Steve Weedon has been appointed CEO of Cartridge World Global and Cartridge World North America, while new regional CEOs have also been named.
In an August announcement seen by The Recycler and signed by Weedon as both CEO of Cartridge World Global and Cartridge World North America, a letter cautions franchisees about doing business directly with a former employee and Cartridge World supplier, and requests that franchisees contact headquarters if they are approached by the supplier.
Another internal letter confirmed Weedon’s appointment and addressed the company’s internal reorganisation, referring to its recent acquisition by Suzhou Goldengreen Technologies (SGT) and stating that “effective immediately, Cartridge World Global Holdings Co. Ltd. is a newly-created holding company registered in Hong Kong” that “owns the whole entity ‘Cartridge World Group’”.
Weedon is listed as being appointed Global CEO and North American CEO as of 26 July, while former Global CEO Rod Young is now Senior Advisor and Ambassador of Cartridge World. In turn, former North American CEO Bill Swanson “is no longer with the group”, while former General Manager of Asia and Middle East Edwin Lui has assumed Swanson’s role as Global CFO.
Other internal promotions included: Tony Kernahan as CEO in Australia and New Zealand; Emmanuel Juffroy as CEO in France and the UK; Harry Stoubos as Executive Vice President of Global Sales; Gavin Askew as General Manager of Cartridge World UK; and Mark Pinner as Executive Vice President of Technical and Global Training. The global franchise will be based in Hong Kong, as part of a new plan to “elevat[e] the brand of Cartridge World on a global scale”.
According to a person familiar with the Cartridge World franchise, Weedon in recent weeks has been undertaking a review of the franchise organisation on behalf of the new owners, with the second letter acknowledging this as “several important decisions” being made “regarding the CW management and the new direction of our business”. Weedon brings many years of management experience to the Cartridge World role, and several franchisees we spoke with said that the appointment was good for the brand as “Steve has a good reputation in the industry” and “understands the imaging business”.
Weedon joined the imaging industry in 1973. He has held senior management positions with such companies as, Nashua, Kalle Infotec, Katun Corp, and Gestetner. In 1994 Weedon joined Static Control to launch and run the European operations, and later relocated to the USA corporate headquarters as Executive Vice President. In 2012, Weedon left Static Control Components to establish Hong Kong-based Discover Imaging Products Limited. More recently Weedon has been providing consulting services to imaging-related businesses.