Ole Rosgaard, Group Managing Director in Icopal Group, has had experience with companies in the US and the UK before joining Icopal Group. In the UK, he built up a window company from zero turnover to approximately 50 million in sales, and in Icopal he has been delivering EBITDA improvements in excess of 25 million by creating best-practice models.
For Ole, developing high-performance teams is the cornerstone of a forward-thinking, global manufacturing company and an essential tool for a dynamic CEO. He joined Icopal in 2005 and has helped the group grow into a leading global roof manufacturer that operates in more than 90 countries with almost 40 factories worldwide, and a workforce of almost 4,000 people. Icopal projects include the Allianz Arena in Munich, the UN building in New York, and the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Icopal Group has a history of acquisitions, which has expanded the companys footprint into new markets globally. Ole has been instrumental in developing numerous business regions for Icopal. I have done successful turnarounds in major SBUs [strategic business units] in the Netherlands and the UK and returned two others to former profitability.
In the past, in a quest to turn around underperforming businesses, leadership has gone away from the core business and tried to find the Holy Grail to achieve quick salvation, but this meant steering the businesses away from what we have been for 160 years. We are a roofing company and were one of the biggest in the world. When companies go hunting outside their core competencies they take attention away from what they are best at, and importantly their most prized assetemployees and loyal customersultimately accelerating their own demise.