Singapore’s Norbreeze Group appoints Waldemar Schmidt as chairman

Norbreeze Group, a Singapore based Asian retail specialist, behind lifestyle brands such as BERING, CATH KIDSTON, PANDORA, PHILIP STEIN and TIMBERLAND TIMEPIECES, has announced the appointment of global business leader, Mr. Waldemar Schmidt as the group’s Chairman. Mr. Schmidt has a stellar standing in the international business community and has been the force behind several listed Multi National Companies (MNC’s).

Norbreeze Group operates more than 50 direct and indirect owned stores, including supplying to leading number of travel and dutyfree outlets, as well as supplying to more than 200 independent stores throughout South East Asia and Macau. In his new role, Waldemar will be responsible for charting strategic directions for the group as it expands their business network in Asia including acquiring new brands.

The new appointment also comes with the formation of the Norbreeze Group Board of Directors – made up of Waldemar Schmidt as the Chairman, and founders, Mr. Anders Peter Juel Sauerberg and Ms. Anne TradsJuel Sauerberg, as members of the board. This board will lead and formulate the Group’s strategic objectives to ensure appropriate resources are made available to enable the Group to meet set objectives. All Directors boast a wide range of experience and skills, bringing independent judgement on issues of strategy, performance, resources and standards of conduct.

Waldemar Schmidt said, “I am very excited about the opportunity to assist the management team in taking the business to the next level with continued high levels of profitable growth. I look forward to working with the team and will invest all my efforts in propelling the Norbreeze Group, an already successful entity, to greater heights.

CEO of Norbreeze Group, Anders Peter Juel Sauerbergsaid, “We are honoured to have Waldemar share our passion for the growth and progress of Norbreeze Group. He brings with him decades of strong business acumen and are certain that with his sound leadership the Board will formulate the Group’s strategic objectives. We look forward to fully utilizing his industry expertise and business insights to boost our presence in the Asian region. In his previous role as the CEO of ISS, he, among other things, built up Asia’s leading facility services group and he has retail experience from his time as Deputy Chairman of the fast-growing Majid Al Futtaim Group (UAE).”

“Singapore has allowed us to grow into this successful company we are today. As we continue to grow not just here but also in the region, we believe that it is important to invest in strategic planning efforts during times of tremendous growth and success. It is crucial to be nimble to strategize ahead, especially in the challenging times of the retail industry,” he added.

The group’s revenue is expected to be around S$70 million in 2014, which is a growth of more than 60% over 2013 EBITA is expected to be above 13%. The ambitions of the Norbreeze Group is to grow the business by more than 40% per year over the next 3-5 years by opening new stores in the region and by adding new global brands to the portfolio.

Over the past 10 years, Norbreeze Group has evolved to generate a good understanding of the Asian consumers and meeting their need for good quality and well-designed products. It is through this understanding that the group is able to build upon and replicate successful retail formulas that have shown positive results to overall sales.

Mr. Schmidt’s appointment came into effect on 2nd March.

Besides Singapore, NorbreezeGroup has presence in Macau, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines through shop in shops, concept stores and in-flight shopping platforms.