Zaandam, The Netherlands, April 18, 2002 - Effective August 15, 2002, Senior Vice President Corporate Communications Hans Gobes will leave Ahold. He has led Ahold's worldwide corporate communication activities since 1990. These range from corporate positioning to internal communications, financial and acquisition communications, media relations, crisis and reputation management, public affairs and advising the Corporate Executive Board and executive teams on the broad spectrum of communication issues.
His successor will be announced in due course. Gobes will put his considerable experience to good use in the years ahead as, amongst others, an advisor to board members and supervisory directors of international companies.
Remarks by Ahold President & CEO Cees van der Hoeven
'As Senior Vice President, Hans Gobes has contributed significantly to Ahold's international success,' said President Cees van der Hoeven. 'His grasp of the communication discipline, broad experience and management qualities have impacted positively on Ahold. The company has grown by a factor of 10 during his tenure at Ahold and he has handled the communication challenges that have arisen over the last 12 years in a most professional way. Ahold has become a close family of 450,000 associates, largely reflecting his effective approach. We would like to express our gratitude to Hans and wish him every success in the future.'
Ahold is a multi-local food retail and foodservice company serving 40 million customers in 28 countries with 2001 sales of Euro 66.6 billion (approximately USD 59 billion).
