People in the News

A few recent personnel updates from The Royal Mint, Monnaie de Paris, Mint Directors Association, and Bavarian State Mint.

Two Awards for Two Mint Directors

The Royal Mint’s Chief Executive, Anne Jessopp, has been awarded a CBE for services to industry and the financial sector as part of the UK’s 2024 New Year Honours List.

The title, Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), is largely ceremonial and is awarded to those with a leading role in regional affairs through achievement or service to the community, or a highly distinguished, innovative contribution to a person’s area of activity.

Following her appointment as head of the Mint in 2018, Anne Jessopp became the first woman in 1,100 years to hold the position. ‘Being named alongside people doing such incredible work for the UK is a real honour, but I’m particularly proud of the spotlight it shines on The Royal Mint’, she noted.

‘Over the last 18 months our team has delivered the biggest change to UK coins in 70 years, making history by unveiling the official coinage of king Charles III. We achieved all this while continuing to transform The Royal Mint – launching new businesses, attracting new customers internationally and becoming a leader in sustainable precious metals.’ 

The CEO of the Monnaie de Paris, Marc Schwartz, has also been bestowed with a prestigious honour, that of the Légion d’Honneur. He has been made a Knight of the Legion of Honour, France’s highest civilian decoration. Marc has worked for 35 years in both the public and the private sectors, and was appointed CEO of the Monnaie de Paris, France’s oldest company, in 2018.

‘The pride of receiving the highest of national honours is enhanced by the fact that it has been bestowed upon me as President and CEO of the Monnaie de Paris. For the past five years, I have been at the helm of this magnificent company, the oldest French institution, and it is a joy that is renewed every day,’ he wrote.

‘It is therefore to the men and women who make the Monnaie de Paris that I dedicate this Legion of Honour – which, needless to say, will be made in our Parisian workshops.’

New Leadership for the MDA and Bavarian State Mint

The new Executive Director of the Mint Directors Association (MDA) has been announced as Mark Cartwright, formerly of the Royal Australian Mint. He has replaced Acting Executive Director Ross Macdiarmid, who has now retired.

Mark has spent the past 12 years in the industry as the Executive General Manager of Sales, Marketing & Innovation at the Mint, having oversight of product design and development, sales, B2B relationship management, marketing, innovation and education and visitor services.

Leadership responsibilities prior to his Mint role include working with the sporting industry CEO of Basketball ACT and ACTSPORT. The MDA noted that Mark ‘comes to MDA Ltd as someone that has worked in senior leadership roles in membership-based associations for well over a decade, in addition to an executive leadership role at RAM’.

A change in leadership is also occurring at the Bayerisches Hauptmünzamt (Bavarian State Mint), following the retirement of CEO Günther Waadt. His replacement is Reinhard Riffel, whose previous experience includes Head of Production at Feintool – a Swiss-based company involved in fineblanking, forming, and electro-lamination stamping for processing steel sheets – and Head of Production Planning and Control at multi-national technology company Siemens.