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De Beers Group today announced that Sarah Kuijlaars will step down as De Beers Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and will be succeeded by Richard Lawson, currently De Beers Group Head of Planning and Business Development. Richard will take on his new role, and join the De Beers Group plc Board and Executive Committee, effective 1 October 2023.
Richard joined De Beers in 2017 as the Group Financial Controller and has served as a key member of the company’s Finance Leadership Team. Prior to joining De Beers, Richard trained as a Chartered Accountant at PwC before joining Anglo American Thermal Coal in South Africa where he ran the Finance department and supported the transformation of that business prior to its demerger from Anglo American.
Al Cook, CEO of De Beers Group, said: “I would like to thank Sarah for everything she has contributed to De Beers during her time as CFO. She strengthened our finance organisation, strengthened our business and strengthened our balance sheet, underpinning the company's long-term success. I would like to wish her well for her future.
“I am very pleased that we have such a strong and experienced successor in Richard Lawson. Richard has worked closely with Sarah over the past three years and has an outstanding understanding of De Beers and its businesses. The continuity, knowledge and leadership he brings to the role will be of great value as we position De Beers for growth.”
Richard said: “It has been a pleasure to work closely with Sarah over the past several years, and I am grateful to have the support of the leadership team that she developed. De Beers is a remarkable company with a storied history and I’m excited to play my part in that history by shaping a sustainable future that extends the leadership position of De Beers and its partners.”
Sarah will resign from the De Beers plc Board with effect from 1 October.
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Notes to Editors
A high resolution image of Richard is available here.
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About De Beers Group
Established in 1888, De Beers Group is the world’s leading diamond company with expertise in the exploration, mining and marketing of diamonds. Together with its joint venture partners, De Beers Group employs more than 20,000 people across the diamond pipeline and is the world’s largest diamond producer by value, with mining operations in Botswana, Canada, Namibia and South Africa. Innovation sits at the heart of the De Beers Group strategy as it develops its portfolio of brands, including De Beers Jewellers and Forevermark, and other pioneering solutions, such as recently launched diamond sourcing and traceability initiatives GemFair and Tracr. De Beers Group employees are committed to ‘Building Forever,’ a holistic and integrated approach for creating a better future – one that is fairer, safer, cleaner and healthier; where safety, human rights and ethical integrity continue to be paramount; and where communities thrive and the environment is protected. De Beers Group is a member of the Anglo American plc group. For further information, visit www.debeersgroup.com.