Icelandic Group CEO steps down

THE Icelandic Group, which owns Icelandic-Seachill in the UK, home of the Saucy Fish Co, has announced a number of top  management changes.
Magnús Bjarnason will step down as CEO while Árni Geir Pálsson, a director of the Board, will take his place as the group’s new CEO.
Jóhann Gunnar Jóhannsson, Chief Financial Officer at Icelandic Group, will take up the position of Deputy Director concurrent with his role.
Bjarnason has been in charge of the Company for the past two years and successfully led the merger of the company’s UK operations into a single company.
However, the move was not without some pain as it saw the closure of one factory that led to a number of redundancies.
Pálsson, who takes over as CEO of Icelandic Group, has served on the company’s board of Directors since 2011.
He also worked for Icelandic between 2000 and 2005, and therefore possesses extensive knowledge of its business operations.
Pálsson completed his degree in Business Economics (Cand Oecon) at the University of Iceland, Department of Manufacturing and Management, in 1989.
He then earned an MSc degree in International Business, focusing on manufacturing and strategic planning, at the Copenhagen Business School in 1999.
Pálsson has extensive experience of business operations and has served on the boards of directors of various companies both in Iceland and abroad.
He has worked in recent years as an independent business consultant. In 2006-2008 he was CEO of Median, a software company specialising in payment transaction services, and in 2005-2006 he was CEO of the entertainment company Lazytown.
In 2000-2005 he served as head of business development at Icelandic Group (SH) and before that as head of development of the publishing company Frjáls Fjölmiðlun.
Herdís Fjeldsted, chairman of the board of directors of Icelandic Group: ‘Icelandic Group has faced various challenging circumstances and changes in recent years, most recently the mergers of the company’s businesses in the United Kingdom under the leadership of Magnús Bjarnason.
‘I would like to take this opportunity to thank Magnús for his work in the interests of the Company with my best wishes for his future.
‘I am happy to welcome Árni Geir Pálsson as the new CEO. His experience and knowledge of Icelandic will be a valuable asset to the Company.’