News

After 26 years of service to the RV industry, Philippe Gerboin is set to retire from his position as key account manager for South Europe with Thetford. Philippe will be retiring on 1 February 2022 after first joining the company back in 1996 ­– he leaves Fabrizio di Piazza to take over from his responsibilities, alongside the experienced team at Thetford SARL.

“I always appreciated the Thetford culture and strategy,” said Philippe.

“A strong balance between customer intimacy and innovation is an important key factor, in my opinion. Next to that, our customer service policy, including three-year warranty with a responsive customer service team, is an important basis for our customers satisfaction.

“The French team, in whom I have complete confidence, is complete and experienced. A two-headed management will take over with the same spirit that was mine. Fabrizio di Piazza is taking over sales responsibilities for South Europe and Marie Boulanger, general manager sales and service, will manage the French Thetford office. I will remain a Thetford friend, but long live the retirement!”

Philippe was originally hired all those years ago by the current Thetford CEO, Stephane Cordeille, who was in charge of the French office at the time. He said: “I feel lucky to cooperate with Stéphane Cordeille for so many years. He trusted me and continuously challenged me with new responsibilities. I started as sales manager France, then became in charge of Spain Portugal to end up as key account manager South Europe.”

Naturally, Philippe has seen a lot of change in the RV industry during his career, but his proudest moment at Thetford was helping the company become a big name in refrigeration. He said: “Thetford’s introduction of refrigerators in the early 2000’s was a big challenge. Many players in the RV market were convinced Thetford couldn’t manage such big change. After 20 years, Thetford became a major refrigeration supplier in the RV industry.”