What unites?
— in alphabetical order—
- Christoph Achammer, Chairman of the Board at ATP architects engineers. Image: ATP
- Joanna Fisher, Managing Director Center Management at ECE. Image: ECE
- Henrik Madsen, Managing Director Northern Europe at McArthurGlen. Image: McArthurGlen
- Dietmar Reindl, COO of Immofinanz Group. Image: Immofinanz Group
- Martin Sabelko, Managing Partner at hoigroup. Image: CBRE
- Jacques Sinke, CEO of reteam international. Image: reteam
- Henrike Waldburg, Head of Investment Management Shopping Centers at Union Investment. Image: Union Investment
- Marcus Wild, CEO of SES Spar European Shopping Centers. Image: Daniel Hager
For one, all of them are well-known leaders in the European shopping center industry. For another, all of them are members of ACROSS’s advisory board. The body’s declared aim is to offer its expertise in topic identification and formulation. There will now be a semi-annual discussion process whereby the advisory board identifies the challenges and opportunities the industry faces and what burning problems and emerging trends, etc., they see.
Now with 10 members
Thanks to the addition of two new members, the expert panel now contains 10 members. The first new member is Christof Papousek, CFO of the Constantin Film group of companies. He holds a diploma in technical engineering and gained his MBA at the Vienna University of Economics and Business.
After a couple of years of consulting and auditing work, Papousek joined the Constantin Film & Cineplexx group of companies, where he restructured both the finance department and the company’s internal structure. In 2004, he became managing director and in 2008, he co-founded the group’s international cinema operation—Cineplexx International—as entrepreneur and co-shareholder.
Since 2008, the company has developed and acquired nearly 20 cinemas in the SEE region in nine different countries. At the same time, the company introduced premium, large-format concepts, such as IMAX and Dolby Cinema, to the Austrian home market while refurbishing cinemas there and implementing a new corporate design.
Cineplexx is an important partner of shopping mall operators and a reliable and sustainable part of the entertainment offer in real estate developments. Papousek also fulfils several functions in the Austrian chamber of commerce, representing the film and cinema industries as well as in the European Cinema Association UNIC.
Focus on gastronomy and entertainment
In addition to entertainment facilities like cinemas, gastronomy is becoming ever more important to the shopping center industry. It’s therefore particularly good that Jonathan Doughty, EMEA Head of Foodservice Consulting at JLL, has recently joined ACROSS’s Advisory Board.
Doughty was previously the founder and group managing director of Coverpoint Foodservice Consultants, an international management consultancy working in over 50 countries. He started the business in January 1993 and grew it from a sole trader business to a team of 15 people.
The Coverpoint business was acquired by JLL in November 2014 and now operates as “JLL Foodservice Consulting” alongside JLL’s other business activities.
Jonathan Doughty has always been in the foodservice industry, right from the age of 13, when he helped sort bottles and kegs and learned about food and drink service in a local pub. Having completed his O-level education at Nottingham Boys High School, he left to go to Clarendon College, where he completed an OND in foodservice management. He then moved to Manchester and, after achieving a degree in Hotel and Catering Administration & Management, Doughty was employed as a chef and restaurateur and held various management roles with Trusthouse Forte, Imperial Inns and Taverns, Marriott and Mars, and Peter Burholt Consulting, among others, before launching Coverpoint.
More to come
Thanks to these 10 members, ACROSS can build on profound and broad industry expertise. The advisory board is not yet complete, however. It will still grow quickly up to 15 experts.
