A
s Head of Group Finance for the steel engineering firm Primetals Technologies at only 34 years old, it
would be fair to say that Jeremy Hamon has enjoyed a meteoric rise up the career ladder to date.
His family are from Pontoise, a small town north-west of Paris that was one of the centres of the Impressionist movement in the 19th century. From a young age, he was immersed in the heritage of painters such as Vincent van Gogh and Camille Pissarro, who lived in Pontoise between 1872 and 1884.
Hamon continues to think in stories and pictures. They have helped him tackle the most complex of operational tasks in finance, he explains – the most recent achievement being the ongoing implementation of an entire corporate treasury system and operations into Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Primetals Technologies’ main shareholder.
This article takes a closer look at not only Hamon’s remarkable career trajectory, but also profiles a pioneering steel engineering company that has aligned itself with the demands of the future. Climate change has become a clear megatrend in the steel industry, while customers demand advanced steel grades for higher performance. In response, the company has built a comprehensive portfolio able to combine both requirements. This focus on sustainability and technology is now a cornerstone of the company’s financial management, with its landmark hedging
As a child I wanted to become an
engineer in mobility because I loved the idea of making travel convenient – as you know, infrastructure is all about people
concept linking currency options to sustainability goals.
In the beginning Our meeting would normally have taken place in Linz in Austria, where Primetals’ main operation is based. Hamon commutes in from Vienna. But instead of meeting for a tour of the works, we are in video- conferencing mode. Despite the limitations of two-dimensional rather than three- dimensional interaction, Hamon’s passion and enthusiasm shine through.
“I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. After Algeria gained independence, my mother’s family had to leave what was a French colony quite suddenly. My grandfather arrived in France with nothing and set up a successful retail business,” he recalls.
Figure 1: Production of global crude steel, 2013–2020 (million tonnes) 2,000
1,500 1,000 500 0 2013 World 2014 Rest of world 2015 China 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Source: World Steel Association
Hamon’s father worked as an accountant in the Paris-based mobility sector of German engineering conglomerate Siemens, thereby engendering an early curiosity in transport infrastructure. For many years he believed his father “worked on trains”, unaware that he held a finance role. “As a child, I was fascinated that my father was part of all this. I wanted to become an engineer in mobility because I loved the idea of making travel convenient – as you know, infrastructure is all about people.”
To the chagrin of his mathematics teacher, Hamon opted for a degree in political sciences at the Institut d’études politiques de Paris (often known as Sciences Po), the alma mater of many a French president, including current incumbent Emmanuel Macron. This was the right place for Hamon, given his sense of, and passion for, the wider collaborative and collective post-national approach to Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain. “Cosmopolitanism is an individual state of mind,” he reflects.
An MA in public affairs and social studies at Sciences Po between 2007–2009 followed on from his three-year bachelor degree. He speaks six languages including Czech and Polish, the latter having been honed as part of a year abroad spent at the University of Warsaw during his undergraduate studies. Then, with his heart set on a public-sector career, Hamon took a government internship in the cabinet of the Minister of Interior (Home Secretary), continuing as an employee. But he found politics failed to inspire and he grew frustrated at having to support a person rather than a purpose in such a role.
It was time to leave France. Although tempted by the US, he chose the shorter trip across the Channel for the next stage of his career. “I joined Siemens UK in a junior financial consulting role and moved to Guildford,” he recalls. As it happened, as part of his UK-based responsibilities, he had to support reorganising Siemens’ finance functions in South West Europe (including France). This resulted in the somewhat surreal experience of having to train and develop the team that would make Hamon Senior redundant, as financial functions became centralised across the company. Hamon adds: “He wanted to retire anyway, so it all worked out! My father jokes that he had supported me financially during my studies, only for me to get rid of him when I got started.”
Hamon flourished at Siemens. “My first boss in the UK was a real mentor and he
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