Quick facts
Name: Peter Villa
Age: Born in 1964
Family: Married to Jenny. Two children, Johanna, 12 and Fredrik, 11.
Nationality: Swedish, lives in Germany
Education: Holds a degree in economic history, political science and education from Uppsala University.
Background: A varied background, including transport manager at a furniture group, administrative official and commissioned officer in the armed forces.
Peter Villa
Regional Director Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Business Area Director Product Information
Peter feels that it is important that he can change and influence his situation.
When and why did you join the Group?
I started my career in the research department of Veckans Affärer in 1991 where I worked as project manager. We developed new studies, such as Sweden's best municipalities and redefined Sweden's largest companies, which were repackaged as services and sold in more detailed form. In 1994 I was appointed as project manager at Dagens Industri where I had the responsibility for Kapacitet & Kompetens, a weekly insert for job-seekers. For this target group we simultaneously built up a database. At the end of this project I was recruited by Bonnier Information Services, BIS.
Describe your entire career path and the choices you have made.
As assistant of the Managing Director of BIS I was involved in different technology projects. One of them, On the Move, was aimed at developing a standardised mobile application program interface for mobile multimedia applications. It was sponsored by the European Commission as it included partners like BT, Ericsson, IBM, Sony and Siemens all over Europe.
From the position of Managing Director for Svensk Börsinformation AB I moved on to our joint venture Hoppenstedt Bonnier Information in Germany, where I took over operating responsibility for Germany, Italy and several Eastern European countries. Our task was to launch databases for corporate information and advertising sales in these countries. I was then only 30 years old, and it was of course exciting to move to Germany and to be given so much responsibility.
In 1998 I was appointed as Managing Director of Kompass Deutschland, where my job was to transform a traditional catalogue publisher into a modern provider of B2B information. Two years later I became Managing Director of Bonnier Product Information and Hoppenstedt's parent company which coordinates our German operations.
What is important to you at work?
It has to be fun and there must be opportunities to develop new products and services. It is also important to me that I can change and influence the situation.
Why have you chosen to stay in the Group?
Many of the companies I worked for were in a process of transformation, so there were always new and interesting challenges as well as opportunities for ongoing development. At Bisnode, there has always been room to grow and advance. Bisnode has believed in me when I was relatively young, which is perhaps not so common in most parts of Europe. This freedom has made my job enjoyable, and I have also been privileged to have excellent colleagues.
How would you describe the “Bisnode culture” in a few words?
Entrepreneurial spirit, curiosity and an empowering atmosphere that encourages personal initiative.