GEA expands position in home & personal care sector

GEA Process Engineering (Warrington, Cheshire) has named John Withenshaw to the newly created position of technology manager for the Home and Personal Care sector.

GEA Process Engineering Ltd. (UK) is the global Technology Centre for Home and Personal Care (HPC) applications for GEA Group. The scope of supply includes: raw material handling, mixing and blending, storage, filling and end-of-line packaging, product recovery, cleaning and sterilizing in place, and automation.

In his new role, Mr. Withenshaw will be responsible for managing, developing and driving GEA’s HPC team and for the development of new products and services for the company’s growing portfolio of home and personal care customers.

Mr. Withenshaw is a chemist with over 25 years’ experience in the HPC market. Previous roles include process development manager with Amcol International in Winsford, Cheshire, where he developed products and processes for raw materials and was responsible for plant design, modification and development. In that sense his new position switches to the supplier side of the processing industry to give him a useful insight into the needs and wants of customers.

“I love managing teams of people and getting them all to pull in the same direction,” he said. “My previous experience has not only given me a great many industry contacts but also an empathy with customers. I know what they want to achieve so it’s easy to match what we do at GEA to their needs thereby creating a workable, practical solution.”

John explained that he had known GEA mainly by reputation, as a top-class engineering company. “When I looked at the company’s product portfolio I knew it was right for me.”

Ricardo Davi, process engineering manager for GEA Process Engineering, was understandably delighted to have secured John’s services in the new position. “John has the right combination of experience, personality and passion for doing things better that we pride ourselves in at GEA,” he said. “I am sure he will help us to expand our Home and Personal Care markets even further.”