Willis Towers Watson has appointed Thorsten Querfurt, joining from management consulting firm Oliver Wyman, as new Global Industry Leader for Natural Resources.
In his new role Querfurt will oversee the firm’s Natural Resources segment expansion – including oil, gas and chemicals, metals and mining, and power and utilities (including renewable energy and nuclear)
Eric Speer, Head of Willis Towers Watson’s Global Industry Group, said; “Since introducing our Global Industry focus several years ago, we now have a Natural Resources team of more than 800 specialists consulting clients in that sector, including 60% of the world’s 50 largest natural resources companies.
“Thorsten will be responsible for embedding Willis Towers Watson’s holistic and differentiated approach to working with clients across the full breadth of human capital and risk issues, and to leverage our deep industry expertise to the benefit of our clients.”
Before his Willis appointment, Querfurt worked as Energy Practice leader of global client accounts for Oliver Wyman’s Energy Practice and prior to that was a director with management consultancy Corven Consulting for ten years, where his focus was also on energy sector business transformation.
While at Corven he helped grow the practice for acquisition and led a series of consultancy initiatives for Oil & Gas, Manufacturing and Electricity clients.
Querfurt commented on his appointment; “this is a very exciting time – the Natural Resources industry is going through some fascinating changes and Willis Towers Watson is in a great position to help clients navigate their emerging risks and challenges. Companies are facing a complex mix of evolving risks, including geopolitical and regulatory change, the ongoing threat of cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure, increasing use of digitalisation and new technology to enhance efficiencies and drive down costs, whilst artificial intelligence and robotics will fundamentally alter the future of work. These are just a few of the dramatic and disruptive changes that are impacting companies in the industry.”
Querfurt will be taking over from Nick Dussuyer who was covering the Natural Resources role and will now focus solely on his role as Head of Clients and Industries for Western Europe.