Peter Corijn

Peter is CEO of Van de Velde. Van de Velde is a European leader in premium lingerie and swimwear with brands such as MarieJo, PrimaDonna,  Andrès Sarda. Retail is managed under the Righby&Peller and LinCherie banners. The company is listed on the Brussels stock exchange and employs 1500 people.

Peter is also Partner and Founder of VUCASTAR, a consultancy focused on providing highly practical advice and tools to achieve mission success, via strategy development, turning that strategy into value creating execution and effective change management.

He is a Senior Executive with major international experience. Until mid 2017, he was in the C-Suite of Imperial Brands (“IBG” - a FTSE top 20 Company) as Chairman of the Operating Committee, Global CMO and President of several Divisions. He was also Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Fontem, an IBG start-up (“Blu”).  In 2017/18, he was Senior Advisor with McKinsey.

Prior, he was Vice President at P&G, where he has held several senior roles. His last assignment was as Vice President Shave Care (Gillette) for the CEEMEA region. Until 2005, he was Vice President P&G North-West Africa. Peter has worked around the world and has lived in London, Bristol, Geneva, Casablanca, Jeddah, and Warsaw.

Peter is a sought-after keynote speaker and has done seminars and consulting work for Hersheys, P&G, Boots, BNPParibas, Ageas, Evyap, Telepizza, Insead, BASF, and several others. He is also in the leadership team of the Bay of Bengal Innovation Council and active as executive mentor with Aziz Corporate in the UK. He teaches in the executive programs of Solvay Business School in Brussels. Peter regularly publishes business articles in ArabAd magazine.

Peter Corijn is a VUCA, transformation and change management expert. Not only does he have major experience in Emerging Markets, but he has also honed his skills with intense trainings a.o. at TLDG at West Point, with General McChrystal’s “CrossLead”, and Special Forces.

He holds 2 master’s degrees in law (Law and Business Law), has done executive training with Harvard/Monitor, is certified by INSEAD in the International Directors Program and has done the Digital Excellence program at IMD. He is a Fellow of the UK Marketing Academy.

Peter loves martial arts, music, and adventure. He has a black belt in Shotokan Karate and is into Krav Maga.

He collects guitars and, in his youth, played support acts for U2, Echo&The Bunnymen, TC Matic and others. He is currently a successful indie artist (as “Paul Numi”). His 2020 “Chimera” album reached over 200,000 plays. The new “Parallel Lives” album is due to be released November 1, 2021. His music is on radio playlists all over the world.

Discovery is his passion: he has traveled to over 60 countries in exploration trips and is an avid reader.