Upon joining GES, Hughes will work closely with the Board and his leadership team to conduct a strategic review process and identify the best approaches for growth. His primary focus will be to optimize the company's core business with a goal of transforming GES into a global logistics leader with a winning corporate culture. GES will consider a wide range of strategic options to best facilitate this transformation.
"Michael brings a wealth of experience gained over 35 years of working with growth-oriented companies,' commented Baha'a Hariri, Chairman of Globe Express Services, 'enabling those companies to achieve a higher level of performance through acquisition and integration, IT enabled transformation, risk management and good governance, and greater efficiencies in their global processes. He is uniquely qualified to lead the next stage of growth for our company, and we feel fortunate to add someone of Mike's caliber to our organization. We wish him all the best in his new role.'
"As I begin my first 100 days,' Mr. Hughes said, 'I will focus on learning the strengths of GES, its business model, meeting our people, listening to the voices of our key customers, assessing our capabilities and understanding our best opportunities to excel in customer service. With these things in mind and with the input of our entire leadership team, we will start to formulate a target operating model and a new path for growth for our company. Great people, great technology, a winning culture and a reward system aligned to shareholder value and our customers' needs are foundational to achieving our aspirations. I look forward to growing GES, both organically and through acquisitions, into a Top 30 global logistics leader, building a One Company-One Team winning culture, and making GES a Great Place to Work.'
Hughes most recently served as National Leader for the Food, Drink and Consumer Goods sector at KPMG, where he was responsible for managing the firm's most important global clients in that sector, including PepsiCo, ADM, Cargill, Colgate Palmolive, General Mills, Nestle, Kimberly Clark, P&G, The Coca-Cola Company, Unilever, L'Oreal, SAB Miller, Mars, Conagra and Whirlpool. In addition, he was the Global Lead Partner for Kraft Foods and Johnson Controls, overseeing global Audit, Tax and Management Consulting services. During his 14 year career with KPMG, which he joined as a direct entry Partner, Mr. Hughes held many key leadership roles such as Region Manager Chicago, Risk and Compliance Service Line Leader, and National Partner - Consumer Markets. Prior to joining KPMG, he spent 23 years as a senior finance executive with The Coca-Cola Company in positions of increasing responsibility. Mr. Hughes holds a BS degree from The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and an MBA from Emory University in Atlanta.
