Trond Williksen has been named the new CEO of Benchmark and will officially take up the role on 1 June, the aquaculture health, nutrition and genetics company has confirmed.
Previous Benchmark CEO Malcolm Pye stepped down in August 2019.
In a press release, Williksen said the Sheffield, U.K.-based company is well-positioned within a sustainable industry that also holds “vast opportunities and potentials” for the future.
“I am looking forward to enter a very competent team, positioning and executing on a strategy for profitability and growth in the future,” he said.
Williksen has considerable experience in the aquaculture and seafood industries, having held senior executive positions in these sectors for more than 20 years.
Most recently, he was CEO of Norwegian fish farm company SalMar ASA. Prior to this, he was CEO at aquaculture technology and service provider AKVA Group ASA for six years. He has also had senior roles at Aker ASA’s Seafoods, Ocean Harvest, and BioMarine.
Williksen has also held a number of advisory and non-executive director roles in the industry, including chairman of the board of The Research Council of Norway, Oceans Portfolio; chairman of Mørenot Group, which provides solutions to fishery and aquaculture customers; chairman of the board at biomarine firm Calanus AS; and board member of Norweigan integrated aquaculture company SinkabergHansen AS.
“I am delighted to welcome Trond to Benchmark. He brings deep, relevant aquaculture expertise and has proven operational, strategic, M&A, and managerial experience spanning both producers and technology providers in the industry,” Benchmark Chairman Peter George said. “I am confident that under his leadership and with his industry expertise, Benchmark will emerge from the current more difficult environment to realize its potential to become a profitable leading provider of sustainable solutions to the global aquaculture industry.”
Photo courtesy of Benchmark
