To strengthen its Asia Pacific and global leadership team and accelerate its business growth across markets, the sustainability consultancy ERM has announced several senior appointments. 

With the new structural change, the Asia operations will be helmed by Nat Vanitchyangkul, who moved up as the regional CEO for Asia from his previous role as business unit managing partner for South and Southeast Asia. Michael Gaggin continues to lead ERM's business as ANZ business unit managing partner.

Liew Wei Chee takes on the role of business unit managing partner for South and Southeast Asia and reports to Nat. Additionally, Mark Errington, the incumbent Asia Pacific Regional CEO moves to his new role as chairman and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) lead for Asia Pacific.

The new structure represents an alignment of ERM's business to harness the region's growth potential and provides opportunities to deepen its services and solutions for clients in these markets.

Vanitchyangkul, the regional CEO for Asia, ERM, said: "Collectively, the Asia Pacific is one of the fastest growing regions for ERM, expanding between 20 to 25% annually. With this new team structure, we are well poised for growth to meet the intensifying need from organisations and governments to engage in sustainability across people, operations, and supply chains to track financial and ESG-related metrics. The opportunities for ERM in Asia will also move in tandem with the momentum of ESG transition in key growth sectors such as technology, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, financing, transportation and logistics and renewable energy, to cite a few."

At ERM's global headquarters in London, Jaideep Das has been appointed as global leader of services and innovation, responsible for evolving ERM's service lines to meet changing client needs with a particular focus on tech enablement. James Stacey becomes ERM's global leader of clients and sectors, working to maximise the firm's competitive position and open up new market opportunities.

Sabine Hoefnagel has taken on a new role as the global leader of sustainability and risk, helping to ensure that ERM's own risk management and sustainability commitments are aligned with initiatives designed to build ERM's brand in the market as the number one global sustainability consulting firm.

New roles across digital, partnerships and acquisitions

ERM has also created new roles to support its growth agenda and respond to evolving market demands. Thomas Achhorner has joined the firm as head of digital products and data analytics, with responsibility for driving ERM's ESG product development activities to meet clients' increasing needs for tech-enabled capabilities and digital solutions. Thomas will also oversee strategic developments around ERM's data assets and platforms in collaboration with technology industry partners.

Kushal Mashru has joined as head of strategic partnerships and will focus on maximising ERM's partner ecosystem. Kushal will work closely with Thomas and ERM's broader leadership team to drive value from existing relationships as well as generate new opportunities to collaborate with digital enterprises, technology providers, clients and firms operating within ERM's competitive landscape.

ERM has welcomed Samer Ghosn as the firm's new head of corporate development, with responsibility for the execution of its acquisition strategy. Samer will also work with ERM's ecosystem to target new Joint Ventures and investments.

Driving talent development with new chief people officer

Ellis Griffith has joined as ERM's new chief people officer to further establish the firm as the leading destination for sustainability consulting talent and create new opportunities for the company's 7,500+ people. Previously at McKinsey & Company, Ellis will also play a leading role in ensuring that ERM's commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is embedded across the business.

Tom Reichert, ERM Group CEO, said: "Our depth of technical knowledge combined with strategic transformation capabilities sets ERM apart. These new appointments will help us to maximize these strengths, drive innovation and ultimately increase our impact through the services we offer and the opportunities we provide to our people.”