FL jubilæumsbog EN 101123 web - Flipbook - Side 92
FRODE LAURSEN HAS
SET COURSE FOR ITS
100TH ANNIVERSARY
Since taking the wheel at Frode Laursen, the
employees have known Thorkil Andersen as
a boss who gladly met for work at 5 am and
rarely le until the evening. He was also deeply
involved in the decision-making, regardless
of whether this involved significant strategic
initiatives or relatively small things.
As the company grew, it became harder and
harder for him to practise this type of management.
“I have a long range. I’ve worked many hours,
and I’ve always found it challenging to oversee
complex issues. I always knew where there were
problems in the company. But at some point –
around 2015 – that form of management petered
out. The company continued to grow, but not
at all as it had done in the years before. Today,
I’m annoyed that I didn’t build an organisation
strong enough to continue the high growth rate.”
Thorkil explains that during that period, Frode
Laursen had the opportunity to buy some large
companies, but the deals never came to fruition.
“The board of directors and the family didn’t
think I should work any more than I already did.
And they were right.”
THE NEW CEO
Things didn’t get any beer when Thorkil was
diagnosed with cancer in 2017. The illness
boosted the generational change in the organ-
90
isation, where a new CEO was brought in to
replace Thorkil.
The Board of Directors decided to appoint
Thomas Corneliussen as the new CEO. He had
been part of Frode Laursen’s executive board
since 2017, and before that he came from the
subsidiary Skanol, where he had been for 16
years. He replaced Thorkil with effect from April
2021. There was a lengthy process to go through
before the change in the top job.
“It’s very special for an owner-manager like
Thorkil, who has created so much over so many
years, to have to let go. It’s value-laden, almost
emotional,” says Thomas.
THE MANIFESTO SETS THE FRAMEWORK
The two wrote a manifesto outlining the division of responsibilities, framework, and rules
for their cooperation. The document went back
and forth between them for nine months before
the wording was spot-on.
“It’s all about trust and timing. Thorkil has
to trust me, the family has to trust me, and I
need to be able to believe that I have elbow
room. That’s why we were very careful in
preparing the manifesto, and I have to say that
it has worked super well. The value of the manifesto lies in making it, and we haven’t taken
it out of the drawer once since then,” Thomas
concludes.
FRoDe LAURsen HAs set coURse FoR Its 100tH AnnIVeRsARY
