PPDS announces new leadership trio

PPDS has announced a new senior management structure to extend its global growth plans, with general manager, Chris Colpaert, confirming his departure. Current vice president EMEA, Franck Racapé, and director of international business development, Martijn van der Woude, together with Robert Hsu, will lead the business forward on a global level as head of global commercial, head of global business development and marketing, and head of global product strategy respectively, reporting directly to Nico Vernieuwe, senior vice president at TPV, PPDS’ parent company.

This new leadership team has been structured to further accelerate the company in its 2020–2025 growth plan on a global level, designed around three strategic business pillars – Global Markets, Business Development and Marketing and Product Management. The leadership trio have worked closely together in overseeing PPDS’ most recent evolution, which includes a full-scale company rebrand and launch of a market strategy in 2021.

Racape, who joined the company in 2011, has played an instrumental role in PPDS’ commercial success in EMEA, including the roll out of its global partner programs and a growing number of customer support initiatives. Now, he will take the commercial lead for all international markets, with the exception of China, in order to mirror this momentum and lead the implementation of the new strategy on a global level.

Martijn van der Woude joined PPDS at the beginning of 2019, and has been responsible, among other things, for the company’s portfolio, as well as initiating and continually developing its sustainability roadmap. He will also expand into a newly created role, marrying business development and marketing on a global level, with a focus on end-to-end integration of the company’s go-to-market strategy.

Hsu, who has held the role of head of global product strategy since he joined PPDS in early 2020, will continue the expansion of the PPDS product and solution portfolio. Commenting on the new structure, Vernieuwe said: “Our success in the professional display industry is a cornerstone of our group’s development. The implementation of our new total solutions strategy, our global approach, and our sustainability programs are all key components. Deploying these seamlessly across all markets on a truly global basis is the real value add for our partners and their customers.

Racapé added: “PPDS continues to go from strength to strength in the market, and I’m honoured to have been entrusted, together with Martijn and Robert, to lead the company forward on a global scale. We have achieved so much in a relatively short period, and I believe we’re still only just getting started, with some incredibly opportunities ahead.”