After 9 years of presiding over the UK operations of N&W and latterly Evoca Group, and with 4 years of service as AVA Chairman on his CV, Dave Ward has announced that he’s retiring at the end of June. He’ll be replaced in the Evoca UK hot-seat by Frenchman Hervé Donneaud.
‘Hervé will arrive in the UK on the first of May to begin the hand over process’, Dave told PV. ‘He’s been with Evoca for 15 years and his background is in finance. Initially, he managed our leasing business in France before taking over as Country Manager. Most recently, he’s spent three years looking after our businesses in both North and South America, based in Fort Lauderdale, Miami.’
(Hervé is sure to find Bilston reassuringly familiar after that?! Ed.)
‘He’ll bring with him a wealth of knowledge about the Out Of Home drink and snacks businesses from many countries’, Dave said, ‘as well as an intimate knowledge of our products. I have every confidence that Hervé will continue the excellent work carried out by the UK team, in delivering new and innovative products together with ever-improving service levels to all our customers.’
Having worked closely with Dave since his arrival in Bilston from Germany all those years ago, we’ll be sad to see him go. Planet Vending has four pages of archives full of stories in which he’s featured. We were first to announce his arrival at the AVA as Chair in 2013 and we’ve published a series of specially written blog posts in which Dave has shared his opinions on every conceivable issue vending has faced in recent years. He’ll be sorely missed by all of us at PV.
It’s difficult to underestimate his contribution to the industry during his tenure and we’re sure you’ll join with us in wishing Dave and his wife Geraldine a long and happy retirement.
Having said that, to quote from a movie that’s even older than Mr. Ward, (!), ‘after all, tomorrow is another day’. We’re looking forward to meeting M. Donneaud and – as you’ve come to expect – being the first media outlet to bring you an exhaustive, exclusive interview with the man who’ll be at the helm as Evoca navigates through what promises to be the most exciting period of change in its long and distinguished history.
Read up on Dave Ward in Planet Vending’s archive, here.
