New leadership in EGGS Design

After 11 years as CEO of EGGS Design, Ulla Sommerfelt passes on the baton. Ellen Lidgren and Øyvind Lium-Valmot are taking over the leadership of the consultancy.

The timing is right

"The timing is right," shares Ulla Sommerfelt, and continues:

"Over the past 11 years, we have developed this wonderful company together, resulting in EGGS being the company I dreamed about building and leading. I have worked alongside talented colleagues who create value-based and award-winning innovations in a company culture characterised by trust, autonomy, and compassion. My vision was to build the world's best workplace for creative people, and I am proud to say that the company culture and quality of work are the basis for EGGS becoming a world-class innovation environment."

Unleashing new energies

Ulla Sommerfelt has chosen to move on from EGGS. Life as a nomad awaits where she will travel the world and publish a book. Her motto is "never stagnate", but after 40 years in the IT and design industry, she will also treat herself to a break.

"It will be good for the company to unleash new energies, and I am pleased that Ellen Lidgren and Øyvind Lium-Valmot are taking over. They are a "powerhouse" of a team, and I am sure they will lead EGGS to new heights!" says Sommerfelt.

Shared leadership model

Lidgren and Lium-Valmot will take over from May 1 and continue to ensure that the company delivers ground-breaking design and innovation projects. EGGS was named the "Design and Technology Agency of the Year" by Norwegian Byråprofil 2023 and has 120 employees spread over five offices. The new leaders will use a shared leadership model. Lidgren will concentrate on the commercial aspects of the company's operations, and Lium-Valmot will focus on EGGS's people and culture.

Commercial growth

Ellen Lidgren emphasises that their goal is to continue to strengthen EGGS from both a cultural and a commercial perspective:

"We can only succeed with the talent of our employees. We will continue to develop EGGS to drive us forward in our industry and create value for our customers and society," she says. "We will continue to be the leading design and innovation agency in the market, taking clients from the early idea phase to the launch of best-in-class products, services and business models."

Cultural continuance

Øyvind Lium-Valmot is also looking forward to taking on leadership of the company.

"We have always had a strong culture in EGGS, he shares. For me, the continuance of this work is essential. At the same time, we must adapt to a world and a market that is in constant change. I look forward to continuing the work to make EGGS the world's best workplace for creative people in the new era we are now entering.

Synergies with Sopra Steria

In 2022, the consultancy became part of Sopra Steria. The leaders in EGGS will continue to work on creating synergies between the companies to deliver value-creating services for their clients.

About

Ulla Sommerfelt

Ulla Sommerfelt was co-founder and managing director of EGGS from 2012 to 2023. Under her leadership, EGGS grew to 130 employees in five offices. In 2022, EGGS was acquired by Sopra Steria. Ulla came to Norway from Denmark via California in the 1980s, starting her career at IBM. She has been an entrepreneur for the past 30 years.

Øyvind Lium-Valmot

Øyvind Lium-Valmot started as COO of EGGS in 2016 and has been central to the growth and development of EGGS. Before EGGS, he worked several years with Norwegian Air Shuttle's international expansion in Europe and the USA.

Ellen Lidgren

Ellen Lidgren joined EGGS in 2019 and has had several roles, first as a Business Designer and Creative Leader of Business Design before she took over the leadership of EGGS Oslo. Before EGGS, Ellen worked with innovation at Statkraft.