adidas Group: Arthur Hoeld succeeds Alain Pourcelot as managing director for Western Europe

Germany's Arthur Hoeld has been appointed as the managing director for adidas Western Europe, according to German media on 29/08/2018. Hoeld has been in office since 01/07/2018.

Arthur Hoeld succeeds Frenchman Alain Pourcelot, who had held the post since May 2017. Arthur Hoeld, who has been with adidas Group since 1998, has been senior vice-president  global brands and business development of adidas Group since February 2017. Previously, he directed the adidas Originals clothing, footwear and accessories collection.

adidas Group posted a turnover of €21.2bn during the financial year 2017(from 01/01 to 31/12/2017), up 14.8% compared to in 2016 (€18.5bn). While the group's turnover grew by 25.9% in China and 25.3% in North America, turnover growth was lower (+11.2%) in Western Europe, the group's largest market (close to €5.9bn in 2017).

In the second quarter of 2018, combined sales of the adidas and Reebok brands increased particularly in North America (+16%) and Asia-Pacific (+19%, of which +27% in China), while business fell by 0.1% in Western Europe. It is this slowdown in…