News / Geodis management changes confirmed

A double appointment was disclosed yesterday at Geodis, with company veteran Eric Martin-Neuville taking over as EVP for Asia-Pacific and Middle East, leaving Henri Le Gouis to take on Mr Martin-Neuville’s role as EVP for freight forwarding.

Although the pair are set to join the board too, there are some question marks surrounding what appears to be a sideways, if not backward, step for Mr Martin-Neuville.

The statement announcing the appointments was scant on comments from company bigwigs that usually accompany these people stories, but managerial changes were anticipated at Geodis by Loadstar Premium on 26 November.

Mr Martin-Neuville started out when the firm was still Geodis-Wilson, back in 1985, and in his near 40-year career has often circled back to it.

Sandwiched between Geodis, he had stints with Calberson and Talentbank, the latter after he had been tasked with managing the 2007 merger between TNT Freight Management and Geodis while based in Asia.

He returned to Europe briefly, before departing Geodis again, for a little over year at Talentbank in Singapore.

But the pull was too strong, and he again returned to Geodis, where he stayed for the past 13 years, as deputy COO before spending five years as COO for freight forwarding until his 2018 appointment as EVP for the division.

Much like the man he is replacing, Mr Le Gouis is also something of a company man, having spent almost two decades at Bolloré, before joining Geodis last month.