Johan Deburchgrave becomes new CEO of Vandersanden
Johan Deburchgrave takes over from Rudi Peeters as CEO of Vandersanden, Europe’s largest brick-producing family-owned company. Deburchgrave, currently Chief Strategy Officer at Unilin Group, will take over from the first of January 2024. He will continue Vandersanden’s pioneering role in innovation, digitalisation and sustainability.
During his career, Deburchgrave has held executive positions at companies such as Etex and IVC Group. Altogether, he has more than 30 years of experience in the construction-related industry.
“We chose Johan because he has a wealth of experience within the construction and manufacturing environment from his previous positions, always in an international context. As a result, he knows better than anyone else what our customers need,” says board chairman Lucas Vandersanden. “He fits perfectly with the Vandersanden family business culture. We are sure that he will not only guide Vandersanden through this challenging period in the construction sector but at the same time implement our strategy to make Vandersanden even stronger in the future.”
Deburchgrave takes over from Rudi Peeters
Peeters led Vandersanden through the turbulent waters of the past two years, with the coronavirus and energy crisis. At the same time, he ensured several great achievements, including the first CO2-negative facing brick Pirrouet®. Peeters was the first non-family CEO of Vandersanden. He will continue to be part of Vandersanden’s future as an independent director.
Building Strategy
As the new CEO, Johan Deburchgrave will build upon the plan that Rudi Peeters has set out for positive change. His mission will be to strengthen Vandersanden’s position as a pioneer in innovation, digitalisation and sustainability.
“Vandersanden’s clear long-term vision and strong ambition to be a leader in sustainability inspire me enormously. Vandersanden puts this strategy not only into words but also into real actions. That appealed to me enormously. In addition, I can identify well with Vandersanden’s family values - as the father of two children, I also believe that we should not think in years, but in generations. I look forward to growing the company with the family, shareholders and the entire Vandersanden team,” concludes Johan Deburchgrave.
