Three months after he saw an outsider brought in over his head, Mike Lamb is to leave Grove and the Manitowoc Crane Group.
He will serve out a transitional period of three months with the company to effect a smooth handover but has already relinquished his post as managing director of Deutsche Grove. His severance deal includes a non-compete agreement, which means he will not be able to work for a competing crane manufacturer for a period of time.
Lamb told ConnectingCranes that the departure was a mutual decision. He said that since the appointment of Frans Vanwinkel on 1 April 2003 as Manitowoc Crane Group vice president of sales and marketing for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), his own position as senior vice president for Grove crane sales and marketing in EAME and managing director of Deutsche Grove had become largely redundant.
The appointment of Vanwinkel, previously a senior executive with truck manufacturer Iveco, was reported in some quarters as a surprise move. Lamb had held that position for Grove in recent years. He first joined Grove in 1978 – 25 years ago – although he had a four year interlude outside the company with a forklift truck company.
Although British, Lamb has lived in Germany for many years, speaks the language like a native German, and – according to one former colleague – he is regarded by German customers as German rather than British.
Lamb said he had no plans yet what he would do after the three month handover period was complete.
