Icebreaker Merger of North American Operations

The innovative merino wool clothing company, Icebreaker has made the business decision to merge its Canadian and American operations. The move will see the teams in Portland and Vancouver merge to make one customer support department which will contain services such as marketing, finance, customer service and sales support.

The previous Portland branch is the most affected by the change as the merger will see all services located in Vancouver.

The innovative company has offered all Portland employees the option to transfer to Canada. The move is designed to minimise costs, remove job duplication from the 2 company’s staffing and focus decision making in a more streamlined way. The merger will enhance Icebreaker's ability to train, monitor and support their staff which in turn will promote better service levels to customers of the brand.

Icebreaker are a rather savvy and intelligent company that recognise vulnerabilities and address model needs quickly. Despite the unsettlement caused to a number of Portland workers, Icebreaker remains sincerely committed to the security, wellbeing and development of their staff and avoid disruption and job losses at every opportunity.

Icebreaker is not inexperienced in mergers and just a few years ago, all European operations were merged to one office based in Germany. The company, whose origins are in New Zealand, the home of the merino sheep, also merged their Australian and New Zealand operations previously. Having been founded in 1994, such operation marriages are reflective of the brand’s constant evolution and commitment to business development. Sales of the Icebreaker range continue to grow and the brand has over 3,000 stores in 45 countries. It's clear that the business minds behind Icebreaker are successful in their management and development skills and it’s not all bad news for Portland. The global e-commerce and US sales and marketing teams will remain south of the border in Portland offices, securing over 30 jobs so a really positive move by Icebreaker. 

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