Client: Baggerød AS (part of IMS Group)
Role: CEO
Industry: Industrial manufacturing – maritime fire doors and safety solutions
Location: Vestfold, Norway
Year: 2024
Øyvind Nilsen
Chairman of the Board, Baggerød (IMS Group)
After a period of strong growth, Baggerød faced an important crossroads, with increasing demands for structure, leadership and quality. For the Board, identifying the right CEO was critical, as a wrong appointment would have had clear consequences for both the organisation and our delivery capability. PU contributed insight, structure and professional execution, providing us with a comprehensive decision foundation that gave us confidence we had selected the right leader and established a solid platform for Baggerød’s next phase of development.
The Situation: A Board Facing a Strategic Crossroads
Baggerød is a well-established Norwegian industrial company with specialist expertise in fire doors and maritime safety solutions. As part of the family-owned IMS Group, the company holds a strong market position and has clear growth ambitions both nationally and internationally.
In the summer of 2024, the Board faced a defining decision.
The company was experiencing solid and profitable growth, yet operational complexity in production, delivery and organisational structure was increasing. At the same time, the current CEO wished to transition into a more product-focused role in the years leading up to retirement.
For the Board, this was not simply a matter of replacing a leader. It was about ensuring that the company’s next phase would be led in a structured, sustainable and resilient way.
The fundamental – and challenging – question was:
How do you professionalise leadership and organisation without losing culture, ownership alignment and what already works?
What was at stake
Initial discussions made it clear that the consequences of a wrong choice would be tangible:
- A lack of shared direction could weaken execution and delivery quality
- Unclear leadership principles could reduce collaboration and effectiveness during a period of increasing complexity
- Insufficient understanding of ownership structure and governance model could create friction between Board and management
This assignment required more than a traditional search. It required a precise and robust decision foundation.
As the Chairman later reflected:
"Had we handled this on our own, the process could easily have taken the wrong direction."
The Challenge: A Multi-Dimensional Leadership Mandate
Baggerød has strong technical environments and deep engineering competence. This places high demands on leadership, coordination and prioritisation.
In 2024, there was a clear need for:
- Stronger structural clarity and more consistent leadership principles
- Improved cross-functional collaboration
- Greater organisational maturity during continued growth
- A leader who understood the interplay between an independent subsidiary and a family-owned industrial parent
The Board was clear that the role required more than industry experience alone.
"For us, it was essential to find a CEO who not only had technical and industry expertise, but who could actively drive collaboration, delivery quality and people development."
PU’s Role: Strengthening the Board’s Decision Foundation
PU was engaged to support the Board in making the right decision at a time when the risks were significant and the consequences long-term.
To establish a shared foundation for decision-making, PU worked closely with the Chairman of Baggerød and the Group management of IMS Group. Early focus was placed on developing a common understanding of:
- The company’s strategic direction and ambitions
- Expected leadership behaviour and Board interaction
- The ownership model and governance structure
- Risks to be mitigated and strengths to be reinforced
We then conducted individual conversations with the entire Baggerød management team to uncover critical insight into the organisation’s actual state, culture and collaboration patterns. This real organisational context clarified what a new CEO would need to address from day one.
This insight work was decisive in translating ambitions and challenges into a precise and realistic leadership profile.
Candidate Selection: Leadership Aligned with Context
The search strategy was developed based on the Board’s actual situation – not on an idealised role description.
The final candidates shared three key characteristics:
- Demonstrated operational leadership capability
- Practical understanding of production and industrial environments
- The ability to create structure and development through people
The selected candidate brought broad leadership experience from complex industrial settings and was consistently described as clear, inclusive, analytical and trust-building.
In assessment, he demonstrated particular strength in building culture, accountability and collaboration – directly aligned with what the Board had defined as critical for the company’s next phase.
The Impact: Clearer Direction, Stronger Leadership and Better Alignment
During his first months, the new CEO prioritised understanding the organisation, production processes and people. Based on this foundation, several targeted initiatives were implemented:
- Clearer accountability and decision structures
- More systematic collaboration within the management team
- Stronger cross-functional alignment
- Organisational adjustments to support continued growth
The result is a more aligned organisation with clearer leadership and improved execution capability. For the Board, this has increased confidence in governance and prioritisation.
"PU brought insight and experience, maintained control throughout the process, and helped us land the right candidate."
This was not a recruitment to fill a vacancy. It was a Board-level decision with real consequences for the company’s future trajectory.