NAY, a.s. with new CEO

NAY a.s, the operator of the largest consumer electronics chain, on March 15, 2010 has announced changes in the company’s top management. Erwin Rauh was appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO) will be held by the company’s current sales manager Karol Tisončík, and the position of company Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is now held by Ing. Roman Kocourek. The company’s founders, Peter Zálešák and Ján Tomáš, who held the positions of CEO and COO from its incorporation, will further act as the chairman and the Vice-chairman of the NAY a.s. Board of Directors. The changes became effective as of March 1, 2010.

Mr. Rauh, who previously worked with Media Markt in Germany, Austria and Sweden, is an internationally experienced specialist in consumer electronics and a highly regarded business manager. He brings to NAY more than 30 years of managerial, marketing experience and technological expertise.

„Mr. Erwin Rauh is exactly the leader who will move NAY to another development stage. Our objective is to advance NAY from a classical retailer to a full-value multi-channel retailer, employing all available options. We believe that he will also be naturally engaged in the further developing the culture of our company,” said Zálešák. “His international expertise and reputation are a perfectly timed contribution to our company within its continual expansion and growth. We are glad that he has accepted this role and are expecting further reinforcement of our market leadership role.”

Mr. Rauh regarding his appointment added: “NAY and its philosophy fit my way of working and personality very well. For me, it represents a successful company in which its two founders invested all their knowledge and wisdom and have been creating it step by step with genuine enthusiasm, which corresponds with my approach to business. I look forward to working at NAY.”

The position of COO in the company has been taken by Karol Tisončík, who has up to now held the position of sales director and contributed to achievements of the company for 18 years, almost since its foundation. The position of CFO in the company will be held by Roman Kocourek, who came to NAY in 2009 to work as a financial director. „Karol Tisončík is a person with natural leadership skills and who has unparalleled knowledge of the Slovak market. Roman Kocourek is an exceedingly capable financial expert, applying pragmatic and at the same time critical thinking. I am convinced, that their expertise and abilities are the exact combination to move NAY forward,“ stated Ján Tomáš concerning the management changes.

Karol Tisončík has outlined his vision of NAY for the upcoming period: „We want to work increasingly with our client, the consumer, and are implementing a 100-percent customer approach to deliver to them the highest level of services and our offer as an added value partner for them. We have invested continually into this area and we still see great scope for expansion.”

“We have gone through a period of change, from expansion into the Czech Republic, through introduction of a new information system and the global financial crisis. We have acquired enough information to be able to take advantage for the benefit of meeting objectives of the company and its shareholders, reinforcement of our market leadership position, further expansion as well as other sales opportunities,” according to the CFO, Mr. Kocourek.

“These personnel changes at Nay are not taking place in isolation. They come hand in hand with the organizational changes that will ensure even greater flexibility, ability to respond faster and more precisely to changes in consumer behaviour and to current trends.

Innovation, technological leadership and introduction of new features to the market are among the essential values of NAY and especially today, more then any other time, we would like to emphasize them while establishing objectives and strategies,” Zálešák said by way of explaining the background of the changes in top management.