In late 2019, we completed Falck’s turnaround. After six consecutive quarters of improved performance, we had completed two years of diligent work to get our company out of a deeply challenging situation.
Our financial and strategic turnaround has been about changing a mindset: from acquisitional to organic growth. From revenue growth to profitability. From local autonomy to global operating models and a strong focus on governance.
A ruling from the Danish Competition Council in January accentuated the need for ensuring strong governance and business ethics. Many initiatives have been taken since 2016 to secure that Falck never again violates the competition law as it happened in 2014-15. In the recent years, these initiatives were reinforced.
A formalised self-cleaning programme was initiated and carried out over the year. We compensated parties that had suffered a loss and paid a total of DKK 182.5 million to cover a fine and a settlement agreement. We carried out an internal review of the years 2004-19 and went through 3.8 million documents with the assistance of external parties. We adopted a zero-tolerance approach and trained our organisation.
In 2019, we re-introduced our Code of Conduct and whistleblower system as part of our trainings.
We also introduced three new Winning Behaviours for Falck:
• We are committed to care
• We build trust
• Together, we create more value
The Winning Behaviours make our values and our approach to ethics actionable and engage our employees in conversations about how we act and the kind of behaviour stakeholders can expect from Falck.
