Portraits Speakers

During his studies, Rahil M. Ansari gained practical experience at Procter & Gamble, Philips and Hugo Boss, among others. After successfully completing his studies in 2003, he completed a trainee programme at the food company Royal Wessanen before starting his career at AUDI AG in 2004. For two years, he was responsible for Europe and Asia as country pricing manager, and for another two years he worked as sales manager for India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Mr Ansari then moved to the British sports car manufacturer Aston Martin, where he was Regional Manager for Northern and Southern Europe. In 2011, he returned to AUDI AG as Head of Trade Network Development. Since 2013, the 36-year-old has been Head of Global Pricing Parts & Accessories there.

With more than 15 years in senior positions as Director and Managing Director in the Luxembourg banking and investment fund industry, Ruth Bültmann has extensive professional experience in the financial industry of renowned financial institutions. After her successful graduation in the German-French degree programme in Business at the Faculty of Business Studies and the École Supérieure de Commerce de Compiègne, the Aachen-born Ruth Bültmann started her professional career in the audit department of PWC in Luxembourg. From 1999 onwards, she headed the investment fund business of DZ BANK International S.A. as department director and deputy head of division. In parallel, she completed her MBA with distinction at the University of Wales in 2005. Between 2006 and 2011, she played a key role as Executive Director in the successful establishment and expansion of two Luxembourg-based investment companies and their processes; first at UniCredit Group and then at Assenagon Asset Management. Since 2011, she has been a partner at Deloitte Tax & Consulting in Luxembourg.

Under the name "Deloitte", consultants work together worldwide in independent companies in the areas of auditing, tax advice, consulting and corporate finance. With more than 1,700 employees and approximately 80 partners, Deloitte Tax & Consulting Luxembourg has been serving companies and institutions of all legal forms and sizes in all sectors of the economy for more than 60 years. Deloitte Tax & Consulting Luxembourg is a member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL), a "private company limited by guarantee" under British law. The DTTL member firms are represented in 150 countries with 203,000 employees and generated a turnover of 32.4 billion US dollars worldwide in the 2012/2013 financial year (2012). This makes the network one of the Big Four audit and consulting firms.

Already during his studies, Markus Esser gained his first practical experience at ProQuest Alision GmbH, a management consultancy in Frankfurt specialising in the automotive sector. After graduating with a degree in business administration from the Faculty of Business Studies in 2004, he completed a trainee programme with a focus on sales at Palm Beach Motor Cars, one of the leading premium car dealerships in the USA. From 2005 to 2009, he worked for a renowned luxury car dealership in Germany, where he was initially responsible as a sales consultant for Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley and Aston Martin, before taking over as sales manager for modern sports cars and luxury automobiles in 2007. In 2009, Markus Esser founded the company PACE, which he successfully leads today as Executive Director.

The premium car dealership PACE, based in Wuppertal, was founded by Markus Esser in 2009. Its range of services includes the purchase, sale and brokerage of exclusive sports cars and luxury automobiles, such as Aston Martin, Bugatti, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Rolls Royce. Since April 2013, PACE has been the official dealer for KOENIGSEGG Automotive AB in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. KOENIGSEGG is a Swedish super sports car manufacturer. In addition, PACE organises the Rallye Germania, a two-day event that gives sports car enthusiasts the opportunity to share their passion for exceptional vehicles.

Hendrik Gaudek works at Ernst & Young GmbH as a manager in the Advisory Services, Process Improvement, Supply Chain and Operations division with a focus on procurement in the automotive industry and in the industrial and plant engineering sector. After training as a banker at Sparkasse Mülheim an der Ruhr, Hendrik Gaudek studied "Dual Award Business Studies in Cooperation with Anglophone Countries" (now International Business Studies) at the Faculty of Business Studies and Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland. After successfully completing his studies, he completed a graduate development programme at Toyota Motor Europe in Brussels, where he gained three years of experience as a junior buyer and purchasing specialist. Since 2011, he has been advising companies at Ernst & Young on process optimisation and standardisation in the context of purchasing transformation projects. He also supports the identification of cost optimisation potentials and the implementation of change measures.

Ernst & Young is a member of a worldwide network of legally independent companies in the fields of auditing, tax consulting and business and management consulting. In 2013, the group employed more than 175,000 people at 700 locations in 150 countries. The total turnover of the global network amounted to 19.4 billion euros in the 2013 business year. Supply Chain & Operations is a sub-area of management consulting in which teams of EY consultants provide advice to companies in the areas of purchasing/procurement/planning, design, manufacturing, final assembly and supply and logistics.

Heinz Hilger has been Managing Director and Country Head at Standard Chartered Bank Germany Branch since 2013 and in this role is responsible for global activities with corporate clients as well as financial institutions headquartered in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He is in charge of client services as well as the relevant product groups of these client segments and, as Managing Director of the Standard Chartered Bank branch in Germany, is also responsible to the banking supervisory authorities. Hilger looks back on a 25-year career in corporate and investment banking. He successfully graduated from the Faculty of Business Studies in 1995. He spent eleven years at Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, London and New York in various functions. He spent four years at JP Morgan in Frankfurt as Head of Client Services. Most recently, he worked for seven years at Bank of America Merril Lynch as Head of Corporate Banking and Dept Capital Markets for the German-speaking part of Europe and as BAFin-approved Business Manager of the Bank of America branch in Frankfurt am Main.

Standard Chartered is a leading international banking group headquartered in London. The group's strongest presence is in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, where the majority of its turnover is also generated. It coordinates the foreign operations of over 700 banks from around the world, giving them access to the largest financial networks in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The Group has over 1,700 branches and sales offices in more than 68 countries and employs more than 89,000 people from 130 nations. It was formed in 1969 through a merger of the British overseas banks Standard Bank of British South Africa and the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China. In Germany, the bank employs around 150 people.

After successfully completing her studies at the Faculty of Business Studies and Coventry University, Sarah Laacks started her career at the drugstore chain Rossmann as an employee in supplier management. In 2011, she took over the management of this team and two years later also became the team leader of the central warehouse disposition. The 29-year-old ensures the supply of goods to the warehouse locations and makes sure that the right quantities are ordered from the suppliers at the right time and that the incoming goods of the seven Rossmann warehouse locations in Germany are optimally utilised. She also monitors the performance of the suppliers and optimises the internal and external supply chain processes with the suppliers.

Dirk Rossmann GmbH is the second largest drugstore chain in the Federal Republic of Germany and is one of the ten most important food retailers in Germany in terms of turnover. In 2013, the Rossmann Group achieved a turnover of 6.64 billion euros with 3,000 sales outlets in Germany, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Albania and Turkey. The company expects sales to increase to 7 billion euros in 2014. Dirk Rossmann GmbH is an owner-managed company and is majority-owned by the Roßmann family. The company is headquartered in Burgwedel near Hanover. In addition, the globally active A.S. Watson Group holds a 40 percent stake in the company.

In 2008, Christoph Nobis successfully completed his business studies at the Faculty of Business Studies. He earned a Diplom degree from FH Aachen and a Bachelor's degree from Edinburgh Napier University with First Class Honours and subsequently specialised at the University of Maastricht with a Master's degree in Supply Chain Management. During his studies, Nobis already gained practical experience through practical trainings and part-time jobs and in 2010, after a previous practical training at Henkel AG & Co. KGaA as Purchasing Manager for IT Services & Hardware. Since 2013, the 30-year-old has been Purchasing Manager in Contract Logistics, responsible for negotiating supplier contracts, further developing Henkel's global warehouse network and supplier development.

Henkel is active worldwide with leading brands and technologies in three business areas: Laundry & Home Care, Beauty Care and Adhesive Technologies. Founded in 1876, the company holds leading global market positions in the consumer and industrial businesses with well-known brands such as Persil, Schwarzkopf and Loctite. The company is headquartered in Düsseldorf. More than 80 percent of its 47,000 employees work outside Germany. This makes Henkel one of the most internationally oriented companies in Germany. In the 2013 business year, the company achieved sales of 16.36 million euros and an operating result of 2.52 million euros.

In 2006, Lena Rothe successfully completed her studies at the Faculty of Business Studies, majoring in Marketing, Controlling and Human Resources Management. During her practical semester, she worked as a diploma student at Metro AG in the area of human resources development. She then completed a postgraduate Master's degree at Napier University Edinburgh in Scotland. After practical training in the area of group sales strategy, Lena Rothe joined Volkswagen AG on a permanent basis in 2007. Here she initially worked for the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand in the sales network organisation for the German market and later for the strategic orientation of the international dealer organisation. At the same time, she wrote her doctoral thesis on "Cooperative Distribution Management and Distribution Success - An Empirical Analysis in the German Automotive Industry" as part of a cooperation with the Marketing Chair at TU Braunschweig. Since 2013, she has been responsible for sales promotion as well as budget planning and budget controlling at Volkswagen Passenger Cars in the Marketing Section of Region West.

The Volkswagen Group, headquartered in Wolfsburg, is one of the world's leading car manufacturers and the largest car producer in Europe. Twelve brands from seven European countries belong to the group: Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Audi, SEAT, ŠKODA, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Ducati, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Scania and MAN. In 2013, the Group increased deliveries of vehicles to customers to 9.7 million (2012: 9.3 million), which corresponds to a global passenger car market share of 12.8 percent. In Western Europe, almost a quarter of all new passenger cars came from the Volkswagen Group (24.8 percent). The core brand Volkswagen Passenger Cars set a new record in 2013 with 5.9 million vehicles delivered. The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand serves customers in over 150 countries with more than 70 different models at 14 production sites.

Charlotte Salzmann looks back on many years of experience as an auditor. After graduating from the Faculty of Business Studies in 1995, she joined KPMG AG. Initially she worked there as an assistant, and from 2001 as a manager. She spent 1.5 years at KPMG Stockholm and another two years in KPMG's policy department in Berlin. Since 2006, she has been a partner responsible for the Audit Corporate division. She audits and advises listed, family-owned and PE-owned companies of various sizes on the audit of individual and consolidated financial statements. Her selected clients include Deutsche Annington Immobilien SE, GEA, MAN and General Electric.

KPMG is one of the leading auditing and consulting firms in Germany and has around 8,700 employees in 25 locations. KPMG is a global network of legally independent firms with around 155,000 employees in 155 countries. "Cutting through complexity" is the central promise to clients and business partners: With expert knowledge, KPMG provides clarity in an increasingly complex world. The services are divided into three business areas: Audit, Tax and Advisory. Audit focuses on the auditing of consolidated and annual financial statements. Tax stands for KPMG's tax advisory activities. The Advisory division bundles expertise in business management, regulatory and transaction-oriented topics.

Wilhelm Schmid has been Executive Director of the luxury watch manufacturer A. Lange & Söhne since 2011. After graduating from the Faculty of Business Studies in 1989, he worked for thirteen years in various management positions in marketing, sales and controlling at "The Burmah Oil Deutschland GmbH (Burmah-Castrol)". For nine years he then managed the business of the BMW automotive group as Director of Sales Trade Organisations in Germany and as Director of Sales and Marketing in the South African market.

Dresden watchmaker Ferdinand A. Lange laid the foundation for Saxon fine watchmaking when he founded his watch manufactory in 1845. His high-quality pocket watches are still highly sought after by collectors all over the world. After the Second World War, the company was expropriated and the name A. Lange & Söhne was almost forgotten. In 1990, Walter Lange, the great-grandson of Ferdinand A. Lange, dared to make a new start. Today, only a few thousand wristwatches made of gold or platinum are produced at Lange each year. They are exclusively equipped with in-house developed movements that are elaborately decorated and assembled by hand. With over 40 manufacture calibres, A. Lange & Söhne has been able to secure a top position among the world's best watch brands in little more than 20 years.

Claudia Wagner completed a two-year dual training programme with a German-French double degree and then studied in the international German-French degree programme in Business at the Faculty of Business Studies. In 2009, she completed her studies with a double degree as Diplomkauffrau (FH) and Bachelor in Management Entrepreneurial. After working at LVMH Parfums & Kosmetik Deutschland GmbH and Louis Vuitton Deutschland GmbH, she joined Lambertz GmbH & Co. KG. There she was initially responsible for the Export Sales Department France and took over the management of international sales in 2011. Since 2012, she has been the international sales manager with key account responsibility and is responsible, among other things, for creating the international strategy of the Lambertz Deutschland Group, budget planning and control, and international customer acquisition.

Pastries, cakes, biscuits, Printen and dominoes - Lambertz is one of the leading German pastry manufacturers for annual and seasonal products. Founded in Aachen in 1688, the products of brands such as Lambertz, Kinkartz, Weiss and Haeberlein-Metzger are now popular worldwide. The owner, Dr Hermann Bühlbecker, is the familiar face of the company and the Lambertz brand. Thanks to good gingerbread sales, the Lambertz Group was able to increase its turnover by 4 percent to 585 million euros in the 2013/2014 financial year.

Sven Wiechert began his career as a consultant at Pixelpark AG after graduating from the faculty in 2000. He then worked as Junior Manager Consumer Relationship & Interactive Brand Management from 2002 to 2008, then as Product Manager and later as Head of eBrand Management - Senior International eBrand Manager at Beiersdorf AG for the brands NIVEA, Labello and 8x4. This was followed by a sabbatical year and three years at L'Oréal Deutschland GmbH, where he worked as Group Manager Internet & CRM L'ORÉAL PARiS and as Director Digital Media L'ORÉAL Germany. In 2010, Sven Wiechert founded the online shop Lieblingstasche together with his wife Simone Wiechert, which he has managed as Executive Director since 2013. He focuses in particular on online marketing.

"Class instead of mass" is the motto of the online shop Lieblingstasche, where bag lovers have been finding a special selection of bags on the internet since 2010. The selective offer ranges from practical shoulder bags to stylish handbags and exclusive leather bags. Lieblingstasche is based in Hürth near Cologne. Lieblingstasche is Trusted Shops certified and has been awarded the overall rating "very good" by its customers in more than 10,000 assessments. Due to its lovely design and user-friendly navigation, the online shop won several awards already in its founding year. In 2012, Lieblingstasche was nominated for the Internet World Business Shop Award and in 2016 it received the "Top Shop 2016" award from Computer Bild.