Deutsche Messe downsizes Executive Board, Dr. Gruchow leaves

Deutsche Messe in Hanover, organiser of Domotex among others, is repositioning itself after the crisis year 2020 with losses of EUR 83 million on a turnover of EUR 100 million. One major change is the reduction in the size of the executive board. Dr Jochen Köckler, who has been a member of the management body since 2012 and Chairman since 2017, will lead Deutsche Messe as sole member of the Board of Management in future. His term of office was extended ahead of schedule by five years.

Dr Andreas Gruchow, on the other hand, is leaving the Executive Board after 27 years in management positions at the company. A Deutsche Messe press release describes the separation from the experienced trade fair manager, who worked for many years at key positions in Hanover, as follows: "Thankfully, he has agreed to resign his mandate on the best of terms."

The mechanical engineer, who holds a doctorate, joined Deutsche Messe in 1994 as head of the Expo 2000 staff department to realise the first world exhibition in Germany. From 2000 onwards, he was responsible for numerous international trade fairs as well as all guest events. In 2008, he was appointed to the Executive Board, where he managed Deutsche Messe's international business, including the international subsidiaries. In addition, Gruchow was involved in various institutions within and outside the trade fair industry, was, among other things, President of both the European and the International Association of Trade Fair Companies, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the German Management Academy of Lower Saxony and a member of the Board of the German-Austrian Chamber of Commerce.



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