What does the arrival of the new CEO signify for AB Vassilopoulos

By George Lampiris

Crucial for the next day of AB Vassilopoulos is the assumption of the duties of managing director by Nikos Lavidas, a person with market experience, who was quite strongly associated with the Sklavenitis group in the past. He is currently the General Manager of Upfield Hellas, a company created in Greece after the sale of the oil and margarine portfolio by Unilever to the KKR fund worldwide, while he also holds the position of Non-Executive Director of the Fourlis Group.

Well-known market executives in the selection shortlist

The multinational supermarket chain of the Ahold Delhaize group has recently run an executive selection process for the position of CEO, in which well-known executives of the food and beverage market such as Giannis Papachristou, former CEO of Coca-Cola 3E and collaborator of Spyros Theodoropoulos but also Grigoris Sklikas, former Regional Director of SE Europe and Russia for the Royal Friesland Campina and CEO of Friesland Campina Hellas.

Looking for her footsteps the day after Stavros left

The selection of N. Lavidas comes at a time when AB Vassilopoulos is looking for its footprints in the next day of the departure of the former brand president, Vassilis Stavrou. And which in fact until now operated under a transitional management structure, where the president is Sophocles Giannakou and at the same time CFO of the chain and CEO Jesper Lauridsen with substantive duties until the position is occupied by the new CEO of AB Vassilopoulos in search of which the chain has been lately.

An important challenge for N. Lavidas

Nikos Lavidas is currently facing a major challenge in his career for several different reasons. On the one hand, AB Vassilopoulos is the second largest player in the Greek market behind the Sklavenitis group and is called to maintain the distance that separates it from the third market, Lidl but also to increase part of the lost shares of recent years. On the other hand, AB has to manage, like all chains and companies in the market, the high rate of inflation and the simultaneous reduction of consumption that affects sales. On top of that, AB Vassilopoulos is called upon to manage the management gap left by Vassilis Stavrou during his departure, as Jesper Lauridsen may temporarily take over as CEO, however this fact alone is not able to guarantee administrative cohesion. Lauridsen’s headquarters and duties are in the Czech Republic, with the result that his physical presence is limited to specific visits during the month to Greece and to alternative participation in management meetings by teleconference.

The executive selection process was centrally managed by the Ahold Delhaize Group in the Netherlands, reverently following all procedures until the final selection of the new CEO. The company of Greek interests, which was called to manage the selection and presentation of candidates to the Ahold Delhaize group, has in the past managed a significant number of such cases for both private companies and agencies and for public sector entities. The reason for Ergon Zehnder’s by Andreas Gavriilidis, a well-known company in the field of head hunting.

The arrival of the new CEO is expected to provide solutions in cases of investments that AB Vassilopoulos has started running, such as the store at the Mimikopoulou Foundation in Maroussi, where work has stopped. There, according to the report, the chain was found before discussions with the construction company, which had requested a revision of the original construction budget due to rising material costs. However, the review decision was referred centrally to the Ahold Delhaize group, with the result that any decisions are significantly delayed so far at least.