Executive Board Members

Johan Åhlund CEO and Co-Founder Artificial Solutions	Sweden	Profil
Dave Darsch Strategic Business Advisor	Spain	Profil
Jordi Galles EUROPASTRY, General Manager and member of the board	Spain	Profil
Declan J. Ganley Chairman and CEO, Ganley Group (Technologies)	Ireland	Profil
George Gerardos President, Plaisio Computers	Greece	Profil
Dominique Louis Chairman, Assystem	France	Profil
Prof. Juan Roure Founding member Europe’s 500, Professor for Entrepreneurship at IESE Business School	Spain	Profil
Martin A. Schoeller President Europe's 500, Managing Director Schoeller Holding, Chairman Schoeller Industries	Germany	Profil
Dr. Ulrich Schwanengel Managing Director, Consol	Germany	Profil

Johan Åhlund
CEO and Co-Founder Artificial Solutions
Sweden

Nationality
Swedish

Residence
Barcelona, Spain

Martial Status
Divorced with two children

Professional Background
2001 – current
CEO and co-founder of Artificial Solutions
The leading international Customer Service Optimization company

June 2000
CEO and owner of Experts & Projects, Barcelona
International Community Web site aimed at “everybody working with J.D. Edwards” (a leading ERP system)

1990 – 2000
CEO and owner of RealWorld Solutions, Bruxelles and Barcelona
J.D. Edwards service partner, implementing their ERP solutions at Multinational companies mainly in Europe. International team of senior consultants.
(Clients such as ABB, R.J.Reynolds, Total, Shell, York International, Benckiser, Waste Management etc.)

1989 – 1990
Internal consultant at Flakt (ABB), London (base)

Co-responsible for the group initiative to implement J.D. Edwards at various locations worldwide. Active participation on projects in Italy, UK, USA, Australia, Mexico and Sweden.

1988-1989
Group accounting department at Flakt (ABB), Stockholm

Group reporting tasks as well as responsible for development and maintenance of the Micro Control (Hyperion) reporting system.

1986-1987
Auditor assistant at local auditing firm, Stockholm

General auditing tasks and accounting related consulting assistance to the clients.

Education
1984 – 1987
Stockholm School of Economics
Specialization: Accounting and Finance.

1983 – 1984
Stockholm University
Russian (as part of military service)

Languages

Swedish Fluent

English Fluent

Spanish Fluent

German Close to fluent

French Very good

Languages
Swedish	Fluent
English	Fluent
Spanish	Fluent
German	Close to fluent
French	Very good

Johan Åhlund
CEO and Co-Founder Artificial Solutions
Sweden

www.artificial-solutions.com

Dave M. Darsch
Strategic Business Advisor
Spain

Dave Darsch, Strategic Business Advisor, has more than 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur and managing executive of technology companies. With a strong trans-Atlantic and pan-European focus, Darsch has active clients in both the US and Europe. He mentors entrepreneurs and helps them develop business plans that accelerate revenue growth and/or external infusion of capital. Darsch has been involved in more than 10 transactions involving the purchase, sale, merger, or infusion of capital into companies. He has assisted in trans-Atlantic expansion initiatives, including legal and accounting logistics, sales and marketing plans, as well as funding for two of these companies.

Darsch is the founder of the pan-European CEO Collaborative Forum, CEO-CF. CEO-CF is the premier platform for high-tech, high-growth CEO collaboration. The Forum provides expert help, peer group collaboration, and coaching for CEOs of European-based companies with pan-European, trans-Atlantic, and trans-Asian market strategies. Current membership comprises CEOs from 15 different nationalities and cultures. Membership in the groundbreaking Forum is by invitation only.

In 1979, Darsch founded and served as CEO of a privately held software development company in the Washington, D.C., area until the company was acquired by a systems integrator in 1996. During his tenure, the company was recognized as one of the Inc. 500 fastest growing US companies.

As a guest lecturer at the MBA level, Darsch has provided instruction at many European universities, including INSEAD University in Fontainebleau, France, London School of Business in London, England, and IESE Business School, University of Chicago, and ESADE University in Barcelona, Spain. He has also presented at the Europe’s 500 Conference and taught courses on entrepreneurship for the European Commission, BBVA, and Terra Lycos in Spain.

Darsch is a board member of Europe’s 500, an organization that lists the top 500 fastest growing companies in Europe and advocates EU-wide policy transformation for the benefit of entrepreneurs. He also serves on the boards of SåkorninVest AS, a $50.0M venture capital fund in Norway, and the Gazelle Growth program for the Research and Innovation Board of the Danish Technological Institute.

Dave M. Darsch
Strategic Business Advisor

Calle Francesc Perez Cabrero, 13 SA-1
08021 Barcelona, Spain

fon (Spain):
+34 93.209.39.97
mobile (Spain):
+34.616.808.447
fon (USA):
+1.571.212.0500
fax (USA/Global):
+1.501.421.8411

www.ceo-cf.com

Jordi Galles (1972)
General Manager and member of the board
EUROPASTRY
Spain

Studies:
Bachelor of Business Administration and MBA in ESADE (Barcelona). CEMS degree in HEC (Paris)

Professional Experience:
After a short experience in Mercer Management Consulting (Paris), during the last 10 years I’ve developed my professional career inside the family business that my father founded (EUROPASTRY). Before becoming General Manager in the year 2004, I’ve held several positions inside different areas of the company (Sales & Marketing, Operations and Finance).
EUROPASTRY’s aim is to transform the bread industry by extending the use of new frozen technologies. Frozen dough offers better product quality at a lower cost; it may be the unique option in view of the lack of professional bakers.
Our products are non-perishable and easy to use. This makes it easy to the baker to organise its production and to focus on selling rather than producing.

Product families:

BREAD

Baguettes

Wholemeal

Panes Rústicos

Ciabatta

Functional Breads

Restaurant breads

Minute bread

PASTRY Frozen raw

Croissants

Pain au chocolat

Danish pastries

Puff pastries

Muffins

Ensaimada

Savoury products

Seasonal products

Pre-proofed pastries

Croissants

Pain au choclat

Danish pastries

Ensaimadas

Thaw-and-sell pastries

Doughnut

Mini Doughnut

Berliners

Muffins

Innovation as a growth motor

EUROPASTRY is the frozen dough company with the biggest degree of innovation

Products launched in 2005 represent a 5% of the total net sales(10,5 millon €)

New products are key to adapt the portafolio to new consumer trends:

Bread: Sensibility for tradition.

Pastries: Easy to use products, no artificial flavours,savoury products.

Generally: Healthy, lighter and safer products: Jordi Galles (1972)
General Manager and member of the board
EUROPASTRY
Spain

Declan J. Ganley
Chairman and CEO
Ganley Group Of Companies
Ireland

Declan Ganley (1968), entrepreneur and Chairman and CEO of Rivada Networks designing and deploying broadband public safety communications networks for government customers.

Declan has founded wireless broadband and cable TV businesses, in Western, Central and Eastern Europe, including Broadnet (sold to Comcast), building and operating broadband wireless networks in ten EU countries, and Cabeltel, with an extensive cable multimedia network in Eastern Europe. With extensive experience in emerging markets, from 1991 he built what became the largest private forestry company in the Former Soviet Union, which he sold in 1997 to a consortium which included the Soros Group.

For a brief period in 1992, Declan acted as a Foreign Economic Affairs Advisor to the new Latvian Government. He has also acted as Economic Affairs Advisor to the Regional Government of Vologda (Russian Federation) in 1995/96.

Declan is Chairman of the Forum on Public Safety in Europe & North America, where senior leaders confer to provide policy and implementation recommendations to governments, legislators, public safety and defense entities in Europe and North America. He was an advisor on “technology and terrorism” to the Club De Madrid group of international heads of government and has served as a member of Futures Group of the Irish Government's Information Society Commission. He is founder and President of The Libertas Institute, a pan European think tank. He was awarded the JCI Entrepreneur of the year title in 2001 & 2005.

Declan is a recipient of the Louisiana Distinguished Service Medal for what was cited as his life saving actions; delivering communications capability for the US military post Hurricane Katrina.

Declan serves on the board of the University of Limerick Foundation and is a member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. He is a former board member of the Irish Chamber Orchestra. He is married to Delia and they have 4 young children.: Declan J. Ganley
Chairman and CEO
Ganley Group Of Companies
Ireland

George Gerardos
President and Managing Director
Plaisio Computers
Greece

Born in 1946 in Palaio Phaliro, Athens (Greece), he is a graduate of the National Metsovio Polytechnic, Civil Engineer department. Gerardos Cons. George, is the founder of the company and has a son.

Plaisio Computers SA operates within the New Economy, specializing in Computers Market and Telecommunications. Its operation is focused in tailor-made built-to order computers and retail of a variety of software and hardware products, mobile and conventional phones and office automation and equipment.

George Gerardos
President and Managing Director
Plaisio Computers
Greece

www.plaisio.gr

Dominique Louis
Chairman of the Executive Board
Assystem
France

Today, Assystem is a fast growing engineering company (a gazelle, in Prof. David Birch’s definition) but its recent history is really a story of rebirth.

Ten years ago, Assystem was a French nuclear engineering firm. We knew that our nuclear business was going to fall off sharply with the end of the French nuclear investment phase. So we identified what we felt would be attractive new markets for us, with a focus on the automotive and aerospace industries. And we were right—because in 2005, aerospace accounts for 30% of our revenue and the automotive industry 20%.

In late 1998, I realized that we weren’t expanding fast enough in these new markets, even as the nuclear segment was rapidly declining. I had a very bad feeling that Assystem might go out of business.

So I chose to follow the same strategy as the African gazelle: “to stay alive as long as possible.” I began by changing the company’s top management, before extensively rebuilding the organisation from 1999 to 2001, with the replacement of 50% of middle management. This process has changed our corporate DNA. We’re now a European company, with French roots. And today, I take a Darwinian approach to business. You have to constantly change and adapt, but that’s possible only if you regularly modify the company’s genetic code.

The way to secure a company’s survival, with the least possible disruption and pain, is through continuous adaptability, led by a far-sighted vision of future developments.

That was my mistake before 1998.

It’s hard to implement this process in a company, because sometimes there are contradictions between increasing efficiency in the short term and trying to prepare the company for its probable business environment over the medium term. You have to share this Darwinian vision with as many managers as possible.

You have to convince managers that today’s difficulties were caused by a lack of foresight five years ago. It’s just as important to solve today’s problems as it is to prepare for the medium-term.

At Assystem, my job is primarily to convince people everyday that tomorrow will be better and to push through the mutations in our corporate DNA.: Dominique Louis
Chairman of the Executive Board
Assystem
France

Professor Juan Roure
Founding member Europe’s 500
IESE Business School
University of Navarra
Spain

Juan Roure is Professor at IESE Business School and Member of its International Advisory Board. He has been Visiting Professor at INSEAD since 1996 and he was Visiting Professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1989. In 1982-83 he spent a year at Harvard Business School as visiting scholar with the VIS Program.

Professor Roure holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University in the field of innovation and technological based start-ups. (Title of the dissertation «Prefunding Factors of Success of High-Tech Based Start-Ups”).

He teaches entrepreneurship, growth strategy, innovation and negotiation and has authored several publications in these fields. He serves on the Board/Advisory Board of several companies and he is a consultant to owners of mid-size companies on growth strategies and M&A transactions. He has also been involved in advising top management of large organizations such as Telefónica, Banco Santander Central Hispano, Deutch Bank and REPSOL-YPF. He is member of the European Advisory Board of The Carlyle Group.

In 1988, he was involved in the creation of the European Foundation for Entrepreneurship Research (EFER) that later on became the starting point for the foundation of the present Association of High Growth Entrepreneurs Growth Plus. He is at present Academic Adviser and Board Member of Growth Plus.

In addition he has been involved in promoting the development of new technological ventures through the European Venture Academy, IST Investment Forum, European Tech Venturing Program, all projects supported by the European Commission. He was selected in 2000 among the Annual Time Digital Europe 25: The most influential people on the European Technology scene.

Professor Juan Roure
Founding member Europe’s 500
IESE Business School
University of Navarra

Avda. Pearson 21
08034 Barcelona, Spain

fon: +34 93 253 4200
fax: +34 93 253 4343

www.iese.edu
roure@iese.edu

Dipl. Ing. ETH Martin A. Schoeller (1955)
President Europe's 500
Chairman Schoeller Industries
Managing Director Schoeller Holding
Germany

After obtaining a university degree in mechanical engineering and economics from the Swiss university Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (Dipl. Ing. ETH) in Zurich in 1980, Martin Schoeller, Swiss, started to work as a plant manager in Brazil.

In 1982 he entered Schoeller International, Munich and Zurich, a small, traditional family owned engineering firm for beverage packaging.
In 1985 he founded Schoeller Plast Industries and has since then together with his brother Christoph Schoeller expanded the Schoeller Group into a diversified industries and services group in four continents focused on packaging, logistics and innovative technologies.

The combined revenues of the Schoeller Group, Munich, companies and entrepreneurial participations exceed €1,6bn € in 2007 with ca. 6000 employees. The beneficial revenues of the Schoeller holdings exceed €500m in 2007. Schoeller Arca Systems, the group’s core business, is today world market leader in material handling and returnable packaging (wasteless packaging). Also IFCO Systems (Container Logistics) and Barkawi & Partners (logistics consulting), founded by Schoeller are today leaders in their fields. Supporting the flow of goods and committed to ecologic sustainable packaging and logistics for the long-term the Schoeller Group created and build a concept of ecologistics.

Martin Schoeller is member in several supervisory boards. He is initiator and board member of the “Stiftung Initiative Mehrweg” (foundation for returnable packaging) and he is president of Europe’s 500, the Association of European Growth Companies, and supports the research for “International Trade, Ecological and Social Standards”.

He is married and has 3 children.

November 13, 2007: Martin A. Schoeller (1955)
Dipl. Ing. ETH
President Europe's 500
Chairman Schoeller Industries
Managing Director Schoeller Holding
Germany

Dr. Ulrich Schwanengel
Managing Director
ConSol
Germany

Dr. Ulrich Schwanengel studied mathematics, physics and computer science at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. He completed his diploma in pure mathematics in 1975, followed by his doctorate in 1978. His professional competence in this field is documented by diverse articles as well as an offer to join the renowned jury of "Mathematical Reviews", which reviews, edits and releases worldwide entries for publication.

After four years as a system programmer and software consultant at Softlab and an additional year as software development manager in a small software house, Socom, Ulrich Schwanengel founded ConSol*. First a one-man-business, he almost immediately needed the support of a variety of freelancers. Ulrich Schwanengel soon won the confidence of important customers like Siemens, Nixdorf, Dresdner Bank, Fraunhofer Institute, Porsche, Münchner Rück and others. His order books filled steadily; his independent studies, analyses and expert reports were just as in demand in the booming software branch as his masterful 'hands-on' implementation of volatile system parts.

He soon had to increase his team of highly qualified specialists, first by subcontracting additional freelancers, and then with his first true employee in 1989. Since then, he has won a remarkable number of team members, all of whom support and appreciate his personal philosophy of building a company that maintains a human perspective in its relationships with both employees and customers.

Ulrich Schwanengel recognized the signs of the times early on and always placed the idea of service in the foreground. This thinking was rewarded handsomely: ConSol's self-developed program, CallManager*, born out of the company's own service needs and practices, was named by IBM as the most innovative software solution of 1997. This program, written in Java and now called ConSol*CM, has been systematically further developed into a Customer Communication Process Management solution and is used successfully by numerous companies.

In September 2004, Ulrich Schwanengel was an information technology winner in the "Entrepreneur of the Year" competition. In February 2005 – repeating their success of 2004 – Ulrich Schwanengel and ConSol were again ranked among the Top 50 in the "Germany's Best Employer" competition. In November 2005, for the seventh time, ConSol was on the list of honor of the most growth-strong, owner-operated European companies in the "Europe's 500" ranking. In October 2005, as in the previous two years, ConSol* was included among Deloitte & Touche Technology's 50 most successful technology companies. In 2002, ConSol* won First Prize in the European "Vitae Talent Award" under the sponsorship of the Belgian Minister for Economic Affairs. Awarded in Brussels, the prize honors companies with exceptional employee motivation and promotional programs. ConSol* was also listed in 2002 among BAYERN'S BEST 50, the 50 most successful owner-operated companies in Bavaria.

In addition to membership in professional institutions like the Gesellschaft für Informatik (since 1978) and the German UNIX User Group, Schwanengel's personal commitment extends to interdisciplinary initiatives as well. He is a member of "Europe's 500", which promotes the interests of mid-sized enterprises in Europe, and was a speaker of the IHK circle for software quality assurance based on ISO 9000ff between 1994 and 1996. He supports a number of social projects, including sponsorships in SOS-Kinderdorf villages in Nepal, India and Kenya, an emergency medical station in Nepal, social institutions like the Munich Theater for Children, women's sports activities as well as chess (German National Team, diverse regional tournaments).

Ulrich Schwanengel is married and has a nineteen-year-old daughter.

Company profile - ConSol Software GmbH

Key data

ConSol Software GmbH is a highly renowned, well established consulting and software company for high-end IT products and services with headquarters in Munich, Germany. It has a branch office in Ratingen, Germany as well as subsidiaries in the USA and Poland. Founded in 1984 by Dr. Ulrich Schwanengel, who continues to be one of the company’s four Managing Directors, the company now boasts some 130 employees. In the 2004/2005 fiscal year, ConSol achieved sales revenues of 13 million euros.

ConSol's quality and competence is documented by numerous prizes: Dr. Ulrich Schwanengel was honored as "Entrepreneur of the year 2004" in Germany's most prominent business competition. In 2005, ConSol was again included in "Europe's 500" – which lists the highest-growth mid-sized European enterprises – and won one of the uppermost places in the Top 50 list of "Germany's Best Employer 2005". ConSol was also listed among Germany’s 50 most successful technology companies (“Technology Fast 50”) in October 2005.

Key Competencies

ConSol's specialty is developing, integrating and operating complex IT systems. It provides complete, one-stop solutions in such areas as operating systems, networks, databases or web services. The company’s own products, e.g. for help desks or process optimization round out its spectrum.

IT-Consulting and Services: ConSol's services include IT strategy consulting at the managerial level, development and optimization of operating concepts, assistance in making investment decisions as well as practical implementation. This means administration and 24/7 support for servers, databases, Internet solutions, infrastructure, emergency deployment, programming and security solutions. For Sun Microsystems customers, for example, ConSol is responsible for second and third-level hotline support. The company's portfolio also comprises holding workshops as well as training and coaching.

Software Development: ConSol develops individual software in Java and other programming languages. Above all, applications critical to company processes and procedures profit from modern J2EE architecture. Consulting and coaching in the area of application servers (BEA WebLogic, IBM Websphere, iPlanet/Sun ONE), XML, CORBA or Messaging complement ConSol’s services.

Smaller Intranet applications are realized in Perl or other script languages. An extensive library of its own modules enables ConSol to rapidly integrate desired applications. Its graphic design department ensures perfect user guidance with top functionality and attractiveness.

Product development: ConSol has developed its own comprehensive Java solution for organizing all corporate processes. This quickly implemented, easy-to-use software is available in two modules for varying needs:

CM/Help for customer service and support (Support, Help Desk/Hotline and Reclamation management)

CM/Lead for lead management; supports customer acquisition and supervision of sales divisions and partners

In addition, ConSol offers a streamlined web-based software solution, CM/Express, which is perfect for Help Desks and task management in small and mid-sized enterprises.

Client

ConSol's customers include large corporations such as Sun Microsystems, BMW, Hewlett-Packard, Lufthansa Systems, Neckermann, Siemens, Osram, O2 as well as banks and insurance companies (Dresdner Bank, HypoVereinsbank, Barmenia Versicherungen etc.) and health insurance providers (e.g. AOK), public administration (incl. the rural district administration offices of Munich and Günzburg as well as the city governments of Kempten and Erlangen), university institutes (e.g. the computer centers of the Aachen Technical University and the universities in Essen and Ulm) as well as mid-sized enterprises in a wide range of branches.

ca. 3,800 characters

This text is available for download from the Dr. Haffa & Partner Online Service: www.haffapartner.de.