After six years in the hot seat, Martin Jourdan is stepping down as chairman of the British Furniture Confederation. The new chairman is Paul von der Heyde.
Following a 30 year career as a chartered accountant, working across a broad range of corporate business, taxation and finance issues, Paul was appointed non-executive Chairman of Kinnarps (UK) Limited, the UK arm of an international office systems furniture manufacturer, in 1994 and then managing director in 2000. He left Kinnarps at the end of May 2011, having seen it through the tempestuous first 10 years of the 21st century, during which time it moved from independent distributor to wholly owned subsidiary of Kinnarps AB.
He is currently building a portfolio of non/part time executive director/chairman roles, including the Howland Group which owns Hands of Wycombe. He is also treasurer and First Assistant at the Livery Company.
Handing over the reins to Paul, Martin Jourdan said: “The BFC was formed to provide a single voice for the furniture industry and there is no doubt in my mind that, by encouraging the formation of, and working closely with the All Party Parliamentary Furniture Group, the industry does indeed have that voice; and government does listen to us – even if they do not always act in quite the way we would like!
The BFC team is now well-established, adequately financed, at ease with itself and broadly based. The UK manufacturing industry faces plenty of challenges today, but the time is right for me now to make way for new blood and I feel sure that under Paul’s direction the BFC will ensure the industry’s interests are represented and its concerns are listened to in Westminster and Whitehall.”
Says Paul of his appointment to the BFC: “I am delighted to have been invited to become chairman of the BFC. Having worked in the office sector of the industry for the last 10 years and helped a number of enterprises across the broader industry during my professional life before that, I have experienced how much the furniture industry has been challenged over the years. Fortunately there will always be a need in business and domestically for a wide variety of furniture so there are many opportunities to grasp. I am looking forward to helping the BFC ensure the right political and economic environment develops so that all parts of our industry can flourish and prosper.”