Bechtle : names Marijke Kasius as Vice President

• Bechtle bolsters position in the Netherlands with restructured leadership

Neckarsulm, 11 December 2023 - From 01 January 2024, Bechtle will introduce a new management level with Marijke Kasius becoming Vice President for the Bechtle Group companies in the Netherlands. The 39-year-old was previously CEO of PQR B.V. headquartered in Utrecht, leading the company together with Marco Lesmeister. A specialist in hybrid cloud solutions, PQR joined the Bechtle fold in May 2022. The company will continue to be headed up by a two-person team with Marc van Rinsum taking over the reins as co-Managing Director also on 01 January 2024. Marc van Rinsum was formerly Managing Director of Fondo-an IT service provider that became a part of the Bechtle Group in April 2023 and has since been fully incorporated into PQR. The new role sees Marijke Kasius make the switch from PQR to Bechtle, where she will report to COO Konstantin Ebert.

By restructuring its leadership organisation, Bechtle aims to sharpen the group's competitive edge in the Netherlands while generating further growth. "Naming Marijke Kasius as Vice President is a crucial step towards cementing our position in the Netherlands. We are confident that her experience, excellent network, expertise and leadership skills will be just the impetus we need to expand our activities in this important growth market," says Konstantin Ebert, incoming COO, IT E-commerce, Bechtle AG.

An entrepreneur with a strong commitment to CSR
Marijke Kasius will remain based in Utrecht in order to best leverage existing networks and relationships. She has 15 years' experience working in various IT companies holding a raft of leadership positions. A mother of four, she is also a consultant for the Bodegraven-Reeuwijk city council, and offers her expertise in digital education to The Learning Network. She was named CxO of the Year at the 2022 Dutch IT Channel Awards, as well as CEO of the Year at the Computable Awards in 2023. "I'm delighted to be a part of this team's growth story and to establish the Bechtle Group companies as a strong IT partner in our market into the future. I'm looking forward to contributing my ability to create and develop effective structures and processes, and to inspire people to strive for a common goal," says Marijke Kasius.

Growing footprint in the Netherlands
Bechtle has been active in the Dutch market since 1998, initially with the e-commerce subsidiary Bechtle direct and since 2006 with ARP, while in Cadmes B.V., the group also has a successful PLM specialist in its fold. The latter remains under the remit of Bechtle's Executive Vice President for PLM, Uwe Burk, but is part of the Bechtle Group ecosystem that each individual member can leverage for joint customer projects. Together with PQR, the Bechtle Group companies now have a broad network spanning the major economic hubs from Maastricht to Eindhoven, 's-Hertogenbosch to Utrecht and Hoofddorp near Amsterdam and employs more than 800 staff in the Netherlands.