Steve Anderson, currently responsible for Operations & Logistics, will fully resume his role as Managing Director of PHOENIX UK, a position he has held since 2016. Stefan Herfeld, responsible for Commercial & Marketing, will leave PHOENIX to pursue his career outside the group.
Both leaders have significantly shaped the company. Steve Anderson has been the driving force behind the company’s successful operational excellence transformation across Europe and the introduction of lean management, which has sustainably improved operational efficiency. During his 15-year tenure on the Executive Board, Stefan Herfeld has had a significant impact on PHOENIX’s retail development, creating the largest pharmacy network in Europe, and subsequently contributing profoundly to the group’s manufacturer relationships, private label development and digitalisation in the area of Commercial & Marketing.
“On behalf of the shareholders and the Supervisory Board, I would like to thank Steve Anderson and Stefan Herfeld for their many years of dedicated service to the company. Their strategic contributions have helped shape PHOENIX’s development, and I wish them continued success”, says Dr. Bernd Scheifele, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of PHOENIX group.
Succession from among own ranks
As of 1 February 2026, Joachim Sowada and Wolfgang Wallisch will join the Executive Board. Joachim Sowada will assume responsibility for Operations & Logistics, while Wolfgang Wallisch will take over the Commercial & Marketing portfolio.
Joachim Sowada joined PHOENIX in 2007 and held leadership roles in the Slovakian organisation as well as the regional organisation of Serbia and the West Balkans, before assuming his current position of Managing Director of PHOENIX Pharma Italia. Wolfgang Wallisch is Managing Director of PHOENIX Pharma in Hungary. He joined PHOENIX in 1996 and has since taken on different leadership roles in several PHOENIX organisations across Europe.
Both will continue to serve in their respective PHOENIX subsidiaries alongside their new Executive Board responsibilities.
“With Joachim Sowada and Wolfgang Wallisch, we are appointing two experienced leaders with a deep understanding of our business from within our own ranks. Their continued local leadership roles will reinforce the close link between the Executive Board’s strategic decision-making and the day-to-day dynamics of our national subsidiaries,” says Dr. Scheifele.
“I warmly welcome my new colleagues to the Executive Board of PHOENIX group. I look forward to a close and successful collaboration. Together, we will ensure that PHOENIX continues to fulfil its role as a leading healthcare provider, supplying medicines and healthcare products to millions of people,” emphasises Sven Seidel, Chief Executive Officer of PHOENIX group.
With its 210 logistic sites across 29 countries and almost 3,300 own pharmacies, the PHOENIX group makes a significant contribution to affordable and accessible healthcare in Europe, in line with its mission: We deliver health.
