Netherlands-based leather chemical company Stahl International has appointed Huub van Beijeren as the company’s new chief executive officer, effective February 1.

Prior to joining Stahl, Mr Beijeren, was the director of the Paper and Packaging Division of DS Smith. In this position he managed a €1 billion turnover business with 5,500 employees and 39 factories.

From 1996-2005, he was a main board director at British Vita, a polymer manufacturer, where he held functional responsibility for two of the three divisions—Nonwovens and Cellular Foam—with a total of over €900 million turnover, employing 5,000 people. Prior to that, he was director of four textile factories at Gamma Holding NV. During his career he has also held various positions at Cargill BV from 1981-1986, and was a company lawyer for the Dutch Employers’ Organisation from 1979-1981.

Stahl specialises in providing coatings for leather, flexible and non-flexible substrates, textiles and related products. It also produces chemicals and dyes for the processing of leather. Stahl operates nine manufacturing sites and 26 technical service laboratories worldwide and employs some 1,400 people in more than 28 countries.