Our Management Team

 

Good logistics is about knowing all possible options. Excellent logistics is about delivering the best solution for the job at hand. Our management team members are all driven by this vision.

 

Gary Roche - Chief Executive Officer
Gary commenced his career in Logistics in 1980 where he was appointed the very first Management Trainee for Trans Global a UK Forwarding business Headquartered in London. 

 

With his long track record and considerable industry experience Gary has been a part business owner as well as holding key senior management positions following the acquisition of his company in 2006 by IJS Global and more latterly GEFCO following its acquisition of IJS in 2015.  Gary joined Lubbers in the position of CEO on 1st July 2021 and takes the leading role to drive the execution of the organization's continued growth strategy.

Gary’s personal passions are Football, Formula 1, Cycling and General Aviation gaining his wings in 2001.  But as he says nothing makes him smile more than spending time with his two little granddaughters.  
 

Erik holds a master’s degree in fiscal law and earned his stripes with management positions in both finance and logistics. He started his working career as a state tax-accountant and advisor at the National Tax Office (Belastingdienst) and later on at KPMG Meijenburg and HLB Nannen.

 

Erik then was national news within the football scene, because he became the youngest Treasurer at a professional football club (FC Groningen) in history of Dutch professional football. Under his financial leadership FC Groningen grew to become a top club within Dutch football. For example, Erik played a leading role in the planning, development and realization off the new football stadium "Euroborg”. In 2016 he became a member of the Supervisory Board of the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB). Erik is our Chief Financial Officer since 2012.

 

Besides visiting and watching professional football matches, Erik’s biggest hobby and finest moment of the day is smoking a nice and good quality sigar.

   

Maarten is an experienced general and commercial manager in the logistics industry. Last century he started his carrier at a local trucking company and now he has a broad experience in managing complex logistics projects.
 
In the past he worked for logistics companies like Kuehne & Nagel, CEVA Logistics and DSV Global Transport and Logistics. Maarten developed in several verticals a solution to be more cost effective in the total supply chain and at DSV Maarten was part of the initial team who developed the 4PL solution in Europe. 

Developing sustainable and  competitive solutions for clients where people and innovation make the difference is giving Maarten a lot of energy. Passion for logistics!

In his spare time he is playing waterpolo and is training for the marathon. Together with his family he also likes to travel and to discover new places and countries.
 

By many Tony is seen as the operational heart of Lubbers. And for the right reasons; At the age of 17 Tony started working with his father who was an own operator truck driver, together they developed Ron Tailford Haulage (RTH) in the UK and by the age of 25 Tony was running the company.

 

Tony is self taught and learned all aspects of how to run a transport company, including running the yard, planning, developing the fleet and managing of staff. Tony built RTH into a dominant UK based International Transport Company specializing in the energy sector.

 

RTH became an agent for Lubbers in the UK shortly after the millennium and after a successful period working together merged fully in 2005. At this time Tony and Ronald Lubbers were the 2 shareholders of Lubbers Transport Group. Since then he has had a leading role in the growth and development of Lubbers as a dominant global player in complex transport and logistics. To further facilitate the growth ambitions Tony and Ronald decided in 2013 to sell a part of the shares to private equity firm AAC Capital.

 

Tony is now our Executive Director UK. Tony is a passionate supporter of Newcastle United Football Club and visits the home games as much as possible. He enjoys golf, walking and watching his son play rugby. 

 

Robbert started his career in 1975 as a Chief Mate onboard several offshore support vessels at the North Sea. After a view years of being a true seaman, he switched focus from sea to air and joined KLM Cargo, for a 17 years of employment in several operational, commercial and managerial job positions.

 

Just before his 40th, he choose to use experiences gained, to become more of an entrepreneur. So he did, and became the Director and Majority Shareholder of Cargo Masters, the company Lubbers acquired in December 2021, recently merged into Lubbers Global Freight. 

 

Besides managing a freight forwarding company, Robbert developed and co-owned a Logistics Center nearby Schiphol Airport. A close-to-zero emission built facility equipped for all air and ocean cross-dock services, nowadays Lubbers Global Freights’ Head Office. Together with his team -freight forwarding is a peoples business- he made the forwarding company a respected local player focusing at  fashion and luxury, aerospace and maritime industry sectors.

 

Robbert enjoys spending time with his beautiful wife and daughters, family and friends, preferably at a dining table with good food and a good glass of wine. 

 

Joost holds a master’s degree in Transport & Logistics and has a broad experience in managing complex logistics companies. Apart from working for several trucking companies, he also had the privilege to work for several sea freight oriented companies in the Port of Rotterdam like Broekman Logistics and Hutchison Ports ECT.  

 

‘A tough challenge’ is what Joost likes and he gets his motivation from fixing problems and bringing organizations to a higher level in a structured and sustainable way. 

 

He enjoys spending time on ancillary activities, be it business or private. He has been a board member of several interest groups in the transport & logistics sector, he was president of a hockey club in his hometown and a member of JCI. 

 

In his spare time, Joost likes racing his Colnago or his gravel bike. He also enjoys playing a relaxed round of golf with friends. His greatest joy however, is to have a good dinner and a nice glass of red wine with his family! Preferably in Italy, their favorite holiday destination. 

 

Steffan Christensen - Group Director Key Accounts
Steffan was born and raised in the logistics industry through his father’s international road transport business in Denmark. His working career started at the age of 21 with A.P. Moller Maersk as a management trainee. After this traineeship, Steffan spent 10 years with Maersk Logistics in commercial and operational management roles, including three years in China and two years in the United Kingdom. 
 
Although born Danish, Steffan settled down in Norway in 2007 together with his wife and two daughters. There he was introduced to the offshore energy sector through a logistics management position at a global oilfield services company. In this position he worked closely together with the transport and freight forwarding industry, which made him decide to join a global freight forwarder. He started as country manager in Norway and then was promoted to a corporate key account management role. Steffan joined Lubbers in 2013 and has held different commercial positions. 
 
For his spare time, Steffan enjoys the time with his daughters in the swimming pool. His daughters are competition swimmers and the amount of training session’s day, night, weekends and holidays put his logistics skills to the test. Furthermore, his spare time is happily spent at the family cabin by the Norwegian mountains and fjords. 

 

Nick grew up in Australia and returned to the United Kingdom to complete senior school at Gordonstoun and then some time studying Business Management at the University near Edinburgh in Scotland.  

 

After University, Nick started his working career at the Energy Drinks Company Red Bull in a sales & marketing position. This enabled him to broaden his career within a large international company and gain exposure to many aspects of the workings of a large business. 

 

Nick joined Lubbers in 2011 where he started his sales career as a sales manager. In 2016 he promoted to Sales and Marketing Director UK and since 2021 he holds a position as Regional Director UK & Nordic. 

 

In his spare time Nick enjoys travelling with his wife. They have been fortunate to visit a large number of international destinations either through work or through holiday. For his sins, he is a keen supporter of Aberdeen Football Club and tries to get to as many games as possible. He enjoys playing golf and having a nice dinner and evening out with his friends.

 

Wilma Beker - HR Manager

Wilma started her career at Lubbers in January 2018. Before that she held the position of HR Business Partner at Rentokil Initial B.V. for 12 years. Her experience focuses on support and coaching of the (line) management in the implementation of the HR policy, all-round HR consultancy work and national HR Projects. As part of the management team she will continue to lead HR and advise the business on HR strategy.
 
Wilma is convinced that successful employees make a successful company. Therefore she has a passion for engaging, motivating and empowering employees, knowing that this will improve productivity, job satisfaction and loyalty to the company. 
 
In her spare time Wilma enjoys spending time with her daughter and son. Besides that, she is discovering her more spiritual/intuitive side, not only because this will help her in her own personal development, but she believes the obtained insights will be of use in her working life.