Hirohito Imakoji

Liebherr USA - United States

Hirohito Imakoji has been named as the managing director of Liebherr USA where he will oversee the strategic planning and growth strategies for all corporate, administrative and finance functions of the business.

Imakoji has more than 17 years' experience working within Liebherr Group having started with the company as an intern with Liebherr-Werk Nenzing GmbH in 2004.

In 2007 he transitioned to full-time employment and later moved to Liebherr-Hong Kong (Hong-Kong, CN) in 2010 and Liebherr-Sunderland Works (Sunderland, UK) in 2011. He most recently supported Liebherr-Electronics and Drives GmbH (Lindau, DE) as managing director, finance & administration.

“The United States is one of Liebherr’s most important markets, and we are committed to strengthening our operations nationwide to better support our partners and provide the best solutions to our customers,” Imakoji says.

Tim Edwards

Haydock Finance - United Kingdom

UK company Haydock Finance has appointed Tim Edwards to the position of head of materials handling as it looks to grow this division.

Edwards has a strong background in materials handling, having most recently worked with Societe Generale Equipment Finance (SGEF) where he led the broker team. He has also held roles with De Lage Landen and BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions.

Haydock Finance sales director Andy Taylor says the appointment of Edwards and new vendor manager Lee Hughes is a big step for the company.

"We are delighted to welcome Tim and Lee to the team,” Hughes adds. “Forklifts and other materials handling equipment are vital assets for businesses across multiple industries, and by enhancing our finance solutions, we can better support our intermediary partners and their SME clients.”

Joe Peterson

Superior Tire & Rubber Corp - United States

Pennsylvania-based Superior Tire & Rubber Corp, which produces forklift and AGV tyres among its products, has promoted Joe Peterson from vice president of engineering & quality to executive vice president of operations.

As part of a senior leadership “reorganisation” Peterson, who has been with Superior Tire & Rubber for eight years, will oversee manufacturing, production, scheduling, purchasing, engineering and quality in his new role.

Other leadership changes include Jared R Steier being promoted from vice president of sales and marketing to executive vice president of commercial and Calynne Neff promoted from human resources manager to director of human resources, environmental health and safety.

President and CEO of Superior, Hank LeMeur, says of the changes: "Our success will come down to two things: growing our business partnerships and investing in our people”.

Tim Polson

ICHCA Australia - Australia

International Cargo Handling Co-ordination Association (ICHCA) Australia has named Tim Polson as a Director from the end of January. 

Polson is general manager of GM Solutions (Oceania) at Ligentia Australia and is based in Brisbane.

He has previously worked for Maersk, Agility, Asiaworld Shipping and SKM/Jacobs Engineering.