RAJA Group, Europe’s leading distributor of packaging, office supplies and industrial equipment, announces the appointment of Christa Furter as Managing Director of Viking Europe as of 24 January 2022.
Christa Furter has a strong background in business management in B-to-B distribution and the office supplies industry, gained, among others, at La Redoute, Officeworld iba and Udo Bär, a subsidiary of RAJA Group, where she was Managing Director from 2018 to 2020. Christa Furter succeeds Raffael Reinhold, Managing Director of Viking since 2017.
This appointment follows the RAJA Group’s acquisition of Viking Europe, which includes the key account activities of Office Depot Europe in seven countries: the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands and Belgium. In this context, Christa Furter, who knows the sector and the businesses of the Group exceptionally well, will be in charge of redefining the commercial organisation and processes necessary to the development and profitable growth of Viking, as well as initiating the work of boosting the offer and marketing approaches. Thanks to her experience in the RAJA Group, she will be able to unite all Viking employees around common values.
“I want to thank Raffael Reinhold for his commitment to Viking throughout the last five years and for his contribution to the completion of the acquisition. I wish him all the best in his future projects. I share with Christa the same vision of the company’s development. Her appointment as Managing Director, will enable Viking to boost its growth and reposition itself as the leading European player in its field. » says Danièle Kapel-Marcovici, president and CEO of RAJA Group.