Organisational structure
VodafoneZiggo is a joint venture of the Dutch divisions of Vodafone Group and Liberty Global, known respectively as Vodafone Netherlands and Ziggo. The parent companies are the shareholders of VodafoneZiggo and have an equal stake of 50%.
The board under the articles of association of VodafoneZiggo consists of the CEO and CFO, who are appointed by Vodafone Group and Liberty Global. Our Board of Directors supervises day-to-day management and is responsible for developing a long-term vision and for formulating the company’s business strategy. The Board of Directors consists of the CEO, the CFO and seven members of the management who represent the following business units:
Strategy Insights & Integration
Consumer Business
Enterprise Business
Customer Operations
Technology
HR
External & Legal Affairs
Finance
The Board of Directors works closely with the Senior Management Team (SMT). This is a group of 65 experienced directors and senior managers, divided across the eight business units listed above. The Board of Directors and the SMT are in charge of the daily management of 7,450 internal and 3,000 external employees.
Composition of the Board of Directors
Jeroen Hoencamp (M, 1966) – CEO (director under the articles of association)
Jeroen Hoencamp has been the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) since the start of VodafoneZiggo on 1 January 2017. Before that, he was the CEO of Vodafone Netherlands from September 2016 onwards. From 2013 to 2016, Jeroen was the CEO of Vodafone in the United Kingdom and CEO of Vodafone in Ireland from 2010 to 2012. Jeroen has worked at Vodafone since 1998 and has held various senior positions within the company. Earlier in his career, he held various senior marketing and sales roles at Canon Southern Copy Machines, Inc. in the United States and at Thorn EMI/Skala Home Electronics in the Netherlands. Jeroen is a former officer in the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps. He holds a BBA degree from Nyenrode Business University and studied for an MBA at the University of Georgia (US).
Nationality: Dutch
Ancillary positions: Board Member of VNO-NCW and member of the Supervisory Board of PostNL.
Ritchy Drost (M, 1974) – CFO (director under the articles of association)
Ritchy Drost has been the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) since the start of VodafoneZiggo on 1 January 2017. Before that, he was the CFO of Ziggo since 2015 and was a member of the Board of Directors. Ritchy has been employed by Liberty Global since 1999 and has held various roles, including that of CFO of the former European division of Liberty and CFO of UPC Netherlands. After completing his studies in Business Economics, Ritchy worked for a number of years as an auditor at the accountancy firm Arthur Andersen.
Nationality: Dutch
Ancillary positions: Member of the Supervisory Board of NEMO Science Museum, committee member/treasurer of the Uitmarkt Amsterdam Foundation.
John van Vianen (M, 1969) – Enterprise Business
John van Vianen has held the position of Executive Director Business Market since the start of VodafoneZiggo on 1 January 2017. John has gained more than twenty years’ experience in technology, media and telecommunications. He held various management positions, before being appointed CEO of iBasis in the United States in 2009. In 2011, John became CEO of KPN Business Market and a member of the Executive Committee of KPN. He studied Business Economics, specialising in Marketing, at Tilburg University and completed a Master of Business Administration at Delft University of Technology. In 2014, he completed the New Board Program at Nyenrode Business University.
Nationality: Dutch
Ancillary positions: None.
Marcel de Groot (M, 1967) – Consumer Business
Marcel de Groot has held the position of Executive Director Consumer Business since the start of VodafoneZiggo on 1 January 2017. Before that, Marcel was Director of Consumer Markets at Vodafone Netherlands from 1 February 2016 onwards. He was responsible for all sales communications, marketing communications and marketing activities. Prior to that, he held various marketing roles at Vodafone Netherlands and was Director of Consumer Markets at Vodafone Ireland for a number of years. Before joining Vodafone, he was Marketing Director at Pon Automotive and held various senior marketing/sales positions at Nuon. He started his career at GlaxoSmithKline. Marcel studied Organisation & Management at the University of Amsterdam.
Nationality: Dutch
Ancillary positions: None.
Robin Clements (M, 1971) – Customer Operations
Robin Clements has held the position of Executive Director Customer Operations (COO) at VodafoneZiggo since 1 June 2017. Before that Robin had worked at Achmea since 2013, where he was responsible for marketing sales and service within the personal and small business market of Centraal Beheer and FBTO. Before that, he worked for KPN for 15 years in various operational and commercial roles within the fixed and mobile telephony and internet branch. His most recent role was that of Vice President of Customer Operations at KPN Mobile, where Robin was responsible for the service strategy and operations of the company’s consumer brands. Robin studied Organisational Psychology at the University of Amsterdam, where he still delivers a guest lecture each year on the subject of organisational change.
Nationality: Dutch
Ancillary positions: Member of the Recommendations Committee of the Liberation Festival Utrecht, Member of the SLIM cluster of the Economic Board Utrecht.
Thomas Mulder (M, 1978) – HR
Thomas Mulder has been Executive Director HR since July 2018. Before joining Vodafone in January 2012, he worked for Accenture, where he was HR Director for the Benelux. Within Vodafone and as part of his HR role, he was responsible for the acquisition of Cable & Wireless Worldwide and for the setting up of Vodafone Group Enterprise. In 2013, he relocated to Germany in order to complete the acquisition and integration of Kabel Deutschland. In 2015, he returned to Vodafone Netherlands, where, as HR Director, he would lead the due diligence process pertaining to Ziggo. Once the VodafoneZiggo joint venture had become a reality, Thomas was appointed HR Director of Vodafone Group Enterprise in December 2016, before returning to VodafoneZiggo as Executive Director HR in 2018. Thomas obtained a Global Executive MBA at the Rotterdam School of Management.
Nationality: Dutch
Ancillary positions: Committee member of the employers’ association WeNB.
Eben Albertyn (M, 1975) – Technology
Eben Albertyn has been Executive Director Technology since the start of VodafoneZiggo on 1 January 2017. Before that, Eben worked at Vodafone Netherlands as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) from 1 October 2015 onwards, where he was responsible for the IT landscape and the network. Before relocating to the Netherlands, Eben held various technical roles with telecommunications providers in South Africa. These included the position of CTO at MTN in South Africa and Group CTO at Airtel Afrika covering 18 countries. Eben studied at the Rand Afrikaans University in South Africa and holds an MSc in Electronic and Telecoms Engineering.
Nationality: South African
Ancillary positions: None.
Barbara de Ridder - Jongerden (F, 1975) – External & Legal Affairs
Barbara de Ridder-Jongerden has been Executive Director External & Legal Affairs since the start of VodafoneZiggo on 1 January 2017. Before that, Barbara was Director Corporate Affairs & Strategy at Vodafone Netherlands. She fulfilled this role from 2014 and was responsible for strategy, security, legal, regulatory and external affairs. Barbara originally joined Vodafone in 2012 as Head of Legal Affairs. Before that, she worked at various companies, including PwC, Corporate Express and Liberty Global. Barbara studied Dutch Law and Law and Economics at Utrecht University.
Nationality: Dutch
Ancillary positions: Board member of RODAP (Rechtenoverleg voor Distributie van Audiovisuele Producties), board member of GigaEurope, boardroom coach at Talent naar de Top.
Robin Kroes (M, 1975) – Strategy Insights & Integration
Robin Kroes has been Executive Director Strategy, Insights & Integration since the start of VodafoneZiggo on 1 January 2017. In this role, Robin is responsible for Strategy, Corporate Development, Data & Advanced Insights, Content & Programming, and VodafoneZiggo’s sports channel, Ziggo Sport. In addition, he is leading the digital transformation within the company. Before taking up this position, Robin was VP Strategy & Integration at the time of the merger of UPC and Ziggo in 2014. He was responsible, among other things, for market strategy, mergers & acquisitions and market intelligence and also oversaw the integration of UPC and Ziggo. Prior to that, Robin was VP Strategy & Corporate Development and member of the Management Team at UPC Netherlands from March 2012 onwards, where, in addition to being responsible for strategy, he was also responsible for Content and Product Management. While employed by UPC, Robin fulfilled various positions at Chellomedia, including VP Commercial, Operations and Corporate Development. Robin studied Economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Nationality: Dutch
Other position(s): Member of Advisory Board of Kunstmuseum Den Haag
Supervisory Board
The Supervisory Board advises and supervises the Management Board (under the articles of association). The Supervisory Board consists of eight members:
Three members appointed on the recommendation of Liberty Global
Three members appointed on the recommendation of Vodafone Group
Two independent members appointed on the recommendation of the former works councils of Vodafone Netherlands and Ziggo
Composition of the Supervisory Board
The Supervisory Board consists of the following members (composition on 31 December 2020):
Serpil Timuray (Chair) (F, 1969, Turkish) Period of appointment: 31-12-2018/31-12-2022
CEO Europe Cluster Vodafone Group
Manuel Kohnstamm (M, 1962, Dutch) Period of appointment: 22-03-2019/22-03-2023
Senior Vice President & Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Liberty Global
Baptiest Coopmans (M, 1965, Dutch) Period of appointment: 31-12-2016/31-12-2022
Chief Executive Officer UPC Switzerland
Charlie Bracken (M, 1966, British) Period of appointment: 31-12-2016/31-12-2022
Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer Liberty Global
Carmen Velthuis (F, 1974, Dutch) Period of appointment: 31-12-2019/31-12-2023
Finance Director Europe Cluster Vodafone Group
John Otty (M, 1964, British) Period of appointment: 29-06-2018/29-06-2022
Group Financial Controller Vodafone Group
Huub Willems (M, 1944, Dutch) Period of appointment: 31-12-2016/31-12-2022
Professor of Corporate Litigation at the University of Groningen and former chairman of the Enterprise Division of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal
Carla Mahieu (F, 1959, Dutch) Period of appointment: 22-05-2017/22-05-2021
Global Head Human Resources & Executive Vice President Aegon N.V.
The Supervisory Board has two committees (composition as at 31 December 2020):
The Audit, Risk & Compliance Committee: Charlie Bracken (Chair), Baptiest Coopmans, Carmen Velthuis and John Otty
The Remuneration & Nomination Committee: Serpil Timuray, John Otty, Manuel Kohnstamm (Chair) and Charlie Bracken