Board
Peter Sechiari - Non-Executive Chairman
Peter joined ACM as Chairman in April 2000. He has strong listed company experience through his previous appointments at Rio Tinto plc, Steele Brothers Holdings plc, Bricom Group plc and Mayborn Group plc. He is responsible for advising ACM on financial strategy, senior management structure, remuneration, succession issues and financial oversight.
John ('Johnny') Plumbe - Chief Executive Officer
Johnny has been with the Group for 28 years. He has been a specialist in large tanker brokering for 37 years, dealing with the major oil companies such as BP, Shell, Vela, and Traders Vitol and many owners such as Embiricos, Goulandris, Lemos, Frontline, Pacific Star and NSCSA. He is involved in time charters, projects and sale and purchase.
Ian Hartley - Finance Director
Ian joined the Board in March 2007. He was previously finance director with Mayborn Group plc, a consumer products group. Mayborn was a listed company from 1986 to 2006, which transferred from the Official List to AIM in 2003. Ian spent over 20 years with Mayborn and was appointed company secretary in 1996 and finance director in 1998. Ian qualified as a chartered accountant in 1976, following which he gained experience in a variety of companies before moving to Mayborn.
James Gundy - Chief Operating Officer
James has been with ACM for 18 years, previously at Clarksons for ten years. He personally heads the very successful VLCC desk and specialises in VLCC spot chartering. He has also concluded numerous long-term time charters and sale and purchase contracts. James' main clients include Total, CPC, Chevron, Arcadia, Great Elephant Corporation, Glafki and Metrofin.
David Cobb - Non-Executive Director
David joined the Board in March 2007. He initially trained as a naval architect and was then involved in shipbuilding in the UK and Canada. David then spent 17 years with Ingram Corporation, firstly as vice president and then as president. Ingram was a privately owned US company specialising in oil and shipping. Following this, in 1994, he joined James Fisher & Sons plc, a quoted shipping company, serving as executive chairman until 2002. David was awarded a CBE in 1999 for his services to the shipping industry. He is a past president of the Chamber of Shipping and a past president of the Institute of Marine Engineers Science and Technologists. He was elected sheriff in the City of London in 2004.
Timothy Jaques - Non-Executive Director
Timothy Jaques has over 45 years experience of shipbroking. His career started as a trainee broker in the sale and purchase ("S&P") department of Harley Mullion & Co. in 1963, where he spent five years also covering dry cargo and tanker chartering. Between 1968 and 1973, Timothy worked as a commercial manager for a firm of shipowners called Nomikos London Limited. Whilst at Nomikos he managed a substantial fleet of both tankers and dry cargo vessels and was responsible for S&P including newbuild contracts and chartering.
In 1973, he joined Koch Industries, a firm involved in oil trading and refinery, who also owned and operated a fleet of ships. Three years later, Timothy moved to J.C. O'Keefe, one of the foremost specialist S&P brokers. Joining as a partner and director, he was responsible for handling all types of vessels globally including new building contracts. Between 1981 and 2001, he was commercial director of the London office of Embiricos Shipbrokers. In this position, Timothy represented a major Greek ship owning family involved in tankers, dry cargo and container vessels; and was responsible for all S&, chartering and new build contracts for their fleet. Timothy is currently a Member of the Baltic Exchange, a Freeman of the City and a Liveryman with the Guild of Shipwrights.
Jürgen Breuer - Non-Executive Director
Jürgen has over 18 years of front line and managerial experience of brokering in financial markets, commodities and shipbroking. His career started as a junior bond market option dealer for Société Générale on the MATIF floor in 1991 which, following dealer appointments at Citibank and Sal Oppenheim, led to a career building interest rate products and freight swap brokering businesses for GFI Group Inc ("GFI"). GFI is a leading provider of wholesale brokerage which serves the global financial markets and is listed on the NYSE.
In October 2003, Jürgen commenced the successful build up of GFI Asia, managing offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, Sydney, Tokyo and Shanghai. During this time, he managed cash and derivatives broking desks across all asset classes (foreign exchange, equities, credit, freight), including dry and wet shipping derivatives brokering. In late 2007, Jürgen ran global e-commerce at GFI until his retirement in October 2008.