’s especially pleasing that as we expand the Management Board, we are able to once again fall back on managers from our own ranks – managers who have demonstrated their commitment and expertise over many successful years at REWE Group. In particular when filling our top management positions, it is important that we act in line with our cooperative principles and values; we believe in long-term oriented thinking and action that will safeguard sustainable success across generations.”
Speaking about the departure of Sören Hartmann from the Management Board at the end 2022, Lionel Souque had the following to say: “Through his outstanding work and untiring dedication, Sören Hartmann made a decisive contribution to expanding DER Touristik Group into an organisation that was able to secure for itself a leading position in the German and European tourism industry – and I am extremely grateful to him for this achievement.” REWE Group Supervisory Board Chairman Erich Stockhausen added: “Sören Hartmann structured our Travel and Tourism division in a manner that will enable it to emerge from the crisis in a strong position. I am very grateful to him for that – and for his many years of successful work with DER Touristik Group and in the REWE Group Management Board.”
