Omar Hoek appointed CEO

Vita Group is proud to announce the appointment of Omar Hoek as its new CEO. With a distinguished career spanning more than three decades in various industries, Omar Hoek brings a unique blend of cultural leadership, industry expertise and a deep understanding of market dynamics to the helm of one of Europe’s leading suppliers of flexible PU foam.

In his career, Omar spent nearly 20 years with Avery Dennison (the world’s largest multinational packaging and lamination company) and worked for two years as a director at Newell in Geneva, where he focused on the microfiber business.

Omar spent a decade at Ahlstrom, a major global specialty fiber company based in Finland, and most recently worked for four years at MATIV, a Kimberly Clark spin-off specializing in specialty materials in the United States.

Omar’s true passion is the materials processing industry, to which he has been loyal for three decades. Along the way, he has led global organizations in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, with roles in supply chain, product management, sales, strategy, procurement, OPEX, Six Sigma, mergers and acquisitions, organizational design, and profit and loss.

In his career to date, Omar has served a wide range of business sectors, from packaging to healthcare to construction, and is now venturing into the foam industry.

His distinctly forward-thinking leadership approach focuses on fostering innovation, creativity, sustainability and a customer-centric mindset that will underpin Vita’s growth strategy, while remaining focused on the Group’s goal of putting safety first.

Omar succeeds Ian Robb, who stepped down from the CEO role as planned as part of Vita’s succession strategy.

Speaking on behalf of the Vita Group, CEO Omar Hoek said, “I am delighted to join Vita, an ambitious company with a strong entrepreneurial spirit. The excellent team Ian has assembled here is a testament to his leadership skills and provides us with the platform to continue our expansion across Europe. Together with the team at Strategic Value Partners, I am confident that together we will take Vita to its next growth horizon, particularly building on the company’s strong sustainability credentials. There are exciting times ahead, and I look forward to getting started.”

John Brantl, co-head of the European investment team at Strategic Value Partners, added: “We would like to thank Ian for his invaluable contribution over the last four years and wish him well in his new roles. He has not only led the company through the pandemic, but has also played an integral role in not only scaling the company profitably, but also building a values-based culture with sustainability at its core. Omar’s track record of setting a clear strategic path forward, executing plans and nurturing highly talented employees speaks for itself, and we very much look forward to working with him and the rest of the team in the future.”