Successful Cross-Border Collaboration Behind the Recruitment of New CEO for Orbital Fabrications

How to navigate the complexity of hiring a CEO, when the new owner is a listed overseas entity and the acquisition has been family owned for 30 years.

Listed on the Swedish stock exchange, Bergman & Beving headquartered in Stockholm recently acquired a majority stake in Orbital Fabrications, a UK market leader in its specialist field established 30 years ago by three siblings, two brothers and their sister.

With this exciting acquisition completed in December 2023, Bergman & Beving were critically aware of the complexity of recruiting a new Leader to replace the retiring CEO of 30 years in this family run business, where employees are engaged by feeling valued beyond their day-to-day work, crucial when their scare skills are core to the business’s success, and heavily in demand elsewhere.

With the family stepping back this critical appointment was handed by Bergman & Beving to Signium, whom they have a long standing successful relationship based on understanding of complexity and nuance placing Leaders into new acquisitions, and within their portfolio. 

The importance of cultural and ownership nuance for success

To ensure the careful design of the search process Signium Sweden and Signium UK worked as one team to share and strengthen the interests of all parties, so a clear picture of what the new CEO of Orbital was formed.

The work was divided between consultants Johannes Eng, Partner at Signium Sweden, and Matthew Dallisson, Partner at Signium UK. Johannes was responsible for the contact with Bergman & Beving, while Matt managed the dialogue with Orbital.

Integrating a new CEO into Orbital took careful thought of the operational and commercial skills needed to scale the business, whilst absolutely putting the leadership approach front-and-centre to place a rare individual able to protect the entrepreneurial flair and quality first focus that has made Orbital so successful, whilst also bringing the systems, process, and acquisitions expertise to enable the business to scale.

Where global meets local

The recruitment involved certain legal and cultural differences between the countries. For example, formal references are typically taken before an offer is made in Sweden, which is not the case usually in the UK Despite these challenges, Signium’s team managed these differences effectively and without delays, thanks to close collaboration.

With open and flexible dialogue between both Signium teams to support clients in Bergman & Beving alongside Orbital, Signium placed a candidate who, after rigorous assessment,  was appointed based on the strength of their technical and cultural close fit.

“We are always learning from each other – Johannes’ long-standing relationship with Oscar Fredell at Bergman & Beving in tandem with our local knowledge and experience of supporting international clients means we ensured that the recruitment process met the expectations of both parties.”

Matt Dallisson, UK

Helping Navigate the Road Ahead

With the new CEO now in place, the collaboration is entering its next  phase. Matt, who had regular contact with Orbital and Bergman & Beving during the CEO recruitment process, looks forward to building on the relationship ahead

“I love the part we play in building new and successful teams. With the new CEO in place, we remain in regular conversation over the opportunities, and capabilities needed to unlock the huge potential ahead.” 

Matt Dallisson, UK

By combining local expertise with a global network, Signium was able to meet our client’s needs despite geographical challenges. This recruitment demonstrates how Signium’s global presence, with representation in over 30 countries, enables the successful execution of assignments even across borders.

“When you cannot make the wrong decision, the advantages of partnering with a global leadership advisory firm like Signium are many. Both corporate culture and cultural differences are incredibly important to understand if we are to deliver a good result. It is crucial to have local knowledge and understanding alongside a global mindset, which is precisely what we at Signium deliver.”

Johannes Eng, Sweden