Former BCG consultant heads Kuehne + Nagel in France and Maghreb

Following the departure of Stéphane Point late last year, supply chain solutions firm Kuehne + Nagel has appointed Guillaume Col as the new head for France and Maghreb. Col has two decades of professional experience, which includes a six year spell as a Manager at The Boston Consulting Group.

Kuehne + Nagel (K+N) is well entrenched in the German professional services arena. When the firm was founded in 1890, it performed the relatively simple function of freight forwarding between countries. Since then, the firm has expanded considerably, both in size and in the sophistication of services offered. 

In terms of freight services, the firm is at the helm across all modes of transport in Europe and across the world; in the global number one spot for sea freight services, number two in the world for air freight, and fifth in Europe on land. However, the firm’s range of offerings has moved well beyond its freight segment, extending to supply chain solutions and integrated logistics.

In turn, K+N’s supply chain and logistics offerings now extend to a wide variety of sectors, including aerospace, automotive, oil & gas, pharma & healthcare, and retail among others. At last count, the firm employs 76,000 people worldwide, spread across 1,300 locations in more than 100 countries.

A key region for the firm, particularly for its work with the oil & gas industry, is the Northern African region of Maghreb, including the countries of Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, and Algeria; each of which features among the ten richest countries in Africa. K+N’s Maghreb operations are clubbed under its France & Maghreb division.

Up until December last year, this division was led by Stéphane Point, who occupied the position of president, but departed in December to join Onet as Director General. K+N has now announced that his empty seat will be filled by logistics expert Guillaume Col.

Col combined a degree in aeronautical engineering from ISAE-SUPAERO with an MBA from ESSEC Business School, before starting his professional career at Thales as an International Finance Controller. He then spent a year at Rio Tinto Alcan as an Internal Auditor, following which he joined The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in 2000.

During his six years at BCG, Col worked intermittently out of the Paris, Atlanta and Brussels offices, ascending through the ranks to the position of Manager by the end of his tenure. He then began exercising his expertise in logistics, joining XPO in 2006, where he began as Senior Vice President for Strategy & Development, and then transitioned to Managing Director of Global Forwarding. 

Since 2014, Col has been the General Manager/Vice President for the regions of France, Benelux and Southern Europe at American Express, where he managed €2.5 billion in sales across six countries. He will now take over as the President of the Franc and Maghreb division at K+N, in charge of 11,000 employees.

Commenting on his plans in his new role, Col said, “We are going to accelerate our development and accompany our customers in a sector which is undergoing profound change, especially in terms of technology. Kuehne + Nagel has all the assets required to meet this challenge: a respected brand, a leading worldwide network, and committed teams.”