Lars-Peter Søbye’s Post

Today is a special day for me. My last day as Group CEO of COWI. Such a great company, so many good colleagues and friends. My workplace for 36 years, 14 years as CEO. It’s in my blood and it will stay there for the rest of my life. I am looking forward to spending more time with my lovely wife and family. And I’m happy to hand over the baton to Jens Højgaard Christoffersen. He’ll be an excellent CEO, I’m sure. Happy that COWI is strong, making a big positive difference for people and climate in the world. Many emotions on such a day … Some sadness, but first of all GRATITUDE. Thankful for the fantastic adventure I have had. For our customers who have trusted us with their projects. And all the leaders along the way who SAW me, trusted me, took a risk with me, and gave me opportunities. Let’s remember to do this, as leaders: See people. Trust them. Give them opportunities to take on new challenges. That’s how we grow. Thank you, customers and colleagues. It’s been a blast. See you out there 😊 #thankyou

It was very emotional to give my final speech as chairperson for the The Confederation of Danish Industry today. I am proud of what has been achieved during my five years at the helm - most of all how our members have pushed the green transition forward, making Denmark a frontrunner and showcase for the entire world. Even though, I am stepping down from both my position as chair of DI and as CEO in COWI I hope to continue furthering the green agenda - from now on as professional board member in the Danish business community. And with today’s election of Klaus Holse, as new chairperson, I have no doubt that DI is in the best of hands in the years to come, and I wish everyone well. #dkbiz #dkpol

It was nice to give an interview to Danish trade magazine Ingeniøren looking back at my 36 years with COWI going from 700 employees to 7.000 today. In the article, I also emphasize the need to encourage having more young people signing up for the STEM educations. We need to have the necessary brain power available to keep innovating and creating the green transition.

I highly appreciate the opportunity to look back at my 14 years as CEO of COWI, and at the same time give my perspective on some of the challenges of our time, in this interview in DI Business Magazine DI - Dansk Industri (p.24 in Danish)

I made Bente Overgaard sign her book, ‘Virksomhedens grønne omstilling’ – Toplederens guide til ESG-ledelse i lyset af den finansielle regulering, when she passed by our HQ with a copy. I am proud to see COWI used as the ’case story’ under the heading ‘Trådene samles’ summing up all the interesting findings over 188 pages based on experiences from A.P. Moller - Maersk Holding, Danfoss Foundation, Lars Larsen Group, TORM, SP Group, SimCorp, Axcel, Nordea, Jyske Bank, BankInvest, PensionDanmark and BlackRock Europe. COWI’s inclusion in the book proves that our strategy ‘Future Now’, which focuses on our commitment to the green transition and to meeting customers’ and society’s demand by doing our best to help shaping a sustainable and liveable world, works. #ledelse #strategy #greentransition

Today, it was announced that I’m passing the baton as Group CEO to my colleague Jens Højgaard Christoffersen on 1 October. After 36 years at COWI, the last 14 as Group CEO, I feel blessed having met so many smart and inspiring people while working on fantastic projects around the world. It has been a privilege to lead this great company and I look back on a catalogue full of unique personal and professional experiences. So why now? There are two reasons. First, we, as a leadership team, have just developed and launched FUTURE-NOW, COWI’s new strategy, which is widely embraced in the organization and by our customers. Handing over the baton now is the right thing to do because this will allow Jens and the leadership team time to finetune and influence the strategy implementation. Second, I’m 62 and still have some miles in me, but I would like to move away from daily operations and pursue a career as a professional board member and spend more time with my family. That said, I’m not leaving COWI completely. I will stay on board during the next year as executive advisor to ensure a smooth transition and follow any outstanding issues all the way through to completion. Please join me in congratulating Jens on his promotion. Also, let me take this opportunity to say a huge thank you for the collaboration to current and former colleagues, customers and business partners: It has been an honour and a true pleasure.  https://lnkd.in/ehHW7vrD

An exciting new report from McKinsey & Company shows that the Danish business community holds all the right cards to seize the future global market for climate technologies. The numbers are staggering: DKK 250 billion can be added to the Danish GDP by 2030, and upwards of 250,000 green jobs can be created. But to scale and grab this huge possibility, Danish companies – especially startups – need to be free from stringent regulations and gain easier access to capital. In today's edition of Finans, I talk about this and how we at COWI have experienced growth ourselves on the 'green playing field' as our latest half-year results clearly show. It is our first financial results to come out since we chose to turn our back on fossil fuel projects – a sizable chunk of our turnover – in the beginning of this year. Even so, it is one of the best half-year results I have ever presented as CEO. I hope Danish politicians and entrepreneurs will read McKinsey's new study and reach for this giant #opportunity for Denmark. https://lnkd.in/etTicbUR

So pleased to see the countries around the Baltic Sea coming together with high ambitions for the #greentransition!   With a pledge of building almost 20 GW of offshore wind by 2030 the partnering countries will increase today's capacity seven-fold in the coming eight years.   This is great news on so many levels.   Both because this level of ambition is what is needed to meet the growing climate and energy crisis. But also, because transnational agreements like this commit more stakeholders to actually take #action.   We need everyone to contribute to the green transition. With today's addition to the "Esbjerg Declaration" from before summer there's a strong framework for a massive upscaling of #offshorewind in place – now it's time to build it! 👷 https://lnkd.in/eY4DmeuZ

I have today presented a very satisfying half year result for COWI, that also shows that turning away from fossil fuel projects does not seem to have a negative impact on our business, in fact the opposite. COWI grew – organically – in the first six months of this year by more than 8 per cent. We have welcomed 800 new colleagues and extended our staff with another 300 colleagues to nearly 7200, and we still expect growth for the rest of 2022.   I'm obviously very pleased to see how positive our customers and practically all stakeholders have been towards our new strategy FUTURE NOW, and not least that both our order book and pipeline are as healthy as ever. Strategic goals and ambitious commitments made by management are one thing, however, today's great result is owed to COWIs talented and hardworking employees who are working every day to realize our vision. I am extremely proud of their efforts.

Summer greetings! In an uncertain world, resting up and recharging the batteries become absolutely crucial. With rising inflation, strained global supply chains and an economy at risk of recession, we are facing a challenging and demanding period ahead. But for now, it's time to pull the plug and for a while set all worries aside – to log off, read a book and play with your kids. My own summer break has just started and luckily, I will spend it surrounded by family. Although my own kids are now grown and have started families of their own, I'm thankful that our house is still a frequent gathering spot. In times of uncertainty, having a solid base becomes all the more important. And to me – as for so many others – family is that base. In their company I can truly relax and put the stress and worries at work in the background. I look forward to that. However, I will have one work-related activity during the summer though. I'm building a playhouse and playground in the backyard, but I am looking forward to it.😅 I'm confident that we will steer safely through the tough times, just as we have many times before. But to do so requires that we actually take the time off and rebuild our energy to take on new challenges. I sincerely hope you all will have the chance to enjoy a relaxing holiday surrounded by your loved ones. Have a great summer!