Akva chief outlines growth ambitions
Three days into his new role as CEO of Akva Group, Hallvard Muri told kyst.no that he is keen to continue the group’s aggressive acquisition policy and aims to continue to “play an active role in the consolidation of the industry”.
Although he only officially took over from outgoing CEO Trond Williksen last week, he says that he has had some time to become familiar with the company in recent months.
“I think the group is incredibly exciting and has a great competence in an industry that is in an exciting phase for several development processes,” he explained.
He points out that Akva contains a broad portfolio of companies with leading technology solutions and services and his main concern is getting to know the key components and personnel.
“As the group has operations in four different continents I will be spending many business hours on airplanes,” he observed.
The CEO will have offices both in Oslo and at the group’s headquarters in Bryne and he aims to continue where his predecessor left off.
“I have great respect for the job Trond Williksen & Co have done in recent years, in which the group has gained a leading position and a solid financial platform for further development. The company has been working towards for a long-term strategic plan and basically my job to pursue this. But I hope I eventually put my mark on how this is carried forward.”
Track record
Muri comes from Aker BioMarine, where he was CEO for more than six years. He has an MBA from BI, and points out that he also likes to understand businesses from numbers. He is also aware of what is his main goal in position.
“The key word for me is execution. Nothing should be halfway,” he says.
Before Muri was at Aker he headed the Constructor Group, and he believes the lessons he learnt there are also quite relevant.
“The company had a somewhat similar structure, tough competition and large demanding projects, so I can draw some parallels from it,” he reflects.
He is quite clear about the style he plans to adopt.
“I'm relatively ‘hands-on’, but certainly not ‘hands-in’ – I don’t want to micromanage. I like to have a close dialogue with my leaders and one of my main roles is to be a good sparring partner. I'm not a person who thinks I have all the answers and am keen to work with and develop, capable people who are already in the organization,” he reveals.
“Now I look forward to getting to know all Akva Group family but also many of our customers as possible,” he concludes.
