PEOPLE MOVES: Alvance names former Dunkerque MD de Goÿs as new COO

De Goÿs was formerly the managing director of Aluminium Dunkerque, Europe’s largest smelter with caapcity of 280,000 tonnes per year. He also held senior posts at Rio Tinto Alcan, Carbone Savoie and Michelin.

“He was there at the genesis of our business and helped to define our vision and strategy – he is uniquely placed to now take that vision forward,” Arnaud de Weert, GFG’s chief operating officer, said.

Amélie Hennion, Dunkerque’s director of operations, will take over De Goÿs’s post as managing director of the smelter.

De Goÿs’s immediate focus will be leading the company’s “response to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, managing the challenges of those sites which have remained open throughout the lockdown and directing the restarts of those which had to suspend production,” the company said.

More broadly, he will oversee the company’s operations from its primary upstream business including Aluminium Dunkerque and Alvance’s smelter at Fort William in Scotland. De Goÿs will also oversee the downstream operations at Alvance Wheels France, Alvance Aluminium Techonlogies Poitou and Alvance Cast Products Poitu.

The company is also working towards completing the purchase of the Duffel aluminium rolling facilities in Brussels from Aleris, which was approved by the European commission in April.