Dear colleagues,
I’m informing you today that the Board of Directors of Watpac Ltd has appointed Jean-Pol Bouharmont as Chief Executive Officer.
Prior to joining Watpac at the start of 2019 as Chief Operating Officer, Jean-Pol was a key member of BESIX's Middle East executive team where he held a similar position and made a significant contribution to their operations in the region, where he lead on iconic projects such as the Burj Khalifa Tower, Cleveland Clinic Hospital, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and many infrastructure projects such as power & desalination plants, harbours, bridges and tunnels. Prior to that, Jean-Pol had worked in Belgium on some major Infrastructure projects.
Ben O’Rourke has taken leave of absence for the time-being, reflecting on his future. The reason for the decision of the change of command is driven by a mutual recognition of diverging opinions on how to bring Watpac forward.
I want to emphasize that the decision to part with Ben was not related to Watpac operational performance or to Watpac financial situation which remains solid.
In our organization going forward, in accordance with Watpac values of Unity and Team Work, the reporting lines will also be shortened as the position of COO will not be maintained.
Jean-Pol’s appointment will lead to a strengthened alignment between Watpac and BESIX Group, a simplification of the Company structure and a facilitated access for Watpac to new markets, notably in the engineering and design fields of marine and civil works, in line with the Group’s strategy.
We will also finalize the recruitment of a Corporate Chief Development Officer in the coming weeks to lead on Watpac rebranding, market (re)positioning and global business development strategy.
I trust you will all continue to give your full support at different levels to Jean-Pol in his (new) role and I hereby reiterate my confidence in Watpac’s leadership team and overall organization in delivering the strategy.
Best regards,
Rik Vandenberghe
CEO of BESIX Group