This change will enable Eric Loth to pursue other personal projects and dedicate more time to his passions in contemporary art and motor racing. He will however remain very involved with the brand on a strategic level as one of its key shareholders and as an active member of the board of directors. Furthermore he will continue to personally manage some of the brand's strategic projects, such as its involvement in Formula One with Mercedes GP Petronas as well as oversee the development of key markets and the conception of new product lines.
After having built Graham from scratch to where it is today and managing through the economic crisis, Eric Loth felt it was the right time to hand over operations to the dynamic management team that he had put in place over the last two years.
2010 is going to be a record year for Graham and 2008 sales will be exceeded by about 10%. William Asprey, Chairman of the Board, commented: "Eric has put all his passion and energy in building and bringing the company to the point that it is today. Without him, Graham would not exist and be the globally recognised luxury watch brand with a very unique profile. We know how hard he had to work over all these years to achieve this and therefore understand his wish to free himself up from everyday management duties. He will however stay very involved with the brand and continue to represent it at specific and important occasions."
Eric Loth commented: "Of course, a decision like this is always hard to make but I think handing over operations in a record year is the right thing to do. However, I am looking forward to being able to do some things I could not do before due to the lack of time. This will motivate me even more to achieve my best for the Graham assignments that I am keeping. I have absolute trust in the management team that I have put in place."
Ivan Dupraz, Member of the Board and COO, commented: "We are looking forward to continuing the development of the brand in the same path set forth by Eric. The management team is very motivated and we have reinforced its strength over the last two years. We are confident that we will be able to reach our ambitious growth targets. We thank Eric for his enormous contribution as CEO and we look forward to continuing to working with him in his new role."