Canadian-based Azelis announced the appointment of Frans J. des Tombe as managing director, effective June 2, 2014. He replaces Tony Craske, who will now be based in Europe and serve as international business director of Azelis Personal Care.
Joan Traynor, regional managing director of UK, Nordic and the Americas said in a press statement, "We are delighted to welcome Frans to the group. He has a proven track record of profitable business development within specialty chemicals, a strong background in operational leadership and sales management, coupled with wide ranging knowledge of the Canadian chemical distribution market."
Most recently, des Tombe was vice president for DSN Chemical Transportation, a third party logistics company specializing in the movement of hazardous materials and temperature controlled chemical freight. Prior to that, he spent more than 25 years in various senior roles within Cognis Canada Corp., which was acquired by BASF in 2010.
Tony Craske also added, in the press statement, "I know that I am leaving Azelis Canada in good hands. Frans brings a wealth of corporate and business knowledge with a global outlook and strong local focus."
Des Tombe said, "I look forward to working with the very capable Azelis team in Canada to further grow our business across new markets. In line with Azelis' strategy, we aim to maximize synergies whilst enhancing our product offering and service provision, to better serve customers and principals."
Des Tombe was elected by his peers to the board of directors for the Canadian Association of Chemical Distributors (CACD) in June 2010 and remains an active member of the association. He will report directly to Traynor.
