OREANDA-NEWS. March 18, 2014. After six years as Member of the Board of Management of Deutsche Post DHL and more than 25 years of service with the company, Bruce Edwards (59) has decided to retire from the Board and from his position as Chief Executive Officer of DHL Supply Chain.

The Supervisory Board of the company in its meeting today with regret accepted his resignation from the Management Board with effect from March 10, 2014, and appointed John Gilbert (50) as new Member of the Board of Management responsible for the DHL Supply Chain division, effective today. Bruce Edwards will serve as advisor to the company until he retires on September 30, 2014.

Bruce Edwards was appointed to Deutsche Post DHL's Management Board in 2008, after having served as Chief Executive Officer DHL Supply Chain Americas/Asia Pacific of the Group since 2005. Prior to that, he was a Board Member at Exel plc for six years. Since 2008, through two strategic programs linked to the Group's Strategy 2015, the Supply Chain division has significantly improved its performance by more than tripling its profits and doubling its margins.

"Following the successful integration of Exel into our Group, Bruce Edwards played a major role in making DHL Supply Chain an impressive success story. Under his leadership, the profitability of the division significantly increased, while the business grew substantially with innovative solutions for its clients and became the clear market leader. We are very grateful for his dedication and his important contribution to the positive development of our Group in the past," said Frank Appel. "While we are losing a very experienced manager and a great colleague who always put the accomplishments of his team in front of his own, we fully respect his decision to retire and wish him all the best for his future."

Gilbert joined Exel in 1994

John Gilbert came to the Group in 2005, when the former Exel plc was acquired by Deutsche Post AG. Gilbert, who joined Exel in 1994, has held various leadership positions in both companies, inter alia as President, Consumer/Life Sciences Americas since 2004. In October 2008 he took over responsibility for DHL's supply chain business in the Americas as regional CEO. In this position, Gilbert, who has extensive experience in the Consumer, Life Sciences and Retail industries, is acting as DHL Supply Chain's global executive sponsor for the Consumer sector.

In 2013, he also assumed the role as CEO and Chairman of Williams Lea, Deutsche Post DHL's corporate information solutions unit. Previous to joining Exel in 1994, Gilbert had a career in consulting with renowned management consultancies in the U.S. He holds an MBA from George Washington University in Washington, DC. Gilbert is married with two children.

"We are delighted to welcome John Gilbert as new Member of the Group's Board of Management. With his extensive experience and his superior track record of building and leading a significant supply chain business in one of the biggest and most challenging markets of the world, he is the right man to further develop our global supply chain division", said Frank Appel.