New COO

Market growth leads to positive change

Søren Dürr Grue looks forward to the challenges ahead: “It is remarkable that the growth rate in certification has remained on the same level during the past couple of years”, he says. “Even during the global economic crisis, buyers of wood products are increasingly looking for the assurance for responsible wood sourcing provided by forestry labelling schemes. We can help companies in the wood industry business to differentiate themselves and come out of the global crisis strengthened in more than one way”.

Companies want more than profit

Grue’s professional record includes several years as Director of FSC-Denmark. During this time, he focused successfully on marketing the FSC scheme among companies.

“In my experience, many companies want more than profit. They are also looking for ways to contribute to positive change – of course without compromising their bottom line”, says Grue. 

“Now doing ‘good stuff’ is becoming profitable, and at the same time this also has clear internal value. Every certified company is doing their bit to support the world’s forests, and this is often appreciated not only by the company’s clients but also by its employees. Our job is to ensure that certification happens smoothly while we protect the system’s credibility by maintaining a high auditing standard”.

Grue was employed in NEPCon last year as Climate Program Manager and chain of custody auditor. During his time with NEPCon, his colleagues have learned to appreciate his friendly attitude as well as his energy, technical skills and ability to generate constructive ideas. “Søren Grue has shown a great capability for moving things forward when it comes to improving our client service”, notes CEO Peter Feilberg. 

Søren Dürr Grue is based in Denmark. He can now look forward to spending more of his time abroad, to oversee and help improve NEPCon’s client services in every corner of the EU.