Gibson Guitar Appoints Jan Van Gils as President, Gibson Europe

Vianen Headquarters to be Led by Veteran Industry Executive

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE…Vianen, The Netherlands…November 4, 2004.

Gibson Guitar  announced today the appointment of Jan Van Gils as President of Gibson Europe located in Vianen, The Netherlands.  Gibson Europe is committed to expanding its strong brand recognition throughout Europe and with the appointment of seasoned professional Van Gils, the company is building a senior management team with executive experience in all aspects of the industry.

“Jan Van Gils brings superb credentials and a superb skill set to lead our Gibson Europe operations,” said Henry Juszkiewicz, Chariman and CEO of Gibson Guitar Corp. “His extensive project management and leadership background will help to enhance Gibson’s profile in Europe and beyond.”

Jan Van Gils comes to Gibson Europe from Ericsson, The Netherlands where he most recently served as Global Hardware Service Project Manager. During his career he has spent several non-consecutive years at Ericsson. During his most recent position he was responsible for all operational deployment and business development of Hardware Service or Non-Ericsson products. Prior to his position in the Netherlands, Van Gil served the company as their General Manager SCM HWS Asia Pacific for Ericsson Malaysia. It was here that he was responsible for Supply Chain Management Hardware Services (SCM HWS) and heading up the Supply Chain Operating Center. He was personally requested to take on this position to improve the Asia Pacific region which he did in record time with an overall performance improvement from 60% to 95%. Prior to leaving for the Malaysia offices he served as Business Manager HWS in The Netherlands office where he fine tuned his skills within the management team responsible for Hardware Service business within the region. His Ericsson, The Netherlands and Ericsson, Malaysia experience was from 1999 to the present time.

From 1998 to 1999 Jan Van Gils was Business Manager of Application Support for Compaq, The Netherlands where he was responsible for development and life cycle management of Application Support Service. It was here that he doubled the business revenue within one year. From 1996 to 1998 he was Product Manager Customer Services at Ericsson, The Netherlands and from 1987 to 1996 he served in various operational positions for the DIGITAL company, also in The Netherlands.

Van Gils will be based in the Gibson Europe headquarters in Vianen, The Netherland,s and will officially join the company on November 1, 2004.

Gibson Europe is the centralized sales, marketing and distribution center for Gibson Guitar’s world-famous musical instruments. Located in Vianen, The Netherlands, Gibson Europe provides the connection between Gibson’s corporate headquarters in the US and Gibson’s distributor-partners in continental Europe, the U.K., Scandinavia and the Mediterranean. 

Photo available upon request

Contact in Europe:

Silvia Kleton  Gibson Europe  +31 347 324 021           silvia.kleton@gibson.com