Patrick André

Patrick André was appointed Chief Executive of Vesuvius in September 2017, two years after joining the company as President of its Flow Control business unit. A qualified engineer, educated at École Polytechnique and Mines Paris Tech in France, Patrick brought extensive experience to Vesuvius from his work across the industrials, chemicals, metals, and mining sectors.

Patrick is deeply committed to advancing the metal production and casting industry, driving innovation to ensure Vesuvius delivers products and services that help its customers make their industrial processes safer, more efficient and more sustainable.

With his customer focus, his energy and drive, coupled with a long-term strategic vision, he is leading the Vesuvius Group in the next stages of its development.

Patrick is a French citizen.

 

 

Patrick André - Career

Vesuvius plc
Patrick joined Vesuvius in 2016 as President of its Steel Flow Control business unit.  In this role, his focus was on driving commercial and manufacturing excellence as well as technological innovation to respond to the ever-evolving demands of the industry.

Lhoist Group
Before joining the Vesuvius team, Patrick had a successful, global career in the mining and industrial minerals industry. As part of Lhoist, the world leader in lime production, he held the positions of Executive Vice President Strategic Growth, CEO Europe and CEO for Asia, CIS and Africa.

Eramet Group
Prior to his work at Lhoist, Patrick worked for the Eramet Group, a global mining and metals Group, where he was CEO of the Nickel division and then CEO of the Manganese division.

 

Patrick André's Vision for Vesuvius

Commitment to Innovation & Sustainability
Under Patrick’s leadership, Vesuvius’ has reinforced its long-term focus on innovation, increasing its investment into robust research and development and delivering new products and solutions that help customers make their industrial processes safer, more efficient and more sustainable. Research and development are the cornerstone of Vesuvius strategy and serves to reinforce the Group’s leadership. Patrick has also championed the Group’s drive on sustainability, creating and leading the company’s Sustainability Council and embedding sustainability at the heart of the Vesuvius strategy.

“We are providing customised technical solutions to our customers to help them solve their most complex problems.”

Patrick sees Vesuvius plc as more than simply a manufacturer of goods; it is first and foremost a provider of technology solutions – solutions that are both efficient for a customer’s purpose and drive better environmental outcomes. To this end, as Vesuvius’ Chief Executive he is determined that the company should play a key role in helping its customers improve their carbon footprint.

“For us, climate change is a scientific problem to solve… We have a resolute, determined and no-nonsense engineering approach to this.”

Patrick has committed Vesuvius to reach net zero carbon footprint by 2050. And Vesuvius is living up to this commitment. Since 2019, the company has already managed to reduce CO2 emissions by 25% and is on track for a 35% reduction by 2035.

Commitment To Safety at Vesuvius
Under Patrick’s leadership, Vesuvius has adopted a zero-accident objective.  Nothing is more important than the health and safety of Vesuvius staff, wherever they work in the world.  And his commitment to a workplace culture of safety extends beyond the Vesuvius team. As Chairman of the Safety Committee for the World Refractory Association, he views his role not as a matter of competition, but collaboration. The aim is to improve safety for the industry through sharing knowledge, experience, and innovations.

“We believe it is our duty to make sure our people are safe… We owe it to them and their families. We place safety above anything else.”

 

Leadership Framework

On legacy: “I want to entrust Vesuvius to my successor as an even better business than I received it. I want to be proud of what I’ve done by the time I’m 10 years into retirement.”

On vision: “Our focus has to be on the long-term. I have a clear vision of where I want Vesuvius to go and the long-term end game for Vesuvius. I am a very result-orientated person and I make sure that short-term actions are not only efficient but also aligned with our long-term strategy.”

On organisational principles: “The decentralised, entrepreneurial, non-matrix approach is fundamental to my management philosophy and our business success. I want to give employees more freedom to express their talent without needing sign-off from ten different people. This gives us speed, creativity, and responsiveness.” Of course, this comes with transparency and personal accountability.

On finding talent: “It is getting harder to find and retain good and hard working talents. At the same time, this is not a reason to lower the bar. More than ever, it is important to not lower expectations from candidates in terms of desired competence and ability to live our CORE values.”

On inclusivity: “There is no glass ceiling in Vesuvius. We are a pure meritocracy. My successor could come from any geography, be from any gender and any cultural background.”

 

Patrick André's Links: LinkedIn