Marel makes unexpected moves in its Executive team
Marel decided to make unexpected moves in its Executive team starting this week. The objective is to sharpen the focus on operational efficiency and transformative investments to increase speed and scale, as well as to realize strategic growth targets, informed the company.
As a result, Linda Jonsdottir is appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO). She will focus on human resources and cross-functional transformational investments aimed at increasing operational efficiency to achieve the mid-term targets, as well as digitizing and automating Marel’s global supply chain; Stacey Katz is appointed CFO and will become a member of Marel’s Executive Team; and Folkert Bolger, Executive Vice President of Global Supply Chain, is leaving Marel.
“Our customers are investing in their infrastructure to increase speed and scale to grab market share in a changing landscape of consumer preferences and market channels. This is mirrored in record orders received in 2021, up 22% between years. Furthermore, Marel enjoys a balanced exposure to world economies through its global reach, innovative product portfolio and diversified business mix with 40% of revenues coming from recurring aftermarket services.
Marel is financially strong and has a good bench of future leaders. To stay at the forefront of the industry and reach our growth targets, we must constantly evaluate our organization and evolve. Chief Strategy Officer & EVP Strategic Business Units, Arni Sigurdsson will continue to lead our ambitious plans for acquisitions and drive our strategic growth, especially in digital solutions and within the retail and food service segments. To drive Marel’s journey on the operational side, Linda Jonsdottir will step into the role of COO to lead cross-functional and transformational investments to automate and digitize our operational platform and Stacey Katz is promoted to the role of CFO. With this change we will be in a better position to divide our forces, speed up decision-making, and become stronger as a team.
Linda is a true and seasoned leader with great experience that she will bring to the table as COO. She has earned the trust and respect of her colleagues running Finance, IT and Human Resources, after joining Marel overseeing investor relations and treasury 13 years ago. This has been clearly a transformational period for Marel, with high growth and step up in value creation and she has my full trust to lead the reshaping of our operational platform, from suppliers to customer delivery. I’m excited to welcome Stacey Katz to the Executive Team in her new role as CFO. She has worked closely with the Executive Team and senior management over the past 8 years, shown strong leadership and has an exceptional drive and passion for Marel. I would also like to sincerely thank Folkert Bolger for his valuable contribution to Marel over the years and wish him every success in his future endeavors,” declared Marel's CEO Arni Oddur Thordarson.
Linda Jonsdottir is appointed Chief Operating Officer, responsible for global supply chain and human resources. Linda joined Marel in 2009 and has been Marel’s CFO since 2014. During Linda’s tenure as CFO, Marel revenues have doubled from EUR 0.7b to 1.4b and annual EBIT has grown from EUR 49m to 154m. Linda has professionalized Finance, IT, HR, and Global Business Services, secured Marel’s financial strength and financing, as well as played a pivotal role in the dual listing of Marel shares on Euronext Amsterdam in 2019.
Stacey Katz is appointed Chief Financial Officer, responsible for the functions of Finance, IT, and Global Business Services. Stacey joined Marel in 2014 and as Vice President of Global Business Services, has led the start up, professionalism and development of shared services, end to end business processes, master data, business intelligence, and cross-functional program management. Additionally, Stacey has had the role of Chief Accounting Officer ensuring high quality of Marel’s financial reporting. Before that she was in Strategy & Development where she had a leading role in the Simpler, Smarter, Faster refocusing program.
Stacey holds a Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and an MBA from Reykjavik University. Stacey is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in New York and has extensive experience working as an auditor and consultant in both the United States and Iceland across various industries. She is an American and Icelandic national.
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