Alain Durre Chief Economist - Paris Goldman Sachs

Alain Durré is a vice president and senior European economist in the Macro Research team. Alain is based in Paris.

Alain joins Goldman Sachs from the European Central Bank, where he most recently served as principal economist in the Monetary Policy Strategy Division within the Directorate General Economics Department. Previously, he worked at the International Monetary Fund, National Bank of Belgium and Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales. He also taught finance at the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium and at Lille Catholic University's IESEG School of Management in France. Alain has published several reports related to the money market, central banks and the interaction between monetary and fiscal policies in leading academic and professional journals.

Olaf Galler Managing Director - Retail Gordon Brothers

In his role as Managing Director, Olaf Galler is responsible for managing the European Retail practice as well as overseeing various projects for leading European retailers.

Prior to joining Gordon Brothers, Olaf held a number of positions at the well-known German DIY retailers Max Bahr and Praktiker. He joined Max Bahr Holzhandlung GmbH & Co AG in August 2005 as Head of Controlling, Finance and Accounting and in this role managed the Max Bahr M&A transaction with Praktiker.

In March 2007 Olaf became Managing Director at extra BAU+HOBBY, another DIY chain within the Praktiker Group. Alongside this role, in February 2011, he became Managing Director and CFO at Max Bahr GmbH & Co KG and numerous Praktiker Companies. It was in these roles that Olaf managed the restructuring of Praktiker Group and the M&A process in relation to the Groups insolvency.

Before joining Max Bahr Olaf spent 9 years at the German-based International discount supermarket chain Plus Warenhandelsgesellschaft mbH.

Olaf studied economical mathematics at the University of Technology in Berlin and speaks German and English.

Andrew Thorndike COO Adler Modemärkte

Andrew has more than 23 years’ experience in the development and execution of transformation and growth agendas in the Fashion and Retail sector. He has extensive expertise in the development of multi-channel business models as well as Procurement, Purchasing, Logistics, Supply Chain Management, e-Commerce, Organisational Development and Cost Management.

Since May 2017, Andrew is Member of the Executive Board (COO) and Labour Director of Adler Modemärkte AG. In his role, Andrew is responsible for all operational functions, mainly sourcing, supply chain management and logistics, HR, marketing and strategic procurement. Adler Modemärkte AG is one of the leading European fashion retailers with stores in D-A-CH and Luxembourg. Prior to joining Adler, Andrew was the COO at Edcon (Pty) Ltd., Johannesburg, South Africa, a leading fashion and non-food retailer in Africa.

After starting his career at ZLU Consulting und Management with focus on management consulting in the field of logistics, supply chain and operations, Andrew gained extended further consulting experience at McKinsey & Company (Associate Principal), Accenture (Partner) and AlixPartners (Member of the management team). In addition, he was appointed as director and Member of the Executive Board at Primondo Operations GmbH as well as the global head of supply chain management at Arcandor AG.

Stefan Schwertel Senior Retail Expert PWC

Stefan is an experienced restructuring advisor focusing on retail and consumer goods.He started his career as a strategy consultant with McKinsey & Company,Inc.; being 7 years member of its European Retail and Consumer Goods Practice.After an intermediate step as an investment manager for a Private Equity company in Munich, he joined PwC’s German restructuring practice in 2008 in Frankfurt.

Stefan has led several cost-cutting and operational improvement programs as well as strategy development programs, among others for drugstores, department stores and mail-order businesses. Furthermore he was also actively involved in various international cross-border projects for consumer goods companies including food and non-food.

Recent projects include prominent restructuring cases mainly in the fashion industry (online as well as brick & mortar).

Christian Fritsch Partner ESO Capital Group

Prior to joining ESO, Mr. Fritsch was at Lazard as Managing Director and Head of Restructuring and Capital Structure Advisory in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.  Prior to Lazard, he worked for the private investment firm Anchorage Capital where he was responsible for credit, special situations and illiquid investments in the German-speaking region. Before joining Anchorage, Christian led Cerberus Capital Management’s private equity and distressed investment business in Germany.  He previously worked as an investment professional at Doughty Hanson in London and Frankfurt and started his career at Merrill Lynch in London, advising numerous German, European and American clients on M&A and capital market transactions. MBA from Passau University in Germany.

Stephen Kimmich CFO Takata

Stephen Kimmich is the Chief Financial Officer for TAKATA AG and  Managing Director of TAKATA Europe GmbH.  As CFO, Mr. Kimmich is  responsible for all finance-related activities, as well as human resources and  purchasing for the EMEA-wide operations of TAKATA Corporation (Japan).   With 23 facilities operating in 11 countries, TAKATA EMEA generates ca. €1.5  bio in sales with ca. 16,000 employees.

Raised in the United States, Mr. Kimmich received his MBA from the Fuqua  School of Business at Duke University and has spent the last 15 years of his  career in Germany, including executive positions in Business Development,  Corporate Planning, Financial Controlling, and others.

Thomas Steinberger Partner - automotive transactions PWC

Since 2005 Thomas is working in the Business Recovery Services Team at PwC. Since 2009 he leads the Munich office in the area of restructuring advisory as a partner. Before, he worked as a Senior Principal at a top management advisory firm.

Frank Grell Partner Latham & Watkins

Frank Grell is partner in Latham & Watkins’Hamburg office and chairs the German Restructuring and Insolvency Practice. His practice focuses on insolvency and restructuring, including corporate reorganizations, debt restructuring and out-of-court and in-court representation of creditors of distressed companies and investors in such companies, including in particular protective shield/insolvency plan proceedings and loan-to-own strategies.

JUVE names him as a “leading name”. Chambers Europe lists him as “key individual” and describes him as “highly experienced in cross-border restructuring cases.”