Le Thierry is new Managing Director

Management change at UVEX SPORTS GROUP GmbH & Co KG: Katharina Le Thierry is the new Managing Director since the 01.01.2012 for the successful sports division of the Fürth –based family enterprise following Werner Grau, who will be retiring after 33 successful years July 31, 2012. Le Thierry will first be having complete responsibility for uvex sports on 07. February 2012, followed by the uvex subsidiary Alpina on 31. July 2012, until then Werner Grau remains responsible for it.


A generation change with careful consideration
Mr Grau, who was born in Augsburg, will be succeeded by Katharina Le Thierry, a highly competent professional who has established an excellent international reputation. She possesses substantial expertise in the sports lifestyle industry and extensive experience of building and managing global brands. “A generation change is always a difficult process, but I am certain that, with careful consideration, we have completed the necessary groundwork in all areas to ensure the continuing success of the uvex and Alpina brands,” says Michael Winter, Managing Director of uvex Winter Holding.

Extensive international experience
Le Thierry will be the first female member of the management team of the uvex sports group, who has established a strong network of contacts in the region.
Ms Le Thierry is highly proficient in international management in the consumer goods, luxury goods and sporting goods industries. As a General Manager/Managing Director of a number of global blue chip companies, she has managed, restructured and held full responsibility for brands, sales offices and international SBUs for many years. A business graduate, she has complemented her comprehensive management experience in the German-speaking and Benelux countries, France and central and northern Europe with strategic, international consultancy experience.

In the sports and sports lifestyle industries, Katharina Le Thierry gained an excellent reputation as the General Manager of Germany & Central Europe at PUMA AG. Before this, she also held the positions of Managing Director at LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) Watch & Jewellery GmbH and International Marketing Director at Henkel KGaA in Dusseldorf.

“uvex is a traditional and successful German brand. It proves that in Germany medium-sized family-run companies are strong and vital drivers of our economy on account of their innovative strength and exceptional quality standards,” says Katharina Le Thierry. “The relevance and success of the brand philosophy ‘protecting people’ and the opportunity for the next generation to develop and further promote this principle internationally in the field of sports is an exciting challenge. I look forward to contributing my knowledge of brand and company management, particularly in the area of sports, to the work of the uvex group management team.”

Werner Grau passes on a great legacy
Werner Grau started his career at Carrera in 1970 and in 1976 he became the Managing Director for Germany and Head of International Marketing. In 1979, the father of three (one son and two daughters) founded Alpina. Under his management the company, which is an uvex subsidiary, increased total sales from DM 3.5 million in its first year to more than EUR 40 million today. In 1983, he assumed responsibility for uvex’s winter sports division as International Managing Director. Werner Grau and Michael Winter together restructured uvex sports in 1995, establishing solid foundations for its future. Eventually he became a Managing Director of uvex Winter Holding in 2002. A pioneering equestrian division was created in 2009 and is already proving very successful. Under the management of Werner Grau, the uvex sports group generated total sales of EUR 98 million in the financial year 2010/2011.


The uvex group
UVEX WINTER HOLDING GmbH & Co. KG brings together three globally active companies under one roof: the uvex safety group, the uvex sports group (with uvex sports and Alpina), and Filtral. The uvex group is represented in 22 countries by 41 subsidiaries but chooses to do most of its manufacturing in Germany. Two thirds of the company’s 2,100-strong workforce (FY 2010/2011) is employed in Germany. uvex is a global partner to international elite sport and equips a host of top athletes. The motto “protecting people” is at the heart of the company’s activities. uvex develops, manufactures and distributes products and services for the safety and protection of people at work, in sport and for leisure pursuits.

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