FINE Hygienic Holding (FHH), one of the world’s leading manufacturers of hygienic paper products, has appointed James Michael Lafferty as the company’s new chief executive officer, following the retirement of the company’s current CEO, Salim Karadsheh, after 34 years of exceptional service to FHH.
Lafferty will officially take over the role of CEO on April 1. His predecessor, Karadsheh, began his career at FHH in 1985, when he joined the company as a technical engineer, eventually assuming his current position in 2004. At the helm of FHH for nearly 14 years, Karadsheh worked to shape FHH’s positive, family-like corporate culture, which has helped position Fine as one of the top employers in the MENA region.
Like Karadsheh, Lafferty also boasts an impressive track record of career achievements: beginning his career with Procter & Gamble (P&G) in 1985, he quickly assumed a series of increasingly strategic leadership roles, including general manager for the Near East region, CEO of P&G for Poland and the Baltic States, vice president of paper in Western Europe, and CEO of the company’s operations in the Philippines. In addition to his time at P&G, Lafferty has served as CEO of Coca-Cola for Nigeria and CEO of British American Tobacco for the Philippines. His management expertise has led him to consult for some of the world’s largest corporations, including P&G, Coca-Cola, HP, Newell Rubbermaid, Nestlé, Microsoft, GE, Hershey’s, Wal-Mart, and many other Fortune 500 companies. In addition, Lafferty is an avid coach and athlete, having coached Olympic-level track and field athletes in the United States, Nigeria, and recently in Philippines for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chairman of FHH, Ghassan Nuqul, said, “After benefitting enormously from Lafferty’s insights, we at FHH are thrilled to welcome him fully on-board as our new CEO. Following in the footsteps of Karadsheh and his multitude of achievements, I am confident that Lafferty will continue to build on the incredible legacy of his predecessor. As we at Fine celebrate our 60th anniversary this year, it is as important to look to the future as it is to celebrate our past achievements, and I believe that this transition represents both of those things for us: a recognition of the outstanding contributions and progress that Karadsheh has driven over the years, and excitement for the future achievements that Lafferty will undoubtedly help us to realize.”
Over the course of 60 years — and building on the legacy of the company’s founder, Elia Nuqul — Fine Hygienic Holding has grown from a small, local manufacturer of tissues into the region’s most recognizable and trusted producer and distributor of hygienic paper products. Today, FHH comprises a group of companies with manufacturing operations spanning Jordan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Morocco, and boasts a presence in more than 70 countries worldwide. — SG
