Niklas Sonkin appointed of President and CEO

The board of directors of Accountor Group has approved the appointment of M.Sc. (Eng) Niklas Sonkin (50) as President and CEO of the group, starting on May 2nd 2018. Sonkin has been COO and deputy CEO of Accountor since January 2017.

The former CEO and the founder of the company, Asko Schrey will continue as an active member of the board of directors of Accountor Group.

- The board would like to thank Asko Schrey for the remarkable work he has done during the many years of building Accountor into the large and diverse international company that it is today. We are proud that we can continue Asko’s work and lead Accountor further on the way he has shown, says Jussi Wuoristo, Chairman of the Board of Accountor Group.

- We continue developing, growing and internationalizing Accountor from a very good starting point. We wish Niklas Sonkin and his team all the luck and success in the new position, Wuoristo says.

Asko Schrey is not only a former director of Helsinki Stock Exchange but also widely known as an entrepreneur and an innovative reformer and pioneer of the financial administration industry.

- After spending 12 years in the stock exchange business, I planned to spend another similar period in financial and HR administration. That, however, turned into almost 20 years and will continue further – I will be involved in my role as member of the board of Accountor and as the group’s second largest shareholder. I have also been promised that my rocking chair can remain at the company’s offices for the time being, Asko Schrey says.

- It has been a pleasure to work with the personnel of Accountor during all these years of both fantastic success and immense pressure. All this has taught us accountorians to work together towards our common goals. As a result, we can now provide a better customer experience than ever before. Thank you to all our customers who continue to demand industry leading results from us and give us open, immediate and sometimes even ruthless feedback, Schrey continues.

-- I also want to thank the five investment firms I have worked with in developing Accountor: IT-Venman, Capman, 3i, Sponsor and most recently, Vitruvian Partners. Each of them has in turn appointed individuals into the Accountor board who have been able to help us as well as set the right demands and requirements. These persons (Ralf Saxen, Mikko Räisänen, Olli Liitola, Ere Kariola, Kaj Hägglund, Juhani Kalliovaara and Jussi Wuoristo) have had a significant impact on our growth story. Without the challenges they have set for us, many possibilities would have been wasted, Schrey says.

 - Two years ago, the development of Accountor’s operational structure and management model was started together with Vitruvian, with a focus on strengthening our four business clusters, developing centralized functions required for an international business as well as moving the operative management responsibility from the entrepreneur to a professional director.

 – I have followed this process very closely and I can happily and with confidence transfer responsibility to Niklas Sonkin, Asko Schrey says.

- I receive this new position humbly, together with the skilled personnel and for the valuable customers of Accountor. It has been a privilege to follow in the footsteps of Asko Schrey and work with him side by side for almost one and half years, says the new President and CEO of Accountor Group, Niklas Sonkin. – However, now it is time to print some new footsteps with the Accountor team.