Well on the way
Mikael Stöhr has been on the move through March and April. As our new CEO, he’s been on a grand tour of the Nordics in a quest to gain an understanding of Coor’s business. This knowledge will help equip the company for its future and ensure continued growth. And he is setting his sights high.
Mikael Stöhr, 42, was born and brought up in the southern Swedish county of Scania, where he also went to university, graduating in law and economics. Mikael is noted for his high energy and drive, and likes it best when things run at a high tempo. He has a broad background in the industrial and service business in Sweden and foreign countries (mainly Russia). His last job was as CEO of logistics company Green Cargo.
On 4 March, he took on the role as President and CEO of Coor Service Management. He has spent this first phase listening—to our people, customers and suppliers.
“If I were to summarize, I’d say there’s a lot that is good, not least the depth and breadth of competence we possess, which is really unique. Our aggregate experience and know-how means we can approach any Nordic company and build a package offering them more effective solutions within integrated FM and industrial service assignments. We’ve got an unbelievable amount to offer,” says Mikael.
This aggregate competence is a major strength, but to achieve Coor’s full potential, Mikael thinks some service groups need an additional boost. One example is industrial services. Coor currently makes a really strong, competitive FM offering, but to be a really excellent service provider to industry as well, it needs a sharper focus on industrial support services.
“If we want to be a really first-class service provider to Nordic industry we will have to focus more on our industrial service business. That’s why we’re giving this service segment a boost in the group, putting it into an independent organization with Nordic-wide assignments alongside our four existing country organizations,” explains Mikael.
When he’s talking about Coor, it’s clear that Mikael has a lot of warmth, positive feelings and high commitment. He points to several strengths that distinguish the company, such as pride, good managers and a clear customer focus. And these are the strengths that Mikael wants to utilize.
“Coor has made fantastic progress, and when I think of the great work that’s been done by the company to date, I’m humbled. In the past three years alone, the company has doubled sales from SEK 4 bn to 8 bn—in a period when most other companies have been facing huge problems,” continues Mikael.
With our ear to the ground, but our sights set on the future, we should think out what we need to do now to ensure growth and still be the leading service provider in 10 years’ time.
Mikael views Coor’s continued development as a stimulating challenge. The questions he’s asking are: what’s necessary for the group to keep being successful in the future? What should its offering be? What do customers need? What markets should be addressed? How should services be packaged?
“To answer these questions, I’ve initiated a strategy project with our Executive Management Team. With our ear to the ground, but our sights set on the future, we should think out what we need to do now to ensure growth and still be the leading service provider in 10 years’ time.”
Management is also taking lessons from the acquisition of Addici on board in this strategy project. Being a better provider for smaller customers, and in different segments, is a challenge Mikael takes really seriously.
“We’ve put a lot of focus on major integrated solutions in FM and industrial services. But to satisfy the needs we encounter from customers now, we need to get sharper in specific segments. We’ve started adapting our delivery organization and are reviewing our processes and delivery models.
And where is Coor heading? What does Mikael hope to achieve in five, ten or even 20 years? This brings a sparkle to Mikael’s eye.
“By that time, Coor will still be the well-managed and reputable company it is today, helping to sharpen the competitiveness of Nordic business by being a value-adding service provider. We’ll still have partnerships with many of the customers we have now, but we’ll also have many more public agencies and industrial customers in our customer portfolio. We’ll have managed to move into the oil industry in Norway, and will have several large, integrated assignments in Finland. Maybe we will also have extended our geographical coverage, at least in 10 or 20 years. Who knows—in 20 years, maybe we’ll be one of the major multinational service heavyweights?
