http://www.insider.co.uk March 2020 INSIDER 97
Above: A
spectacular display
of the Aurora
Borealis, Lofoten
islands, Norwaysimply wouldn’t have worked,”
he argues.
“Instead, we have worked hard
to establish and develop these trade
links with our partners. In-depth
local expertise has been absolutely
crucial to our success. It’s vital to
choose a partner and not just a
provider – working with people
you know, like and trust to develop
reciprocal arrangements which
benefit businesses and clients on
either side of the North Sea.”
Luke Westendarp, director of
renewables-focused recruitment
firm Cathcart Energy, says that
understanding the culture of different
European markets is important for
companies looking to do business
in Scandinavia.
“While in Germany you have to be
very formal with people when you
first deal with them, in Sweden it is
quite different. That’s highlighted by
our figures on how long our team
members spend on the phone to a
client or candidate.
“In Sweden people are very chatty
and could quite happily spend half an
hour talking to you. It’s an important
part of how they build relationships.”
says Westendarp. Edinburgh-
based Cathcart began establishing
foundations in the Swedish market
three years ago.
“We hired our first Swedish
consultant and I also went over on
a number of trips there to meet
potential clients. Things were quite
quiet in the renewable energy sector
there at that time but everyone we
spoke to said they could see thingswere starting to change and since
then there has been something of an
explosion in work for us. The country
now makes up a third of our revenue.”
According to Sheryl Newman,
managing director of Aberdeen
technology consultancy Appetite for
Business which recently delivered
a project for a Norwegian subsea
pipeline company, the Scandinavian
approach to doing business isrefreshing. The firm created an
intranet-based employee hub for its
client and staged a series of training
sessions over two days in Norway.
It continues to provide remote
support to the client from its base
in Scotland.
Newman says from her experience
of working with Scandinavians, they
are “very collaborative by nature”.
“That means the delegates proved
extremely receptive to upskilling
in new areas and implementing
different ways of working.
“Whereas UK organisations
can often be ‘siloed’ in terms of
only focusing on individuals’ own
deliverables, there is also a much
closer-knit culture there where
colleagues take greater interest
in what others are doing and are
supportive where they can be.”
Newman also believes UK
businesses could learn from their
Scandinavian counterparts in their
approach to work-life balance.
“With a strong focus on family or
leisure time and minimising long
hours at the office, they work to
live rather than live to work,” she
points out. ■With a strong focus on family and
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work to live rather than live to work
Sheryl Newman, Appetite for Business (below)