Munich (Germany) – April 8, 2020: The Advisory Committee of IFCO Group has announced that as part of a long-planned succession process, Wolfgang Orgeldinger will retire as CEO of IFCO Group and Michael Pooley has been appointed as new CEO of IFCO Group. Mr. Pooley will take over the responsibilities as Chief Executive Officer effective 1st July 2020.
Having joined in 2000, Wolfgang Orgeldinger has successfully shaped IFCO over the last 20 years, first as COO and since 2013 as CEO. He will remain committed and continue to support IFCO Group as he transitions to the Advisory Committee. This transition has been planned well ahead of time in close cooperation between Wolfgang Orgeldinger and the Advisory Committee and is designed to ensure a smooth transition and handover over the next several weeks.
Michael Pooley is a strategic thinker who has led large scale successful growth and change programs in Brambles and Exova Group. He comes with very relevant experience in our industry within pooling and retail while having worked over 25 years in business management, sales and operations. Michael is well-known for his digital knowledge with a focus on track & trace and big data analytics. He graduated in 1990 from the University of Bath with a B. Eng. (Hons) Mechanical Engineering and earned an MBA at the Henley Management College.
Stephan Förschle commented on behalf of the Advisory Committee: “We would like to thank Wolfgang for his outstanding commitment and contribution to IFCO’s success and for his great support over the last 12 months following the ownership transition. Wolfgang has led the development of IFCO over the last 20 years into the leading global Reusable Plastic Crates (RPC) solution provider. We are very grateful that he will continue to support IFCO and our customers as a member of the advisory committee going forward.”
“In close collaboration with Wolfgang, we have identified Michael through an extensive search process,” Förschle continued. “We are confident that Michael will successfully continue IFCO’s strategy and foster the company’s profitable growth with innovative products, digital solutions, and best-in-class services with an obsession to meet and exceed our customers’ expectations. Michael knows IFCO and a number of our customers very well from his time at Brambles. He combines operational, technical and digital skills with commercial thinking and has a strong go-to-market drive.”
“Since I have joined IFCO in December 2000, we have grown the company from a small niche player generating c. €200m revenues to a global leader in the RPC pooling industry with revenues of more than €1.0b,n” added Orgeldinger. “The IFCO team has successfully entered new markets, steadily grown our client base, built-out our product and service offering, and improved our operations. This has led to strong, consistent growth even throughout challenging economic cycles. Within the last year, we have successfully managed the ownership transition and with knowing the IFCO Group is in good hands, it is the right moment for me to retire as CEO. I am excited to further support the company in my new role as a board member and am looking forward to seeing Michael Pooley and the whole team shaping the next chapter in IFCO’s long-lasting success story.”