Albin Porquez, is to take on a new position as the CEO of AGS on 1st January 2025.

The position has been created following the Mobilitas Group’s acquisition of Santa Fe which remains separately managed by Samuel Mergui.

Albin has been with the Mobilitas Group since leaving business school 26 years ago.  During that time he has had responsibility for both relocation and removals operations in Africa and in France.  In his new role he will oversee the work of the existing regional network managers, supporting them with a more strategic view on mobility. He will be reporting directly to the Mobilitas Board.

Asked what are the biggest issues he will face in this new position, Albin said that he wanted to achieve greater consistency across the gGroup, to get everyone working together.  “I am a guy of process,” he said.  He added that it will be important to get every branch using the same technology, have consistency in the approach to ISO standards and to ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) which he recognises as being of increasing importance to customers. 

But, before he can do that, he needs to assess what he has available.  “First of all, I need to evaluate our existing resources to establish, for example, if more training is required.  I also need to have clear information about the competition. I'm currently working on a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis with the branch and network managers.” 

Looking at the challenges of achieving that consistency Albin said that he would need to be sure that all employees understand the Mobilitas values and can communicate them to their customers.  He acknowledges that some regions will be easier to bring in line than others.  “That's why the Group has created this new position to have a global vision of what's happening everywhere, to learn from some areas, and bring that experience to others.”

“We need to bring together relocation and removals,” he added. “More customers are asking for relocation services before removals.  It's becoming quite rare to find a tender just for removals. We need to be sure that all AGS branches understand the value of relocation.  We need to think as a relocation company that does removals, not as a removal company that adds some relocation services because someone is asking for them. I believe we have all the resources necessary to make big steps in the coming months.”

Of course, these business objectives must be approached with regard to the industry dynamics that are constantly changing.  These include:  the reducing size of shipments, lump sum payments, political considerations, the role of AI, ESG and the changing attitudes of younger customers.  “It's my job to know what's happening in the market with a global vision to be able to work on the new trends that will shape our industry in the future,” said Albin.  “We have to review the ways in which we deliver services to our customers. We need clarity in what we're doing as a Group to help all the regional networks towards the same goal.”

Albin is a regular attendee at EuRA conferences, but intends to have a much greater presence at industry events in the future.  But he takes a very pragmatic view.  “You have to go there with a strict strategy.  Just to go to meet people is not worth it.”

Albin will be based at the company’s office in Paris.

Photo:  Albin Porquez.