Ardo, the Ardooie, Belgium-headquartered frozen vegetable, herbs and fruit specialist with annual sales exceeding €1.1 billion and a work force of more than 4,000 people, will welcome two new independent directors on February 1 when Jan Vander Stichele and Conny Vandendriessche join Stefaan Decraene and Jules Noten on the board.
Ms. Vandendriessche started her business career in 1995 as co-founder and co-chief executive officer of Accent Jobs, which in 2012 merged into The House of HR, in which she is an active shareholder and director. Headquartered in Roeselare, Belgium, the House of HR generated turnover of €1.7 billion last year and employs approximately 3,200 people.
In 2014 Vandendriessche established Stella P, which focuses on diversity in boards of directors. In 2019 she founded We are Jane, a private equity fund for female entrepreneurs. Vandendriessche also has experience on the boards of directors at Televic, Orac, De Rocker Logistics, JBC, VOKA and other companies.
Mr. Vander Stichele is the chairman and director of Lotus Bakeries, a listed family group with turnover of approximately €613 million per annum, 2,000 employees and 12 production sites. He served previously as technical director of Verlipack, general manager Lotus France, and general manager of operations for the Lotus Group.
Additionally, he new Ardo board member is a director at TVH Parts Holding, Beaulieu international Holding, the Hospital Onze-Lieve-Vrouw in Aalst. He is also chairman of Fevia and Flanders Food, and a director of Choprabisco.
“We are delighted to be able to call upon such an experienced and complementary group of independent directors in addition to the operational experience and management knowledge of our family directors, who can support and guide the management of Ardo in the next interval,” said Philippe Haspeslagh, chairman of the board, in welcome the newcomers.
