Fyfe in comfortable fit in Icebreaker role
Former high-flying Air New Zealand boss Rob Fyfe says a new chief executive role with clothing firm Icebreaker will mean wearing more casual gear than he did at the airline.
Fyfe, known for stylish dressing, has already served as executive chairman of the New Zealand-based retailer for nine months and has been on the board since July 2012, so he has already got used to the comfortable clothing he says fits in with long flights.
He has taken over chief executive from Icebreaker founder Jeremy Moon.
‘‘I’m used to running a larger organisation and understanding how to do that. Jeremy by nature is very entrepreneurial and very creative,’’ Fyfe said yesterday.
He would be flying just as much with Icebreaker as he did as boss of Air New Zealand, having resigned from the national airline at the end of 2012.
Now he would likely spend six weeks in July and August each year based in Starnberg near Munich, Germany, to be in touch with Icebreaker’s European team, part of a 435-strong workforce.
‘‘I think it’s really important that the team up there can have direct access to me . . . in terms of sales Germany is our biggest market in the world.’’
‘‘The German market is quite technical, and it’s also a very highvalue market, so people will pay a premium for superior technologies, superior fibres.’’
Icebreaker’s sales have tripled in the last six years, and are forecast to exceed $200 million in 2014, with more than 80 per cent of these sales in Europe and North America.
Fyfe said a lot of the company’s growth had been funded out of cashflows with help from bank debt. Icebreaker has 19 retail stores spread across New Zealand, Australia and the United States, plus a product design team in Portland, Oregon.
He ruled out the possibility that Icebreaker would undertake an initial public offering and list shares in the next three to six months. But he did not rule out the need for an offering or capital raising in the longer term.