SWITZERLAND. Company president and ceo Peter Petersen is to retire from The Nuance Group, the company’s Board Committee announced today.
Petersen will officially retire from his present position in April 2004, when he will reach the ordinary retirement age proposed by The Nuance Group for its Switzerland-based employees (63). He will become chairman of the company’s Board of Directors. Roberto Graziani, presently a member of the company Board of Directors and Board Committee, will become the new ceo and president starting May 1, 2004.
The company said: “Peter Petersen joined Nuance in August 1998 and has been instrumental in turning what was then a loss-making operation into one of the most profitable players of the industry, at the same time taking The Nuance Group to the number one position when it comes to size and innovative potential. ”
Petersen commented: “Nuance, as the rest of the travel retail industry, has seen a couple of difficult years. I am happy to say that we have mastered all these challenges. I have reached an age where I am looking forward to my well-earned retirement, and this is a good time to hand over my responsibilities to Dr Roberto Graziani, who will reinforce the Nuance experienced management team and people.
“Mr Graziani will guarantee the continuity of the company strategies, having already influenced and contributed over the last 15 months to The Nuance Group as a member of the Board of Directors and Board Committee.”
Giuseppe Stefanel, speaking on behalf of Nuance’s shareholders and introducing the new Nuance ceo, recalled the long experience he developed with the PAM Group: “We identified in Roberto Graziani, whom I have known for a long time, a person that could combine an in-depth knowledge of the retail industry with an already established exposure to the Nuance business. I would like to wish Roberto a successful future in this new challenging role, hoping he will be able to contribute his experience to what we already consider a first-class management team”.
Moreover, the shareholders would like to thank the present chairman of the company, Ivar Samrén, who successfully completed the transition phase which saw The Nuance Group leaving the Swiss Air Group and GECOS and Stefanel becoming its new shareholders. Stefanel added: “We very much appreciated Mr Samrén’s dedication to this difficult task and we are pleased he will remain a member of the Board of Directors”.
Secondly, the shareholders expressed their thanks to Peter Petersen for all he has done for Nuance, especially over the past two years, leading the company through very turbulent times. “We believe,” Stefanel added, “his presence as chairman of the Board of Directors and Board Committee will represent a very relevant contribution to the future of the company and guarantee the necessary continuity in its strategies.”
Comment When he joined the travel retail business, Peter Petersen blew into town like a commercial breath of fresh air. He was endearingly frank in his opinions, sceptical about previous trade approaches and always prepared to challenge the status quo.
He was full of energy and vision and didn’t just talk the talk but put it into action. He delivered much, and commendably arrested the morale slump that had hit the ex-Allders International company in the wake of the well-documented trials of its parent company Swissair. “Let’s have fun,” he told this commentator as he set about delivering on his commitment to bringing excitement and a point of difference to the travelling consumer.
The Nuance that Peter Petersen leaves (at least in his capacity as ceo) is a very different Nuance to the one he inherited. It may be under new ownership, it may have some contracts that involve excessive rental terms but it’s nonetheless a retailer of stature and genuine vision with some first-rate management in locations as diverse as Australasia, Hong Kong, Europe and Canada. Petersen deserves much credit for that transition.
The Nuance Group: The Nuance Group is the world’s largest travel retailer, operating 400 shops in 19 countries and at 62 airports. Nuance furthermore mangages inflight sales for various European airlines and operates shops on board ferries and cruise ships as well as in city centers. The company is jointly owned by the Italian shareholders GECOS/Gruppo PAM (www.gruppopam.it) and Stefanel (www.stefanel.it).
