Scan Magazine | Issue 10 | Summer 2009

PROMOTINGBRANDSCANDINAVIA

ISSU

E10

SUM

MER

2009

DRAWING ATTENTION:NEMI – NORWAY’S CARTOON STAREXPLORE BERGENTHE HUMAN JOURNEY – FINDING YOUR ROOTSRELOCATING WITHOUT FUSS

SCANM A G A Z I N E

Öluffa.Make the most of your time – fl y smoothly and comfortably to the world’s most beautiful archipelago. By the way, “Öluffa” means island hopping. Book your fl ights to Stockholm this summer and receive a free 5 day Island Hopper Card.

Stockholm from £��*one-way

Free Island Hopper Card included (worth £29)*.

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*Example fare from Heathrow, one-way incl taxes & charges, subject to availability. Offer valid with a return ticket. Travel Period 1 August to 30 September 2009. Applicable to all passengers fl ying SAS to Stockholm Arlanda – valid for any SAS fares excl. Group Travel. Terms & conditions apply.

Copenhagen Stockholm Oslo Helsinki Gothenburg Bergen Stavanger

flysas.co.uk

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Scan Magazine | Contents

COVER FEATURE

10 Lise Myhre | Drawing on Differences

DESIGN

14 We Love This | Hot Summer Stuff

SCAN TRAVEL

16 Bergen Theme | Gateway to the Fjords18 Ulriken | The 643m High Mountain Surrounding Bergen20 Hardangerfjord | Time to Explore24 Fjellferie | Get Active in Norway’s Mountains26 Fjord Hotel | Fit for a Prime Minister

30 The Human Journey | Finding Your African Roots – in Stockholm

SCAN FOOD

32 Scandinavian Summer loving | Summer Food

COLUMN

35 Is it Just Me | Mette Lisby on Communication

SCAN BUSINESS

BUSINESS FEATURES

36 Mannaz | Tailoring Talent for Business Success40 Finnair | The Past, Present and Future of Air Transport42 Relocation Theme | Relocating the Easy Way

REGULARS

50 How was your day? | Annika Wahlberg51 Property Breakfast | Corren Troen52 Chamber News | Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and

Danish Chambers of Commerce for the UK

SCAN NEWS

56 Scandinavian Newsflash

CULTURE

59 Film | 15 Minutes with Jan Troell60 Scandinavian Music | Latest from the Scandinavian Music Scene61 Culture Calendar | Your Scandinavian Cultural Events

Contents

14

4 | Issue 10 | Summer 2009

Scan Magazine | Editor’s Note

Wonderful Bergen is thetheme of this Summerissue and this was reallyan inspired editorial choice.I can’t think of any othercity in the world where you

can combine stunning fjord voyages with an absolutelypacked cultural summer programme featuring concertswith leading world artists such as Coldplay and BruceSpringsteen. I warmly recommend the destination – forthe surrounding nature, the food, the people, the quaintvillage atmosphere and the amazing cultural events. Gothere: it will be a trip of a life time!

It seems the summer has at last arrived and I have afeeling this will be a good one. My son is now 9 monthsold and although I am disappointed he is too small to playfootball it is good news that he is now old enough to enjoya day in the park. I will drink a cold beer and he will drinklukewarmmilk. On this occasion, I clearly get the long endof the stick!

Promoting “Brand Scandinavia” is not difficult with somany good things to choose from. If you go to Sweden’scapital, remember to pay The Swedish National Museum

of Natural History a visit (page 30). And elsewhere in theissue Inge Buus, from Mannaz, the Danish frontrunnercompany in the field of capability development activities,reveals what good leadership is about.

Finally I would like to share the sad news that MalcolmCampbell, our valued recruitment columnist has passedaway. I first met Malcolm to discuss his recruitmentcolumn at the Royal Automobile Club. I couldn’t get inbecause I was wearing jeans so we almost had to take themeeting standing outside. He was the type of guy wholaughs at these things and we quickly became friendsafter that. He will be missed.

We will now take a month’s break and be back withanother superb issue on 6 September.

Have a great summer,

Thomas Winther

Dear Reader,

SCANM A G A Z I N E

Scan MagazineIssue 10 | Summer 2009

Published 06.07.2009ISSN 1757-9589

Published byScan Magazine Limited

Design & PrintLiquid Graphic Limited

Executive EditorThomas Winther

EditorSigne Hansen

Creative DirectorMads E. Petersen

Copy-editorMark Rogers

ContributorsIan WelshBronte BlomhojRikke Bruntse-DahlLinnéa MitchellEmelie KruglyAnna Maria EspsäterMette LisbyKarl Batterbee

Cover ImageLise Myhre

PhotosYiannis Katsaris

Sales DirectorTure Damtoft

Marketing ManagerHelene Oxfeldt Lauridsen

[email protected]

To receive our newslettersend an email [email protected]

To [email protected]

Next issue 7 September 2009

Scan Magazine Limited53A Clapham High StreetLondon SW4 7TGPhone 0870 933 [email protected]

www.scanmagazine.co.uk

All rights reserved. Materialcontained in this publication may notbe reproduced, in whole or in part,without prior permission of ScanMagazine Ltd.

There’s a revolution taking place in Broadband. Someconsumers want it everywhere they go, what about you?Ericsson’s research reveals consumers would rather giveup the TV than their broadband connection and rather losetheir wallet than their mobile phone.

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SCANM A G A Z I N E


Scan Magazine | Contributors

Signe Hansen (Editor)has an MA in Journal-ism and has beenworking as a freelancereporter in London.

She is now the editor of Scan Maga-zine. Having previously worked withtelevision, radio, web and local news,the good story is always her priority.

IanWelsh is aUK-basedindependent writer andeditor with nearly 15years experience inbusiness publishing.

With a background in corporate com-munications, Ian now specialises incorporate responsibility and supplychain issues.

Bronte Blomhoj runsScandi Kitchen inLondon, a Scandina-vian deli/cafe. Bronte,who has studied in

Edinburgh and has a background ininvestment banking, has lived inLondon for 7 years. She writes ScanMagazine’s monthly food column.

Rikke Bruntse-Dahl.Being a greenie atheart, Rikke has writ-ten extensively on ecoissues for a variety of

publications including The Observer,New Consumer and SmartPlanet.

Ethical consumerism and greenbusiness behaviour are her mainareas of interest.

Linnéa Mitchell is aSwedish freelance jour-nalist, who came toLondon in 2003 as a TVvoiceover. Still here,

with a fresh journalism degree underher belt, she writes for both Swedishand English magazines.

Emelie Krugly hasworked on a number ofSwedish newspapers.After travelling exten-sively, she is now

based in London and is responsiblefor Scan's news section. She can becontacted any time regarding an eventor story: [email protected]

Anna Maria Espsäter,who does the maga-zine's travel features,is a native of Sweden,although based in Lon-

don for many years. Anna is a free-lance travel and food writer special-ising in Scandinavia.

Mette Lisby is Den-mark’s leading femalecomedian. She invitesyou to laugh along withher monthly humour

columns. Since her stand-up debutin 1992, Mette has hosted the Danishversions of “Have I Got News For You”and “Room 101”. Mette currently livesin London.

Karl Batterbee is de-voted to Scandinavianmusic and knowsexactly what is comingup in the UK. Apart

from writing a monthly music updatefor Scan Magazine Karl has alsostarted the Scandipop Club Night andits corresponding website: www.scan-dipop.co.uk

Thomas Winther(Executive Editor).Originally from Den-mark, Thomas has abackground in Eco-

nomic consultancy. He is now on apersonal mission to take Brand Scan-dinavia to new heights. Thomas livesin Blackheath with his much betterhalf and 9 month old son.

Contributors

Corren Troen is an English law firm, based inLondon, with a special knowledge of the Anglo-

Nordic market, and an extensive internationalnetwork of like-minded professionals. We combine

the experience and qualities of a top city law firm withthe time, and attention to detail of a family office. We

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Elizabeth Kristensent: +44 (0)207 592 [email protected]


Scan Magazine | Letters of The Month

Letters may be edited. Letters are only published with the consentof the sender. Write to [email protected]

Dear Scan Magazine... Letters of the Month

Dear Editors,

I am a fan of Scan Magazine and really enjoy reading it, andI wondered whether you might be interested in writingabout something I am doing this summer.

I amhalf Swedish half English, a fine jeweller by trade and livein London. However this summer I am embarking on an ad-venture to raisemoney for a charity that is close tomy heart.

It’s a long distance endurance horse ride across Sweden.For two weeks we (a friend and myself) will be crossingforests, marshes and lakes and camping each night. Ourtrip will be arduous with no backup team or pack horsesand we have been warned about the bears and wolves, notto mention the regular swarms of mosquitoes and ticks.The trip was inspired by the birth of my nephew who wasborn with Prada Willi Syndrome and we are currently rais-ing money for The Prada Willi Syndrome Society, the onlycharity that supports those born with this rare genetic dis-ease. Our website is www.justgiving.com/cross-sweden

Best wishes,Claudia Martin

Dear Claudia,

Thanks for your email and for letting us know about thewonderful journey that you are undertaking and the goodcause you are supporting. Personally, I really admire yourinitiative and I hope you will send a travel update to theeditorial team on your return. We need to know if you sur-vive those Swedish bears!

All the best,Thomas

Dear Editors,

First of all thanks for a great magazine. Thought the arti-cle on Sandi Toksvig reflects how all we Scandinavians liv-ing in the UK feel about our home countries, we stay Scan-dinavian in our core.

As always you have a good mix of business and pleasure.I'm really looking forward to midsummer now, althoughwe'll probably have a good old-fashioned barbecue and afew beers; and then try the Gravlax some other time.

I've been living in the UK for almost ten years now, and yourmagazine makes me feel a little more connected to myroots, not least because you have the events guide.

But here's what I miss a bit. Some more about films andmusic please. In your last issue you had half a page aboutmusic: give us more. Who is releasing new albums, if theyare playing where and when, review of the albums, concertdates in the event guide (including the newsletter, prettyplease).

And for films, there are so many great Scandinavian films,and even though I mostly know the Danish ones, there havebeen some really good Swedish ones this year, such as MenWho Hate Women. Where can we watch them? I only knowone web-site, so any help you could give on that would begreat.

I am beginning to make it sound as though you are missinga lot, don't mean to. Think you have a great magazine, justmore things I would like to see in there.

Keep the flag(s) flying and have a great summer,E. Daniels

Dear E. Daniels,

Many thanks for all the compliments for our magazine andyour interesting suggestions. We will definitely look into thepossibility of doing a little more about films, music andother cultural aspects of Scandinavia, which you rightlysay do not receive a lot of coverage at the moment. We hopewe can change that in the future!

All the best,Signe

We receive many lovely letters from our readers. Aswe’re fond of saying, your feedback helps to make all ofthe time and effort worthwhile. We’ve decided to select afew Letters of the Month – letters that for whateverreason tickled our fancy.

Chances are you have come across the Goth girl Nemi.The cartoon character, who makes Metro readers laughor raise an eyebrow every day, is published in around 60different newspapers, magazines and websites inScandinavia, the UK and pretty much all of Europe. Wecatch up with Nemi’s creator, Norwegian Lise Myhre, tofind out how she came up with Nemi and which country’sNemi is her favourite.

One of the main points about the twenty-something, dry-witted and often childlike Nemi is that she is different fromthe mainstream, she does not fit in. Something which hercreator Lise Myhre, who lives in Norway with her musicianhusband, Simen Hestnæs and their son, Storm, likes tomake clear. One of the ways she does this is by only everdrawing Nemi in black and white, while the othercharacters are in colour.

Myhre started experimenting with comics back in 1996while she was juggling several freelance jobs such as

bartending. “Bartending is great for people-watchingbefore creating characters, illustrating books and articles.I was also a book-consultant for sci-fi and horror books.Among many other things,” she says.

In the beginning Myhre only got a few strips publishedhere and there. One of her jobs was for the Far SideGallery, which was published in Norway as an anthology.In summer 1997 she actually decided that comics werenot for her but still had to do a couple of pages for the FarSide Gallery. She decided to do a couple of panels aboutthe Goth scene and that was when everything clicked, saysMyhre. “For some reason I had tried to write what Ithought people would like to read. Up until then I hadn’teven considered the possibility of writing for myself, aboutstuff I actually knew. Once I started having fun, otherpeople enjoyed my comics more as well.”

That was when Nemi was born. Shortly after it was pickedup by one of Norway’s biggest national newspapers,


Scan Magazine | Cover Feature | Drawing on Differences

DRAWING ON DIFFERENCES By Rikke Bruntse-Dahl



Dagbladet, and since then Lise Myhre’s fame hascontinued to grow alongside Nemi’s popularity.

Both you and Nemi are very famous in Norway as well asin the UK. Did you ever imagine that happening when youfirst started drawing her?

No, not at all! I have the best job I could have, but the famepart isn’t really anything I think about. That’s not what I do.Nemi is far more famous than I am, and that’s how I like it.

How did you get into drawing cartoons?

I’ve always loved comics, but never considered making myown. I guess I took it for granted you couldn’t just createyour own stuff and that you had to have other writers,other people meddling creatively or a big corporationtelling you what to do. I’m psyched I was wrong.

Did you make a living from creating cartoons from thebeginning?

I made close to nothing, and lived as a starving artist foryears. I loved it, though. Loved the freedom and wanted totry making a living as an illustrator or writer - and ended

up doing both. I said to myself it would be OK to end upwith an office job if I knew I had tried my best for what Ireally wanted to do first.

Have you created big characters other than Nemi?

Nothing worth mentioning, really. I didn’t work withcomics that long before Nemi showed up.

Why Nemi? Is she inspired by yourself?

I know her. I could have made a 40-year old male footballfan, but then I wouldn’t have known how to make himbelievable. The annoying part is when Nemi is having ahard time and people come up to me looking allconcerned, telling me they hope I’ll feel better soon.Almost every single incident is made up, but we do sharea lot of likes and dislikes. But that’s the case with Cyan[Nemi’s friend] as well. You put parts of yourself intoanything you write.

Does Nemi have a nationality?

To me, she’s Norwegian. To people in Germany, she’sGerman... And no doubt most Metro readers have always

thought of Nemi as being British. [Myhre’s affinity withher imaginary friend does change depending on thelanguage she speaks.] I only write in Norwegian, and Ireally don’t like the English Nemi. Swedish Nemi I love.As for a lot of the other countries, I have no idea...

Living in Norway, do you find it difficult to keep on topon the UK agenda for your Metro strip? You seem tobe; nobody would guess you don't live in the UK.

Thanks! The language thing is thanks to mytranslators, the culture thing - I guess we’re not thatdifferent, because the strips are written forNorwegians.

[As anybody who has ever read a Nemi strip knows, theblack-haired Goth girl can be quite provocative nowand then. But Myhre has her limits.]

Would you ever be as provocative as the Danish car-toonists who drew Muhammad?

I’ll tell you this, I have never written anything for thesake of provoking. It’s not my style. That doesn’t meanI’ve never upset people. As I’m sure you know.

What do you think about the Danish cartoonists beingthreatened with a Fatwa for drawing Muhammad?

I think it’s terrible. I do get why people got upset, butviolence and threats can never be accepted as aresponse in a democracy.

So, what is going to happen next? Will Nemi stay thesame or change? Will you create a new character?

I have just created a new girl. She’s coming your waysoon…

With thanks to Strand Comics, www.strandcomics.no



Nemi facts• Nemi Montoya is named after the Italian Lake Nemiand Inigo Montoya from the film Princess Bride,which is Myhre’s favourite film.

• The Nemi cartoon has a circulation of more than70,000 copies in Norway and is one of the two mostpopular cartoons alongside Pondus.

• There are three Nemi books in English: Nemi I,Nemi II and Nemi III

“I could have made a 40-year old malefootball fan, but then I wouldn’t haveknown how to make him believable.”

For booking: ring 55 59 90 90 eller mail [email protected] Adresse: Vestre Torggate 20a, 5015 Bergen.

Rimelig rom og frokost hotell i hjerte av Bergen. Vi har 65 lyse delikate rom fordelt på to bygg. Alle rom har eget bad. Trådløst nettverk gratis til alle våre hotellgjester. I vår koselige Pub har vi servering både ute og inne, i vår flotte bakhage kan en sitte tørt og varmt hele året. Kort vei til alle byens fasiliteter samt transportmuligheter.

BERGENTravel Hotel

Velkommen til


Scan Magazine | Design | We Love This

We love this...There is so much hot summer stuff that we would like to show you. In fact we love this!

Summer means thirsty!Thesewonderful EssenceDessert Wine, White wineand Red wine glassesfrom Iittala are all £11.50each.Iittala, 126 Regent Street,London, W1.www.iittala.com

Fantastic summer pro-ducts from Iittala. With Sa-tumetsä, Klaus Haapaniemiintroduces amystical foresttheme which has been a hitwith consumers all overthe world. www.iittala.com

Plate: £27.00 (30cm)Bowl: £59.00 (2.8L)Mug: £15.50

Micki stoveKids will love this red classic stovewith opening door and turnableknobs ready to encourage a bud-ding young chef!! It’s from TheSwedish company Micki Leksakerand only natural rawmaterials areused in making these products.Suitable from the age of 3years.Retail price £45.00 available atwww.northlightdesign.co.uk or call01865-248850

Roman Leather sandals. Thisseason’s must have by MaleneBirger. Size 36-41. Retails at £65.www.wild-swans.com

Beautiful Soft leather bag fromDanish Octopus. Fantastic workman-ship – this bag will last a life time.Retails at £315.www.wild-swans.com

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Founded as early as 1070, Bergen, the second largest cityin Norway, has long been one of the country’s mostimportant centres for trade, shipping and culture. Theold Hanseatic wharf of Bryggen is a UNESCO WorldHeritage Site; some of Norway’s most stunning fjordlandscape is only a short hop away; and this summer willsee the likes of Coldplay and Bruce Springsteen take tothe stage here. Bergen is the happening place to be!

Many nationalities have come to Bergen over the centuries– some to visit, some to make this place their home – andthe city has an international vibe, perhaps even more sothan the capital, Oslo. The German influence is evident inthe old Hanseatic quarter and the city’s location by the seagives it a laid-back feel. A sense of history is very palpablehere and historical walks through old Bergen are one ofthe best ways to experience the city.

Bergen’s centre is compact and stroller-friendly, itscobbled streets and alleyways perfect for exploring atleisure on foot. For those wanting to give their legs a rest,a boat trip around the harbour is another popular way ofgetting to grips with Bergen. Themaritime heritage is welldocumented in several fascinating museums, from theMaritime to the Hanseatic Museum, or for something old-style, but very much alive and kicking, check out the FishMarket, still a buzzing hive of activity.

Edvard GriegBergen is also the birth place of Norwegian composerEdvard Grieg and his home, Troldhaugen, is now open asa museum. Every summer sees the “Grieg in Bergen”festival take over the city for almost 10 continuous weeks,when Bergen celebrates its most famous son. The citymay appear to have one foot in the past, always in touch

Scan Magazine | Travel | Bergen

BERGEN – Gateway to the FjordsBy Anna Maria Espsäter | Photos: Bergen Reiselivslag

Bergen Harbour at sunset. Photo: Willy Haraldsen


with its history, but culturally it’s firmly forward-looking,with a strong innovative vibe and it’s no coincidence thatworld-class stars on the music scene have been enticedto play Bergen this summer.

Nature on the doorstep

The great outdoors is never far away and nature forms justas important a part in the everyday lives of Bergensers asculture does. The proximity of the Norwegian fjords isperhaps Bergen’s biggest draw, with spectacular sceneryright on the city’s doorstep. It’s possible to take a cruise toone of the nearby fjords, including the two most famous,Hardanger fjord and Sogne fjord. Another option is simplyto hop on one of the many scheduled fjord ferries that plythe waters, some of which can accommodate cars if youwant to take your own vehicle and explore further afield.

The area is also excellent for hiking during the summermonths. A lovely, but somewhat strenuous hike, can becompleted between Mount Ulriken and Mount Fløyen. Al-though it’s possible to first trek to the top of the former, aneasier way is to take the cable car up to Mount Ulriken andjust hike between the two mountains. Some four hours

should suffice to get from one to the other and then there’sanother handy cable car taking you back down again. Theviews across the town and fjords are breath-taking andwell worth what can sometimes be a sweaty ramble in theheight of summer. Although Bergen isn’t always blessedwith good weather, summers can get surprisingly warm.

A rewarding culinary treat

After indulging in such energetic pursuits, there’s nothinglike settling down to a nice slap-up meal as a reward.Norwegian fish and seafood are justly famous and therestaurants in Bergen serve up some of the finest in thecountry. Cod, salmon, herring, brisling and lyed fish,accompanied by potatoes, pickled cucumbers, rye bread,all of it washed down with the potent tipple aquavit andyou’re all set up for the following day’s activities.

For further information:www.visitbergen.com and www.visitnorway.comInformation about Ulriken cable car:www.bergen-guide.com


Bergen offers culinary experiences, city life and nature all in one. Left: Zachariasbryggen outdoor restaurant (Photo: Oddleiv

Apneseth); middle: the Wharf in sunset (Photo: Per Nybø); right: Bergen harbour (Photo: Oddleiv Apneseth).


The mountain of Ulriken at 643m is the highest of thesevenmountains surrounding the city of Bergen. It holdsa special place in the heart of many Bergensers,appearing in songs and literature and remaining ever-prominent for its great outdoor appeal, whether as askiing or a hiking destination. In 1961 the Ulriken CableCar was opened making the trek to the top that mucheasier to accomplish.

“Ulriken is not just a mountain with a great view for thecitizens of Bergen, but an important landmark andrecreational area for the locals,” says Eirik Hokstad,marketing manager for Ulriken643, a panoramic tour thattakes in Ulriken and surroundings, starting out fromBergen´s fish market. Open year-round, the tour adjusts

its contents and activities according to the seasons andthere are many options to choose from. “The Ulriken643Panaorama Tour starts by the fish market, where ourcharacteristic double decker bus takes you to the lowerstation in approximately 15minutes,” Eirik continues. Thecable car journey, in a so-called gondola, will take about5 minutes, depending on the weather.

Each gondola, running every 7 minutes, can take 25passengers to the top at once. On average 100,000 visitorshave taken the panoramic tour over previous years, withan expected increase to 180,000 in 2010, making Ulrikenone of the most popular sights in Bergen. Once at the top,visitors can try their hand at some adventurous sports andwhile hitting the hiking trails remains a favourite activity,


ULRIKENBy Anna Maria Espsäter I Photos: Ulriken


there´s also abseiling, paragliding, climbing and archeryfor those brave enough. “We have a mountain shop andactivity centre called Bergen Base Camp,” Eirik explains,“and our professional and trained staff will help you outthere.”

If it´s just a good old-fashioned ramble in the mountainsyou´re after, this is perhaps the best spot in Bergen. 15 dif-ferent walking trails, including circular routes, of varyingdegrees of difficulty and length, take in spectacular viewsof the district. “The most important facility here is ofcourse the VIEW,” Eirik enthuses. “On clear days you canenjoy the sight of skerries, fjords, mountains and the opensea, not forgetting the city itself. The panoramic view isspectacular and unique, and the highmountain experienceis tailor-made to give our visitors a taste of the real wildmountain life Bergen has to offer.”

It´s thirsty work wandering around the mountains, takingthe air and enjoying the views, but as luck would have it

there´s a restaurant at the top of Ulriken serving excellentgrub. The sky:scraper panoramic restaurant is the highestin Bergen and the emphasis is firmly on local food.There´s a handy kiosk where you can stock up on picnicfood before your mountain ambles, a bar for samplingsome high altitude drinks and an a la carte restaurant for3-course dinners. Specialities include a delicious,warming mountain fish soup, a lovely way to end a day´sstrenuous hiking, looking out over the splendid scenery.


The cable car runs0900-2100 May – September and0900-1700 October-April.

The Panorama tour from the Fish Market costs 195NOK return.

The Ulriken cable car runs every 7 minutes.

For further info: www.ulriken643.no

Paragliding and archery are some of the exciting activities available on Ulriken mountain.


Just southeast of beautiful Bergen rests Norway’ssecond longest Fjord. Starting at the Atlantic Ocean,Hardangerfjord penetrates in a northeasterly directionuntil, 179 km (111 miles) inland, it meets the grandmountain plateau of Hardangervidda. With its strikingcontrast of snow-coveredmountains, rich flora and faunaand deep blue water, it is easy to understand why somany of the romantic national symbols originate fromhere, including the Hardangerfiddle. The area is knownas the orchard of Norway, but perhaps most of all it is apopular destination for energising activities.

“One of the best things about Hardanger is the greatvariety of accommodation and activities on offer,” saysHans Jørgen Andersen, Managing Director of DestinationHardangerfjord. “From camping to first class hotels.”Located conveniently in the southwest, it only takes anhour to drive from Bergen or Haugesund.

The breathtaking views make it easy to just sit still andsoak it all in. But for those who have action on their wishlist, there is no limit to the amount of activity you can fit in:only your energy levels will decide. Starting with the fjorditself, you can go for a boat ride, rent a kayak, learn aboutboatbuilding at the Hardanger Museum Wharf (www.far-toyvern.no), go fishing or explore a modern salmon farm(www.akvasenter.no), the only one open to the public inNorway. Back on dry land, do not miss the largest moun-tain plateau in Norway, Hardangervidda, where you cantake part in one of many mountain trips, alone or with aguide. “What is so interesting for foreign visitors is that the

national parks are accessible,” says Andersen. “You can gocamping in the wild and, after buying a license, go fishingand hunting as much as you like.”

Well worth a visit isNorway’smost popularwaterfall Vørings-fossen, the twin waterfall Låtefossen and the romanticSteinsdalsfossen. Open both summer andwinter is TheMa-jestic Folgefonna, Norway’s third biggest glacier where youcanmake guided hikes, ice-climb, or ski in the summer sun.Finally, do not leave Hardanger without trying its famousfruit which has made mouths water for generations, free totaste at one of the farms in Lofthus and Ulvik.

“I can also recommend organizing conferences or eventshere if you want to impress your clients,” says Andersen.“You can tailor your own trip, for example meetingsfollowed by helicopter sight-seeing, glacier hikes,summer skiing, fishing, hiking and much more. Theclients are always satisfied,” he smiles.

A bit of an expert when it comes to adventures is Op-plevOdda. Its population almost halved in 2003 because thefactories went bankrupt, but today tourism and businessesare finding their way back. Situated between Hardan-gervidda, Folgefonna, Hardangerfjord and Røldal (a skiresort with the deepest snow in Europe, www.roldal.com),it offers many activities such as hiking to the popular des-tinations Trolltunga and Preikestolen, ice climbing, biking,canoeing or river gorging. But the most recent addition tothe list of activities is the TyssoViaFerrata – in the footstepsof the ‘Rallar’ (navvies). “It opened 31 May this year and I


Hardangerfjord – Time to ExploreBy Linnéa Mitchell

Top: Troltunga. Below clockwise from left to right: Tailor your own trip – Rent a kayak (Photo: Terje Rakke); The Vøringsfoss

Waterfall and Fossli Hotel (Photo: Trond Tandberg); TyssoViaFerrata climbing with OpplevOdda and Ullensvang Hotel.


can really recommend it,” says Jostein Soldal, manager atOpplevOdda. It takes you back to the impressive buildingprocess of the famous power station Tysso 1 in 1906. Start-ing at the Norwegian Museum of Hydro Power and Indus-try (www.nvim.no), the climb is not only an historical jour-ney through the hard work of the navvies, but also a lessonin the importance of water in shaping a society. “There isplenty to do here and it is easy to access from the manynice hotels in the area,” says Jostein.

One of them is Hotel Ullensvang, established in 1846 andstill run by the Utne family in its fifth generation. The his-toric hotel is situated in Lofthus on the eastern shore of theSørfjorden, a branch of Hardangerfjord. It was here that Ed-vard Grieg found inspiration for much of his famous workduring his regular visits (his original hut is still kept in thehotel garden). “So many artists have been inspired by thisspectacular landscape throughout the years and we hopethat our guests will feel the same,” says Managing Direc-tor Barbara Zanoni Utne. Situated right on the waterfront,it is an excellent starting point for various excursions. As afirst class style resort, it offers many in- and outdoor sport

activities, such as tennis courts, rowing boats, golf simu-lator, boat trips and even its own little sandy beach. For themore peaceful traveller, it is simply a relaxing experiencefor body and soul. Evenings can be enjoyed in the elegantrestaurant “Zanoni”, with a beautiful view over the fjord andFolgefonna, and if you still have energy left there is danc-ing to live music six nights a week.

Deep inside the innermost part of the Hardangerfjord, al-most at the point where you cannot get any further, isQuality Hotel & Resort Vøringfoss, the “white pearl” ofEidfjord. Apart from having simply spectacular views, youhave the majestic Hardangervidda right on your doorstep,and just around the corner is Norway’s most famouswaterfall Vøringsfossen. You can also visit the famousKjeåsen mountain farm, situated like an eagle’s nest onthe steep mountainside – if you fancy driving five kilome-tres, half of which are through a black tunnel. “The loca-tion offers fantastic opportunities,” says Managing Direc-tor Arnvid Johansen. “Especially since we work a lot withthe multi-activity company Flat Earth (www.flatearth.no).”But you do not have to go to extremes to stay at the hotel.


A beautiful section of Hardangerfjord, which is Norway’s second longest Fjord, at nightfall. Photo: Halne Fjellstova.

You can simply relax on the verandah overlooking the Fjordand enjoy a bite to eat from one of the two restaurants,offering fresh and locally sourced food. And why not visitits own art gallery afterwards, displaying the work of thefamous Norweigan National Romantic painter NilsBergslien.

The popularity of the whole Hardanger area is increasingyear by year, with visitors from all over the world. Soperhaps it is time to skip the crowded beach this year andsteer your holiday northeast, especially since it is lessthan two hours to fly. Like the Hardanger locals say: “timeto explore.”

Hotel Ullensvang: www.hotel-ullensvang.no

Quality Hotel & Resort Vøringsfoss: www.voringfoss.no

OpplevOdda: www.opplevodda.com

For more general information visitwww.hardangerfjord.com

How to get here: Fly Norwegian Airlines or Scandina-vian Airlines to Bergen all year round, or Ryan Air toHaugesund during the summer. Quality Hotel & Resort Vøringfoss - by the Hardangerfjord next

to the Hardangervidda National Park in Eidfjord

Foto:AgurtxaneConcellon

Let Stena Line help you take the strain out of driving to Scandinavia. With a choice of short routes with frequent crossings and longer routes withovernight journeys we can help to make your journey more relaxing and convenient

Onboard our ships you will find a range of facilities all designed to make yourcrossing as comfortable as possible. Remember to book early for our best fares.

Welcome onboard!

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Norway may be best known by ski-enthusiasts for itsmajestic snow-covered peaks, but under the summersun the frosty cliffs turn up the charm and melt away,not only most of the snow, but any doubt about Norway’squalities outside the skiing season as well.

One way of exploring this is through the small travel or-ganiser Fjellferie (mountain vacation), which offers activevacations that will give you both a unique experience anda workout to bring you into shape for the rest of the year.

Trekking through the mountains

Fjellferie, which was set up by owner Knut Koren in 1982,simply specialises in safe ways to enjoy Southern Norway’snature, be it in the summer or winter, on bicycles, foot, skis

or in a car. Some of the most popular tours are the guidedtrekking tours in the areas of Hallingdal and Jotunheimen.“What is unique about this kind of vacation is that it bringspeople closer to nature but in a safe way and with comfort-able accommodation,” says Koren. “Our two main hikingtours are Hallingdal, which is themost popular, and Jotun-heimen which is the largest mountain area in Norway.”

During the walks, the hikers can enjoy impressive land-scapes, mostly above tree level, while their luggage getsa lift to the next destination, a comfortable hotel. “The areawe go through has a lot of small lakes and old summerfarms spread out. It is very charming,” says Koren.The treks both last a week but are also available in shorterbits to fit any vacation length - and fitness level. For the


Fjellferie – Get active in Norway’s MountainsBy Signe Hansen | Photos: Fjellferie

An active holiday in Southern Norway is the perfect way to get close to the area’s stunning nature like Geirangerfjord seen above.


ones who are really eager to get those legs moving, theHallingdal route can be extended by an extra three dayswhich will bring you to Sognefjorden and enable you toenjoy the particularly beautiful scenery at Norway’sFjords. And if ten days are not enough, of course you canalways add more. “I had one German lady from Berlin at76, she did both routes in two weeks, but of course somepeople are more fit than others,” says Koren. Mostparticipants on the tours are a bit younger though andtypically range between 35 and 70.

Enjoying it on your own

Actually you do not have to walk at all to get a taste of whatNorway is all about. Fjellferie also arranges “fly and drive”vacations in which you take a self-guided tour around thearea in your own car. “On the fly and drive tour we providepeople with accommodation in chalets with kitchen andall necessary equipment, and supply very detailed mapsand descriptions of the area.”These tours can also be combined with self-guided hiking

tours where the travellers are equipped with maps withthe different routes. They, too, are very detailed and no-one will be lost, promises Koren: “They get very accurateinformation on how to find their way and I am available onmy mobile all the time if anything should happen.”

All the other ways to get out there

Another way to explore the beauty of Norway is by bike;something which Fjellferie can organize in a way similar tothe car tours, only with possible luggage transportation in-cluded. Also, if you are a group of up to 16 people, you canhave a bus tour especially designed for your needs. “We canput together all the items for a successful tour of Norway,tailor-made for your group,” says Koren. The last possibil-ity is to have Fjellferie commission a horseback tour for youor, of course, if you really do not want to depart from Nor-way’s frosty winter image, wait a couple of months and joinone of the cross-country skiing tours.

For more information visit: www.fjellferie.no


The area can be explored all year round. Left: Knut Koren on the top of Gråfjell on the ski tour. Bottom right: summer, and a

group enjoys the dreamlike view of Lusterfjorden; top right: trekking through Hallingskarvet.


Norwaymight not spring tomind as the best place to visitfor a relaxation holiday. But do not be fooled. Combine avisit to the city of Bergen with a jaunt to Solstrand Hotel& Bad, where you can experience some of Norway’smostbeautiful countryside, the fjords, waterfalls, glaciers andthe ocean.

In 1896 Norway’s first PrimeMinister, Christian Michelsen,decided to buy and develop what would become SolstrandHotel & Bad. His idea was to create a holiday resort for theBergenmerchant-princes, so that “they could have a placeto gather strength for their great deeds.”

Originally a fjordside holiday resort for the Bergen mer-chant aristocracy, Solstrand today welcomes businessfolk and leisure guests alike to its idyllic countryside lo-cation.

Pernille Schau-Larsen, who is the fourth generationSchau-Larsen to own and run Solstrand, emphasises thatMichelsen’s vision still holds true today. Business andSolstrand still go hand in hand, and besides hosting high-

profile meetings and team-building days, the hotel’s Nor-wegian Management Programme is a testament to that.

The Solstrand Experience

More than 50 years ago, Solstrand started collaboratingwith the School of Business and Commerce of Bergen. Itwas just after the Second World War and Norwegiancompanies needed to develop new managers with newways of thinking, so the School developed an extensivethree-week programme, the Norwegian ManagementProgramme. This prestigious business leadership coursehas always been held at Solstrand. The main reason forthis is the hotel’s beautiful location, which is only 30kilometres from Bergen city and airport. In addition to thetraining itself, Solstrand is attractive for business peoplebecause just being there encourages socialising andrelaxation.

Arne Selvik from The Norwegian School of Economicsand Business Administration sings the praises of Sol-strand: “Over a period of 57 years more than 4,000 Nor-wegian and international managers have enjoyed the out-


Fjord hotel fit for a Prime MinisterBy Rikke Bruntse-Dahl | Photos: Solstrand Hotel & Bad

“Above all, there was something infinitelyrestful and soothing and peaceful aboutSolstrand and the fjord; a world of repose.”



standing qualities of Solstrand. Our faculty can alwaysfully rely on first class service and support, saving valuabletime and concentration for educational challenges in theprogrammes. Even through this period of financial setbackwe have a waiting list of top candidates, who want to joinwhat is often referred to as The Solstrand Experience.”

A world of repose

However, Solstrand is also the perfect place for holidayguests who just want to go on a small retreat. People caneasily spend a whole weekend at Solstrand without evennoticing that anything of a work-related nature ishappening there.

“In fact, whether you come for business or leisure, thestunning views of the fjord and the facilities here willsimply make you relax,” Schau-Larsen says.

Norwegian journalist, Arnt Roger Aasen, confirms this.He calls Solstrand “an international phenomenon…[that]creates the good life 24/7 all year round.”

Solstrand’s uniqueness was already noted internationallyin 1903, when English travel writer Charles W. Woodwrote: “If the English knew of this paradise they wouldspend many a summer there, reveling in the bathing andboating, all the marvels and splendours of nature whichdefy description. Above all, there was something infinitely

Top: Beautiful; the view over Bjørenfjorden, Bottom Left: Moonlight at Solstrand, Bottom Right: There is no better place for

relaxation than the outdoor pool at Solstrand.

restful and soothing and peaceful about Solstrand and thefjord; a world of repose.”

And spa indulgence

A present-day description of Solstrand’s qualities wouldmirror Charles W. Wood’s review perfectly. Although nowit would definitely also include the new spa facilities as amajor attraction

Thirteen treatment rooms, a sauna, a steam bath, an icepool and, best of all, windows facing the fjord and anoutdoor pool all light and bright built using wood, glassand bronze. The typical Scandinavian minimalist designcombined with Solstrand’s serenity and traditional Nordicbathing traditions makes for the ultimate Norwegianrural, fjord-side idyll.

Schau-Larsen, who grew up at Solstrand, says that afterliving, studying and working in other major Europeancities for nine years, she can now see how lucky she wasto spend her childhood in the beautiful and peaceful placethat is Solstrand. She now fully understands why peoplearound the world living busy lives really appreciatespending time at her home recharging their batteries. Asnearly 85% of Norway’s hotels belong to a hotel chain, afamily hotel of this calibre really is something ratherunique for everyone involved.

www.solstrand.com

The Öresund bridge has long been the symbolof Grundberg Mocatta Rakison LLP. Today, itrepresents the merger of two great law firms,spanning complementary areas of law as wellas the Atlantic.

GMR and U.S.-based McGuireWoods LLPhave merged their operations. Known asMcGuireWoods, we will continue to providethe same trusted counsel and innovativesolutions on which clients of both firms havecome to rely. We look forward to introducingyou to our new colleagues and expandedcapabilities—on both sides of the Atlantic.

Anders Grundberg, London Office Managing Partner+ 44 (0)20 7632 1600 | [email protected] House | 15 – 19 Kingsway | London WC2B 6UN

www.mcguirewoods.com

bridgephoto.dk

The bridge thatcrossed the pond


Mammoths, sabre-tooth cats and early human speciesare the inhabitants of the Swedish Museum of NaturalHistory’s (Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet) exhibition TheHuman Journey. The exhibition tells the story of humanevolution and has just received the prestigious prize,Exhibition of the Year 2008.

With photographs, reconstructions, and skeletons, the400m2 exhibition in Stockholm follows humandevelopment through the past seven million years. “Whatwe wanted to show was human evolution in the context ofenvironmental and climate change. Partly because it is an

interesting story in its own right, but also to understandcurrent changes to the environment,” says Lars Werdelinwho is the project’s scientist and has a Ph.D. inpalaeontology. Another goal of the exhibition is tochallenge a common Eurocentric view of history andhuman development. “According to this belief, since Homosapiens is the ‘pinnacle of evolution’, it must have evolvedin Europe. But that is not true,” says Werdelin.

The exhibition demonstrates this by showing that not onlyare the earliest human origins in Africa but also theearliest ancestors of our species. ”We wanted to point out

Scan Magazine | Travel | The Human Journey

THE HUMAN JOURNEYFinding your African roots – in StockholmBy Signe Hansen | Photos: The Swedish Museum of Natural History


that under the skin we are all Africans, even we paleScandinavians,” Werdelin says.

Reconstructing evolution

Ten of the sculptures in the exhibition are replicas of earlyhuman species, which, with latex skin and uniqueattention to detail, look very alive. They can only be madeby a handful of people and were partly what inspired themuseum’s staff to make an entirely new exhibition insteadof updating the previous one. ”When we went to Paris tosee Elisabeth Daynès’s [the artist who made thereconstructions] sculptures, we found it impossible to buyjust a couple and decided instead to tear down all the oldand a set up a new exhibition,” Werdelin says. After thisdecision, the team went back and bought ten of thesculptures, each worth a five digit sum in Euros.

Taking the kids along

The collection of reconstructions is one of the world’slargest and has been very popular with both children andadults. “We have done a lot to make the exhibitionaccessible for all age groups, and we see many familieshere,” says the manager of the project Christina Ritzl.“But in contrast to some of our other exhibitions wheremany adults come mostly because they want their kids to

see it, our experience is that for this the adults comebecause they want to.”

Among the special attractions for kids are a dwarfelephant replica, which the kids can sit on, and horseswhich they can feed with leaves. But some of the initiativestaken to make the exhibition accessible for visuallyimpaired people have also fascinated the kids. ”The mainthing is that they can touch and feel a lot of the things likereplicas of skulls that the kids find very interesting.”

The tour through the museum is accompanied by text inEnglish and Swedish and/or audio guide, making it wortha visit for everybody who fancies a weekend in Stockholmand a journey to their African roots in one.

The Swedish Museum of Natural History employs life-like sculptures, skeletons and text to illustrate the Human Journey.

Left: reconstruction of Homo habilis; top right: a sabre-tooth cat; bottom right: Elisabeth Daynès’s unique sculptures of

Neanderthals and a Cro-Magnon man.

Other exhibitions at Swedish Museum of Natural History

4½ billion years – The history of Earth and LifeDiversity of lifeMarvels of the human bodyMission: Climate EarthPolar RegionsSwedish natureTreasures from the earth’s interiorFor more information visit www.nrm.se


Scan Magazine | Food | Scandinavian Summer Loving

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For anyone who thinks that Scandinavia in the summermeans cold and rain, think again. Scandinavian summersare long, beautiful and full of sunshine and incrediblelight. Across the peninsula, the regional differencescome alive, each country with more beautiful scenerythan the next: from the flat, light green nuances of theDanish countryside to the rocky fjells of Norway’s ruggedterrain. The Finnish deep, darkmysterious forests to theSwedish countryside, complete with little red woodenhouses dotted around everywhere, perfectly comple-menting the rolling green hills and silvery sparklinglakes.

The summer months offer a huge array of produce acrossthe countries – and market stalls are laden with freshproduce, from new potatoes to peas to berries burstingwith flavour from ripening in the long summer days(bilberries, lingonberries, blueberries and wild ‘smultron’strawberries; the list is almost endless) to the mostamazing fresh fish imaginable: from plaice in the south tofresh water crayfish in the north and herring, eel andsmoked mackerel available at local smokerieseverywhere.

It’s not all about potatoes and herring in Scandinavia,though. The summer months offer a huge array ofdifferent produce across the peninsula, some of which is

simply not available anywhere else. Take the humblecloudberry that grows wild in the Northern parts ofScandinavia, for example: a golden orange berry thatlooks a bit like a pumped up raspberry (that grows onstalks, not bushes) and is very hard to harvest and tocultivate. On top of that it has a short season, thereforeusually carries a hefty price tag (although well worth it).The berries have a tart, fresh taste and cloudberry jam isoften enjoyed by Swedes eaten with vanilla ice cream, andby Norwegians with whipped cream and sugar. In Finlandthe berries are eaten with Leipäjuusto, a cheese, or madeinto a liquor called Lakkalikööri, or used to flavour aquavit.

The Scandinavian summer offers plenty of opportunity touse local produce. Some of the lesser known dishesinclude Danish buttermilk soup: a sweet, cold mixture ofbuttermilk, vanilla, sugar and egg whisked until smoothand served with crispy, sweet biscuits to dunk. In Norway,nothing is better than a freshly grilled fjord trout; and theFinns love smoked sausages and have many differentregional varieties to try out. Or go for the sweet stuff:blueberry tarts with vanilla custard poured over, or howabout a Swedish strawberry layer cake to really bring outthe flavours of a Scandinavian summer? Recipe is below.

The secret of Scandinavian food is, as always, in theproduce and in the simplicity of the dishes. Of course,



Scandinavian Summer LovingBy Bronte Blomhoj

“The secret of Scandinavian food is,as always, in the produce and in thesimplicity of the dishes.”

nothing beats sitting in your deck chair, looking out overthe still lake glimmering in the evening sun; however, asmörgåsbord made up of smoked fish, light salads andfinished off with cakes made from berries in seasoncertainly gets you half way there, even if it has to beenjoyed from a balcony in Fulham and not theScandinavian countryside. You could always pop ABBA onthe stereo and sit in your Bjorn Borg underpants as youdish up the aquavit and get stuck in. Enjoy.

Bronte Blomhoj runs Scandinavian Kitchen, a deli/groceryshop in the middle of London where the strawberry cakesare made in abundance and Bjorn Borg underpants areworn by all.



Recipe of the month:

JORDGUBBSTÅRTA– Swedish strawberry layer cake

1 round sponge cake, cut into three lay-ers (approx diameter 20-25 cm)

Strawberry filling1½ kg fresh strawberries (try to get anyother kind than ‘el santa’ which is therubbery supermarket variety – mostothers will have less shelf life, butmuch more taste)1/2 dl sugar

Vanilla crème500 ml whole milk5 egg yolksSeeds from one pod of vanilla1.5 dl sugar3 tbsp corn flour150 ml whipping cream

To decorate500 ml whipping cream

This is how you do itFirst, make the vanilla crème

Vanilla crème custard1. Bring the milk to the boil with thevanilla seeds and pod2. Mix egg yolks, sugar and corn flour

together in a bowl. Add a drop ofwater if the mixture seems too thick,more corn flour if too liquid.

3. Remove the vanilla pod from themilkmixture and pour the milk over theegg mixture. Pour back into sauce-pan and stir quickly until you have agood, thick custard.

4. Leave the crème to chill (it will setand go a bit thicker when cold)

5. Whisk your 1.5 dl whipping creamand blend with the cooled vanillacrème

The cake1. Split the sponge cake into three parts(if you don’t fancy making thesponge, buy a ready made one –Scandi Kitchen stock both Danishand Swedish varieties already cut,but a good quality sponge from a UKsupermarket will also do nicely)

2. Take half the strawberries and re-serve for decoration. Cut the re-maining strawberries into pieces andpop into a bowl and mix with thesugar. Let rest for a while till thesugar has melted.

Putting it together1. Place the first sponge layer on thedish you wish to serve the cake on asit is hard to move after assembling it.Spread a layer of vanilla crème and

strawberries, add another sponge andpress gently. Repeat the same againand then add the final sponge layer.

2. Whisk the 500 ml of whipping creamand use a piping bag to decorate allaround the cake including the toplayer. Decorate the top of the cakewith the remaining strawberries justbefore serving.

TipsMake the entire cake in the morningbefore serving and allow to chill – onlyleave the final few steps of decoratingwith whipped cream and strawberriesto the last minute.

Add a pinch of vanilla sugar or somevanilla seeds to your whipping creamalong with 50 g of icing sugar – it is de-lightful.

If you have any rum essence, you canadd a teaspoon to the strawberry mix-ture – or, indeed, a spoonful of darkrum if you have an open bottle fromthat holiday in Cuba a few years back.

If you want to be a bit adventurous, youcan add crushed Amaretti biscuits inone of the layers – gives a lush almondtaste to the cake.

Recipe © Scandinavian Kitchen 2009

Scan Magazine | Column | Is it Just Me...

Who sees a recurring pattern in commu-nications?

Whenmy husband hangs up the phone af-ter talking to our mutual friends, and I en-quire for an update, his response is alwaysthe same: he stares a long while at nothingand then says, “They were all right.”This is not satisfactory, so I investigate

further. “But you talked to them for 20min-utes. Theymust have told you something?”“Yeah… they were all right.”Now I have to inject information and

ask specifically about our friends’ recenttrip to Egypt, which – according to my hus-band – “was all right.”This can go on for quite a while and at

some point I simply give up and becomereconciled to the fact that we have friendswho lead lives where absolutely nothinginteresting happens, not even the slightestoccurrence worth mentioning in a 20minute phone call.

When we see the aforementionedfriends (who have a lot of time to meet upgiven their extremely boring lives), theyundauntedly update us on their where-abouts. My husband nods, well informedwhereas I just sit there, clueless about allthis action, surprised to learn that “Theywere all right” covers the purchase of asecond home in Spain, a potential career-change and getting a dog.On my shift, however, information is

handled with greater care and attention.When I talk to friends and family mem-

bers enthusiastically I report back every-thing from stomach-chills to broken wa-terpipes.“Anne and Jake had bad shrimps on

Friday” is a relevant piece of information.Anne is my sister and I care for her intakeof seafood. I don’t stop there.“That’s too bad, considering Anne

doesn’t even like shrimps.” See? This isbonus-info. This is what puts the whole

shrimp-incident into perspective.What I find really hurtful is hearing my

husband’s second-hand summary of myaction-packed, attention gripping reportsto other members of our family. “Anneand Jake. Yeah. Mette just spoke to them...They were all right.”

Mette Lisby is Denmark’s leading femalecomedian. She invites you to laugh alongwith her monthly humour columns. Sinceher stand-up debut in 1992, Mette hashosted the Danish versions of “Have I GotNews For You” and “Room 101”. Mettecurrently lives in London.

IS IT JUST ME... By Mette Lisby

WeddingConfirmationWeekend Stay

PartiesConferences

Hunting and FishingGuided Tours

We look forward to seeingyou at Gram SlotKind Regards

Sanne & Svend Brodersen

www.gramslot.dkT + 45 74 82 00 40

S L O T

GRAM


One of the secrets of having engaged staff and agilemanagement is the right training, especially for acompany’s leaders.

In challenging economic times, many companies arerealising that to maintain success they need to make thebest use of all their available resources, not least theirmanagement personnel. Developing the capabilities ofexecutives and key employees is the aim of Denmark-based Mannaz, which services major international clientsfrom offices in Brussels, Berlin, Copenhagen and London.

While the London office opened in 2003, Mannaz has beenworking with UK clients since 1999. Inger Buus ismanaging director for Mannaz in the UK. She says that

her UK clients have found the company’s Scandinavian-style approach refreshing. “We like to keep thingsrelatively informal, but maintaining the high level ofprofessionalism that is typically Scandinavian.”

Flexible solutions

A flexible approach is central to what Mannaz offers itsclients, and it is certainly not one-size-fits-all. “We seedeveloping the correct innovative and efficient trainingmethods for our clients as a partnership. The rightsolutions are tailored to our clients each time,” Buus says.

The internal structure that Mannaz has developed helpsdeliver this flexibility. While the company’s core staff isaround 100 across its four offices, there is a strong

Scan Business | Business Profile | Mannaz

Tailoring talent for business successBy Ian Welsh | Photos: Yiannis Katsaris

Inger Buus and colleague at their the office during training.

network of over 350 expert associate consultants whomMannaz can call upen for different projects as and whentheir expertise is appropriate. This structure means thatthe company can precisely scale the programmes it offersits clients, depending on the resources available and theoutcomes required.

A typical programme that Mannaz devises and runs for itsclients may last for two or even up to five days at aresidential location. “We have our own facilities at ourhead office in Copenhagen, but elsewhere we tend tolocate programmes at country hotels with a ‘retreat’ feelthat allows for focussed learning,” Buus says. Theprogrammes are broken down following a 70/20/10 model.“Around 70% of the time is spent on experimental orpractical tasks, 20% in small group coaching, and 10% inclassroom teaching.”

What is good leadership?

But what are the programmes trying to achieve? “Goodleadership is about providing direction while developingrelationships, and knowing how to react to differentsituations as they arise,” Buus says. That said, she is ableto isolate four key skills that good leaders tend to have inabundance.

“The ability to know yourself is very important,” Buus says.Improving self-reflection and self-awareness are areasthat many of her clients are keen to work on.

Secondly, leaders need to be able to take a stepbackwards and view problems carefully. “The ability toreflect on matters from a higher-level perspective issomething we encourage. In a fast-paced businessenvironment it can be easy to lose focus and go off attangents. Being able to see problems from a broaderperspective helps to get round this,” Buus says.

Thirdly, Buus highlights an individual’s drive. “Energy anddrive are important, but these are not necessarily thesame as ambition,” she says. “Big egos are not in fashionat the moment, and companies are more interested inthoughtful leaders, who can see the greater good ratherthan the personal benefits of decisions.” In addition, Buusbelieves that leading companies are looking forentrepreneurs who are adaptable and prepared to takerisks, seizing opportunities as they arise. “This is





especially important in the current economic climate,”she says.

Nurturing the right skills and drawing on experience

A final key skill is communication, and this is much morethan just being able to nail a Powerpoint presentation.“We’re looking to develop the ability to inspire other peopleas well as the more day-to-day skills of being articulateand clear in how you communicate and ‘make thingshappen with words’,” Buus says.

To promote this, Mannaz utilises a coaching-styleapproach, highlighting the concepts of leadership byconsensus in the executives and managers attendingtraining programmes. This reflects a flatter managementstyle, something that is typically Scandinavian. Buus says:“It can be a very effective approach for a manager to letthe team find the solutions to a problem, and this canoften be achieved by asking the right questions, by

inspiring the team to think for themselves. These areskills we nurture.”

Drawing on the experience of a team is also an importantskill for a manager. Buus’s own London team is a case inpoint. “We are small, with only five core staff, but each ofus has a different nationality meaning we have a variety ofoutlooks and perspectives,” Buus says. Having set up theLondon office for Mannaz, Buus has been living in the UKsince 2003, though she also had a spell this side of theNorth Sea in the 1990s. “I like the cosmopolitanatmosphere in London. From our offices in Covent Gardenwe can feel the buzz every day at work. Even in testingeconomic times, the opportunities for professionaldevelopment are huge here. And in an open and tolerantatmosphere it is easy to be yourself,” she concludes,something that also leads to good business management.

www.mannaz.com

Top: Inger highlights concepts of good business management. Bottom: The Mannaz office centrally placed in Covent Garden, London.

Scan Magazine | Appointments

Account Sales Executive– Nordic MarketsReference: SCAN126

Our client, a leading international organisation operating with thetechnology industry is currently looking to recruit for an AccountSales executive fluent in Finnish OR Danish OR Norwegian ORSwedish. This is an excellent opportunity to join a very successfulinternational organisation. The salary is negotiable.

Please send your CV for the attention of Leigh [email protected] and state your salary expectations.

Customer service advisor– Norwegian speakingReference: SCAN130

Our client is an International company with clients across theglobe. They are currently recruiting for a Norwegian speakingcustomer service advisor. Excellent level of customer service skillsare essential, as is a knowledge of a Windows workingenvironment. The company is based in Belfast.

Please send your CV for the attention to Katarina [email protected]

Customer service advisor– Finnish speaking Reference: SCAN128

Our client is an International company with clients across theglobe. They are currently recruiting for a Finnish speakingcustomer service advisor. Excellent level of customer service skillsare essential, as is a knowledge of a Windows workingenvironment. The company is based in Belfast. Salary is negotiablewith excellent benefits package.

Please send your CV for the attention of Katarina [email protected]

Poker Affiliate Manager(Scandinavian Market)Reference: SCAN134

The role requires and experienced Poker Affiliate Manager withexcellent knowledge of both Poker and the Scandinavian market.You should have full lifecycle affiliate management experiencewith a proven track record of establishing managing and growingaffiliate networks. A good contact base in the ScandinavianPoker market would be beneficial as well.

Please send your CV for the attention ofMichael to [email protected]

Customer Service Professionalwith Swedish Reference: SCAN133

Our client, a leading international organisation, are currentlylooking to expand their highly regarded customer service teamwith the appointment of a customer service professional for theiroffices in North London. It is essential that you are fluent inSwedish and English and you must possess customer serviceexperience AND Administrative skills.

Please send your CV for the attention of Leigh [email protected].

Customer Service Professionalwith NorwegianReference: SCAN132

Our client, a leading international organisation, are currentlylooking to expand their highly regarded customer service teamwith the appointment of a customer service professional for theiroffices in North London. It is essential you are fluent in Norwe-gian and English. The salary is £18,359 (regular performance-based review) + excellent benefits

Please send your CV for the attention of Leigh [email protected]

SENIOR SALES MANAGER – OIL & GAS

TPCO manufactures seamless steel pipes used onand off-shore.

The position reports in London is a key member of an internationalsales team. The candidate should be self-motivated and targetdriven with international sales experience to oil and gas companies

Basic Salary – £45,000 to £55,000 plus other benefits

CONTACT: Barry Moles at [email protected]

FRANCHISED BUSINESS COACHTHE BUSINESS BOOSTER is a business coachingFranchise. They raise skill levels and knowledge toequip companies to grow revenue and profits. Business coachesrun their own territory franchise, and the Business Booster lookafter the systems, processes and back-office to free the coach togrow. The candidate should be inspirational and energetic, withgood sales experience.

Earnings are expected to exceed £100K within 2-3 years.A franchise investment is required of £25k.CONTACT: Martin Ellis on [email protected]


From one aircraft flying between Helsinki and Tallinn toa top modern fleet providing the fastest way around theglobe and futuristic visions of car and aircraft hybrids,Finnair represents a Scandinavian snapshot of the past,present and future of air transport.

Have you ever flicked by a Finnair ad because you did nothave any plans for going to Finland? If so, you may want togive it another think because Finnair has much more onoffer than a trip to Helsinki.

“What is important to us ismaking people realise that Finnairis for Europe, Asia and the USA as well. Of course we fly toFinland, but that is bit of a no-brainer anyhow,” says Finnair’sSales Director in the UK and Ireland, Tomi Hänninen.

“It happens to be that the world is ball instead of apancake and because of that Helsinki is the airport thatprovides a natural connection and the shortest flight timebetween Europe and Asia, as well as North America andIndia,” adds Finnish Hänninen, who moved to London two

years ago after having worked as Finnair’s Sales Directorin Oslo for two years.

The time and energy efficient choice

If you were to fly non-stop from North America to India,the flight would take around 18 hours, a thought whichprobably makes even the most eager globetrotters gopale. Besides, the environmental footprints of taking sucha long trip in one go are much deeper than if flyingconnected, because the flights with their large fuel cargowaste a lot of energy. “The green issues are more andmore important to customers today. They have alwaysbeen important to us, however, and it is a very good thingthat we have invested and keep on investing in the fleetbecause it means that it is a very eco-smart choice to flyFinnair today,” says Hänninen.

Because of the small but efficient scale of HelsinkiAirport, flights also avoid having to circle around theairport before landing, so wasting both time and fuel.Another benefit of that is the easiness of the connection.

FINNAIR – the past, present and future of air transportBy Signe Hansen | Photos: Finnair

Finnair has one of the newest fleets in Europe. Right: Finnair’s A330 Business Class and Helsinki Airport Lounge View.


Scan Business | Business Profile | Finnair

“To put it in numbers, we have about 12 millionpassengers and three runways; if you compare that to 64million passengers and two runways at Heathrow, it givesyou an idea of how the airport works,” says Hänninen.These conditions mean that Finnair can offer connectiontimes down to 35 minutes together with a hassle andstress free experience.

An old airline with brand new planes

Founded in 1923, Finnair is the world’s sixth oldest airlineand thus is well justified in naming itself one of the mostexperienced flight operators in the world. In its humblebeginning it flew under the name Aero and had only oneplane under its wings. “The plane flew to Tallinn; in thesummer it landed on the water and in the winter on ice.The concept of flying was very new at the time and did nothavemuch to do with the current industry,” says Hänninen.

Today Finnair has 67 aircraft, operates in more than 30countries and employs around 9,500 people. The yearlyturnover is around 2.2 billion Euros, a success which,according to Hänninen, comes down to four things. “I thinkthat if you look at it, we have four success factors whichare also our branding values. They are: safe, Finnish, freshand creative. Those are the timeless factors that we wantto build upon.”

Being fresh does, Hänninen explains, have manyimplications, but one is that the fleet is constantly

renewed. “Finnair’s fleet is one of the newest, if not thenewest, in Europe. Our next goal is to renew all long-haulplanes so that the entire widebody fleet will be completelynew by March 2010.” Another goal that has been achievedduring the last ten years is Finnair’s expansion into theglobal air transport market, most importantly in Europe-Asia connections. “We have built ourselves up from beinga European point to point carrier to being one of the majorplayers in Europe-Asia traffic. To put that in numbers, wehave gone from having nine flights a week to 65 flights aweek to Asia,” says Hänninen. The long-term vision is toincrease the North America-India traffic in the same way.

Somemore long-term goals were the objects of attentionwhen Finnair celebrated its 85th anniversary last year.This was done by making not a history book but a futurebook titled Departure 2093 – Five visions of future flying.

In this, several ideas of how air transport may look in 85years hence are presented. One predicts that in 2093people will have their own ‘personal movers’ – hybrids ofcars and small aircraft automatically controlled so thatpassengers can relax, enjoy travelling and play retro-chess. Well, it is safe to say that despite its long heritageFinnair is certainly not stuck in the past.

For more information visit:www.finnair.com and www.departure2093.com

Scan Business | Business Profile | Finnair



Scan Business | International Services | Relocation

Whenmoving to or from the UK, there aremany things totake into consideration. When taken together with work,family andmultiple other things, themove, which shouldbe an uplifting and exciting experience, can end up beingmore stressful and overwhelming than a tube strike on ahot summer day.

But luckily help is available and in just as many variationsas there are challenges to face. If you are leaving the UK,you may need help packing and preparing all yourbelongings for the trip home. Besides, if you are notreturning to Scandinavia but arriving for the first time, alittle help getting settled would probably also come in

handy. The same, of course, goes for the other way round,where many Scandinavians arrive in the UK and struggleto find their way around rental agreements, schools andEnglish culture.

Many people relocate because their companies do, and inthat case they may not be the only ones who would benefitfrom a helping hand; new companies may also find thedifferent terms of the UK market difficult.

Scan Magazine has therefore done its very best to gatherand present a group of firms which can help you; somecan do it all, while others specialise in a more narrow field.

Relocating the easy wayBy Signe Hansen

When Scandinavians look to buy or rentproperty in the UK, many may havetrouble finding the quality they are usedto. This is a problem A.K.A. Relocationscan help solve for both large corpora-tions and private individuals looking tomove to London, Surrey, the North ofEngland and Edinburgh.

Established in 2004, the team of seven isrun by three Swedes: its two founders,Kristina Kennedy and Catherine Hen-riksen, and Director Cecilia Board, abuilding engineer. “Because we are aScandinavian niche company, we aim tofind properties that match the standardsfound there,” says Kennedy, who has adiploma in Surveying Practice, adding:“We always offer a premium service and

do all the legwork on behalf of ourclients to source the very best propertiesfor them to see.”Another special advantage is that the

majority of the team has lived in the UKsince theywerechildren. “WeknowLondonlike thebackof ourhand. Theestateagentssee us as English whereas we have themindset of Scandinavians,” Kennedy says.A.K.A. also look after all the accounts

and changes of utilities, making surethat all is in working order by the timeclients settle in. “We do absolutelyeverything for the clients and look afterevery aspect from beginning to end.”

Three pieces of advice from A.K.A.:• Have a budget prepared and esti-mates on additional costs.

• Research areas in order to know whatkind of area suits you and work outtransport costs to and from work.

• Book schools and check for spacesbefore finding a property.

For more details visit:www.akarelocations.comor call: 020 77510666

A.K.A. Relocations

Kristina Kennedy & Cecilia Board


If you and your business are consideringexpanding into the UKmarket, it may bea good idea to stop by Goodwille Limitedon your way. Goodwille was establishedas an independent service provider fo-cusing on Nordic companies in the UK in1997 by Swedish Annika Aman-Goodwille,a qualified Chartered Secretary with alegal and financial background.

“Our main competitive edge is thatwe can provide can provide large com-panies in the Nordic region with all theservices they require when establishinga business in the UK,” Goodwille says.“Another competitive edge is the lan-guage and cultural aspect. In Nordiccompanies, the board andmanagementoften speak English fluently, but thetechnical vocabulary that is necessary infinancial or legal matters is challengingfor anyone who is not familiar with it.Here Goodwill can assist and removethe insecurity.”Goodwille has 20 employees who be-

tween them speak a total of 11 lan-

guages. If your company needs othercompetences than the ones they havein-house, Goodwille can also provide abig network of professional firms to tapinto when required.Since her beginning Goodwille has

successfully helpedmore than 500 com-panies establish business enterprisesin the UK, among them the Swedish re-tail giant Clas Ohlson, which recentlyopened two stores in the UK.The start-up period for the compa-

nies Goodwille helps is normally aroundthree to four years and throughout thisperiod Goodwille can help them to findcost efficient solutions. “With us you canprovide a complete service without anyfixed overhead costs because you don’thave to employ people before you areup and running and that takes awaysome of the pressure,” Goodwille says.The time and work involved often comesas a surprise to companies which are,she adds, not always as prepared asthey should be. “One of the biggest pit-

falls is that the company employs thewrong people. Often the board takes thedecision to go to the UK market withoutplanning it properly.”This is why Goodwille prefers to get

involved at an early stage, so that sheand her staff can ensure that all the ef-forts go in the right direction.

Three good tips when setting up a busi-ness in the UK:• Do not underestimate administra-tive functions and set out a timespan to get them all in place.

• Make sure you have the right peopleto run the business in the UK: makesure to take references.

• Remember that everything takesmuch longer than you think.

For more information visit:www.goodwille.co.uk

Annika Aman-Goodwille

Goodwille




CONSIDOOne of the first challenges when mov-ing to the UK is finding a home, butthere is no need to despair. Help isavailable from the relocation and prop-erty acquisition consultancy Consido,founded by its Swedish Managing Di-rector Suzanne Bolinder ten years ago.

Consido offers a tailor-made service fo-cused on renting and buying property atthe high-end London market for bothcorporate and private clients. Aroundhalf of their assignees are Scandinavianexpatriates. “When finding the righthome for them, Consido helps find aschool for the kids, and offers a crashcourse on life in the UK too,” explainsBolinder.If you wish to buy your home or just

invest in property, the company can alsohelp navigate between the many differ-ent kinds of ownership in the UK, whichare new to most Scandinavians. To getthe best possible deal, Consido works

closely with different estate agents, whocan be challenging for someone new tothe UK market. “You have to rememberthat estate agents are working for theseller and not the buyer,” Bolinder says.The legal side of buying a property isalso more complicated than in Scandi-navia and Consido can be vital in thatprocess as well as when negotiatingprices.Consido has departments in the UK,

South Africa, Switzerland and Dubai.

Three pieces of advice from Consido:• Contact a relocation company thatcan tailor-make a solution for you.

• Be aware of all the costs related toyour lifestyle in the UK such as hous-ing and schools.

• Join a networking organisation or en-gage yourself in your community evenif your stay is short.

For more details visit:www.consido.net

City MovingFormany, going back home can end upbeing a daunting and stressful experi-ence as they lie awake at night worry-ing about the fate of the silk curtains orporcelain lamp. This is why the rightmoving company with the right experi-ence is essential and City Moving is acompany which has that.

The Middlesex based company was es-tablished in 1986 by Director Alan Hov-ell. By a twist of fate the Briton ended upspecialising in the removals to and fromScandinavia which is today the majorpart of City Moving’s market. Most ofthe transport to Scandinavia is carriedout in air ride vehicles, which mitigatesstress to all your belongings. “Of coursewe use different packaging techniques

depending on where the furniture is go-ing, but with the Air Ride vehicles theride is gentle so there is no need forcomplete export packing,” says Hovell.City Moving outsources most of its

Scandinavian transports to Danish, Nor-wegian or Swedish trucks and drivers.“We are proactive in filling up the truckswhen going back to Scandinavia and thatgives us a competitive edge whether themove is large or small because it makeseach transport more price and energyefficient,” Hovell says, adding: “I alsofind that many Scandinavian families aremore comfortable being serviced byScandinavians.”

Three pieces of advice from City Moving:• Ensure all personal and travel docu-ments are in a safe place to avoid be-ing packed.

• Clearly label items Stay or Go to avoidcostly mistakes.

• Check over house to ensure all iscomplete before truck departs.

For more details visit:www.citymoving.co.uk

Suzanne Bolinder. Photo: Grace Lung

Alan Hovell


When Scandinavians come to the UK,they usually look for high quality hous-ing, something whichmany find hard tocome across. Redab Properties Plc isaiming to change that.

Buying, developing and managing com-mercial and residential buildings in Lon-don are at the core of Redab. “Scandi-navians are used to more comfort and tomaterials that will not go into pieces atsmall accidents and that is why we usebetter material in all our properties,”says Managing Director C.G. Petters-son, who is himself Swedish.In 1984, C.G. founded the Redab

Group in Sweden and in 1994 the Lon-don based Redab Properties Plc wasestablished as a part of that. Back then,Redab Properties had £50,000 as in-vestment capital which C.G. and histeam of five employees in London havesince turned into 5.5 million, benefitingthe company’s 300 shareholders.In 2007 Redab sold off all its proper-

ties and now has four buildings undermanagement or development. One is aproperty in Kilburn which was bought in2007 and has gone through a complete

high standard refurbishment.Through varied measures such as

thermally efficient building fabric, natu-ral ventilation, a green roof, a solarheating system and a groundwaterpump, the building has also become 68per cent more energy efficient thanstandard housing. The groundwaterpump works by pumping water downthrough the groundwater, which warmsit up. “This is an environmentally friendlyway of producing energy; the water wepump down never comes into directcontact with the groundwater, but itstemperature is increased when it passesthrough it,” says C.G. “We have used it inour office building in Hackney and donesimilar things before this. Thanks tothese measures some of our buildingsactually have a surplus of energy.”The flats in Kilburn are all fitted with

hardwood flooring, with underfloor heat-ing, and a fully integrated kitchen in highquality materials. “Normally in the UKtiles will just have a top-finish which willcrack if you drop a fork and floors will bejust a few millimetres thick and will beworn down after a couple of years. Weknow that most people from outside the

UK don’t want that and that’s why we doit differently,” says C.G. The flats, whichare up for sale or letting, also benefitfrom a 24-hour porter service and ac-cess to swimming pool and gymnasium.Redab is developing similar high

quality flats in Hackney and Tower Ham-lets (in the centre of which the OlympicPark will be in 2012) which will be avail-able for sale or letting in respectivelythe summer of 2010 and 2009.

C.G. Pettersson


Redab Properties Plc



Expanding into the UK market or set-ting up a new businessmay be a daunt-ing and risky step for both small andlarge businesses, but help is availablefrom a company with Scandinavianlinks which understands what Nordicservice quality means.

Carolina Jönsson, from Sweden, is afounding Director of Enlink Ltd, a com-pany which can provide everything fromorder handling and book keeping, in-cluding credit checks, credit control, fi-nancial reporting and payroll, to virtualoffices including phone, fax andmeetingroom facilities “We have everything in-house and have a transparent and flex-ible systemwith a compact, efficient andfriendly team,” says Carolina. “Compa-nies may be able to find some of ourservices in other places but rarely all inone place.”With Enlink’s assistance, companies

active in the UK market can enjoy thebenefits of being able to provide theservice and image of a fully establishedUK office without having to bear the ex-pense and stress that this usually in-volves and with a minimum of risk. Italso means that the client’s key staffcan focus solely on their own tasks with-out having to get involved with the day-to-day administration and paperwork.The friendly efficiency of the Enlink

team means that they offer competi-tively priced services and their locationis a key factor in this. “Often companiesnew to the UK market think of Londonas the key location, but this is not alwaysthe case, especially for clients engagedin manufacturing. Being located in theMidlands Enlink has the advantage oflower overheads and easy access to thewhole of the UK,” says Carolina.Enlink was formed almost three

years ago by Carolina with fellow direc-tor Kate Service and colleague TonyBurrows who all have experience ofworking with Nordic companies. Sincethe beginning, their flexibility has en-

abled them to assist companies rangingfrom small entrepreneurs to globalcompanies. “What we do for all ourclients is to help with the first steps intothe market and our ambition is to seethem grow along with our own com-pany,” Carolina says, adding: “We have avery proactive approach to our client’sbusiness and think it is important towork as a teamwith the clients, workingvery much as part of their company.”

Three pieces of advice from Enlink:• Before entering any agreement with aUK company, be sure to check outtheir history. Always ask for refer-ences.

• Most companies set a financialbudget for their UK market entry, butmany do not take into account thetime of key employees that it maytake. Budget sufficient time as well asmoney.

• Do not leave anything to chance andhave a lawyer read any contract thatyou are offered. Employment con-tracts should be written in the UK.

The friendly Enlink team, from left to right; Tony Burrows, Kate Service (Director), Amy Maude, James Service, Carolina

Jönsson (Director). Photo: Grace Lung

Enlink


Leaving your home country can bedaunting but what about moving backagain or maybe even to a third loca-tion? Probably even more so. This iswhy Denmark’s largest moving com-pany Møbeltransport Danmark andtheir relocation division, House of Re-location, have specialised in just that.

With 180 trained packers and 14 largemoving trucks operating all over Europe,Møbeltransport Danmark services theUK on a weekly basis during most of theyear. Complementing the moving serv-ices, its House of Relocation division canhelp newcomers or returning nationalsget settled in Scandinavia. “We arrangevisas/working permits, finding homesand schools for the kids, as well as or-ganising orientation visits for the familyall over the world,” director of the com-

pany Gunnar Moeskjær says adding:“When moving back home, some expa-triates may also feel they need to bereintroduced and many may also haveforeign spouses, so we offer three daycultural courses on living in Denmark.”Moeskjær, who has lived in 5 coun-

tries on 3 continents during a 20 yearperiod, knows from personal experiencewhat it takes to make a successful in-ternational relocation. “Moving is notmoving as it was in the old days. It takesan awful lot more now,” he says.

Three pieces of advice from Møbel-transport Danmark:• Get started early: things take longerthan you think.

• Choose a FAIM quality certified mov-ing company with the resources tohelp you all the way.

• Call Møbeltransport Danmark.

For more information visit:www.mobel.dk

Møbeltransport Danmark and House of Relocation

Gunnar Moeskjær

Moving and relocating on a global, na-tional and regional basis for large cor-porate clients is what TEAM Reloca-tions is all about.

With over 40 operations in 14 countriesand more than 1,000 specialist employ-ees, the TEAM Relocations Group is oneof the world’s largest relocation andmov-ing companies. “Our strong Europeanpresence, knowledge and flexible solu-tions always ensure that we are able toprovide the very best quality service,”says Danish Louise Langkjær, theGroup’s RelocationManager in Denmark.The Group has departments in all the

Scandinavian capitals as well asOdense, Århus and Helsingør in Den-mark. In the UK, TEAM Relocations ispresent in London, Birmingham, Edin-burgh and Aberdeen.

The Scandinavian side of the group isbuilt on the three old Scandinavian com-panies ADAMs Transport in Denmark,Kungsholm in Sweden and Marjortrans

in Norway. Founded over 40 years ago,the Group is today divided into twobrands: TEAM Allied handling corporateand international moves and TEAM Re-locations supporting corporate reloca-tions. “Our advantage is that with justone point of contact we can offer ourclients corporate and private removalsand relocation services including prop-erty search, family programmes andeverything else,” says Langkjær.

Three pieces of advice from TEAM Relo-cations when moving internationally:• It is important to involve the wholefamily from the beginning.

• Many Scandinavians are dual careerfamilies, so it is vital to consider thepart-ner’s opportunities at the new location.

• Relocation can help not just adaptingbetter and faster to the new culture,but saves time and hassle each time.

For more information visit:www.teamrelocations.com

TEAM Relocations




If your company is sending an em-ployee to Sweden or you are movingyourself, a good relocation agent canreally make the difference between astressful or uplifting experience.

Founded by Director Ann Thorstenssonand Viveka Löwenhielm in 1991, Stock-holm Relocation Service is the city’s old-est relocation firm and can offer long-standing experience but also a veryflexible service. “Being a small teamand located in central Stockholm, weare able to work when it suits ourclients, like in the evening or duringweekends,” says Thorstensson, who hasherself lived as an expatriate in Franceand the UK.Finding the right new home is of

course first priority when relocating andfor that, in Stockholm, a helping hand isindispensable. “Swedish regulations andtaxes make it harder and less profitableto rent out houses and apartments. The

supply of good homes isn’t always whatyou would have wished for,” the directorsays, adding: “Most of the time we findwhat our clients want, of course, but in

some cases it may take a little longerthan expected.”Finding the perfect home is not

everything though; many times goodschools have to be found and registeredfor, cars imported and formalities sortedout.“We provide a full service for our

clients and do everything possible toguarantee a smooth and effective tran-sition to our beautiful city, we even helpthem join the local tennis club,”Thorstensson says.

Three pieces of advice from StockholmRelocation Service:• Plan your home search well in ad-vance.

• Do not bring pets.• Be flexible.

For more details visit:www.stockholm-relocation.se

Stockholm Relocation Service

Johan Norrman and co-founder andDirector Ann Thorstensson.

With an unrivalled 150 years of experi-ence you will be sure to avoid any be-ginner’s mistakes when moving or relo-cating with Bishop’s Move.

Started in 1854 by JJ Bishops with just ahorse and cart, today Bishop’s Move hasmore than 250 employees and 28branches in the UK, Spain and Gibraltar.Sales and Marketing Director ChrisMarshall explains: “We are the largestfamily owned removal and storage com-pany within the UK with the 6th gener-ation of the Bishop family working withinthe company. As we are a family com-pany we look to uphold values of trustand helpfulness combined with profes-sionalism.”Bishop’s Move carries out removals

for both private and corporate clientsand assists companies with the reloca-tion of their employees. “We have a teamof dedicated and experienced movingconsultants who canmanage relocationfrom start to finish, offering a full rangeof services,” says Marshall adding:“With International relocations, as anaccredited member of FIDI, we have a

wide network of FIDI accredited compa-nies that we work with.”

Three pieces of advice from Bishop’sMove:• Choose a removal company that is anaccredited member of FIDI - thelargest global alliance of independentquality international removal compa-nies.

• Take advice from the company’s MoveConsultants as they can help withcustoms forms and other red tap reoverseas administrations.

• Communicate with the company andkeep them as up to date as possible.

For more details visit:www.bishopsmove.com

Bishop’s Move

Chris Marshall


Relocating to a new city and a new country can be a stressful

and daunting experience if you have to do it all by yourself.

Luckily, if you are moving to the UK, you can get specialist

help from a leading independent firm, 4 Corners Relocation.

They can help you or your employees with everything from

finding a suitable school for the kids; serviced temporary

accommodation; long or short-term lease negotiations; and

tenancy management.

The London-based firm is co-directed by the Swedishcouple Andy and Karin Beaver who have been partnersin business and life for the last ten years.

Their long experience and a very special service attitudemake 4 Corners the best choice when looking for ahome search company, says Andy Beaver. “Essentially4 Corners is different because we really value theservice angle of the business and the clients are ourmain focus.” This is demonstrated by the fact that 4Corners takes care of their clients all the way throughthe process from before they get to the UK until they arecompletely settled in their new home. “We spend anenormous amount of time going through their personalrequirements before they actually come into Englandand I think that is what really sets us apart from thecompetition,” says Beaver.

When the newcomers arrive, 4 Corners will take themon a tour to see the possibilities they have picked outfor them. On average their clients will view around 12-15 properties, carefully selected to match their needs,before they find their new home. When they do, 4Corners continue to help them getting settled. “Whenclients from abroad arrive in the UK there is often ahome-based spouse or partner who is overlooked bymany other relocation providers, but we work with himor her to help find schools, set up bank accounts, findshopping locations and generally just give them a fulleducational briefing on the area.”

Although 4 Corners are located in and specialise in thegreater London area, they cover the whole of the UK,

have professional consultants in all areas, and havesuccessfully relocated a fantastic 95 per cent of all theirassignees.

Three pieces of advice from 4 Corners:

• Be as specific as you can be

On a day with 4 Corners you will see a wide variety ofproperties. We will try and tailor the viewings to get asclose as we can to your requirements, so the moreinformation we have about you and your ideal lifestyle,the better the match.

• Don’t Rush

A lot of assignees come to us and want to be moved inwithin a couple of days – but don’t forget, you areprobably going to be signing a year long lease. It’s worthtaking an extra day just to make sure you are happy withthe area, the commute and the property.

• Be realistic in your aims

There’s no easy way to put this, but London is anexpensive city to live in. We’ll try and show you what isrealistically available in your price bracket, but we areguided in this by you.

For more details visit: www.4cr.co.ukor call +44 (0)20 8878 7980

Andy Beaver

4 Corners Relocation


Since February 2009, Annika Wahlberg has been theManagingDirector of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce.

Every day begins the same way, I wake up – happy! Andtoday was no different. My morning routine is nothing outof the ordinary. Shower, dressing, eyeliner and breakfaston the go. My life consists of many challenges and manyrewards. Time is always of the essence.

I head straight to our offices in “Little Sweden” – a clusterof Swedish businesses, organisations and institutions inMarylebone. They all add to the “Swedishness” of theneighbourhood. London is “one of the largest towns ofSweden” and Marylebone is one of its buzzing hubs.

The visit

The morning kicks off with a meeting at SAAB, a companythat hardly needs any further introduction. Their M.D.talks about the company and the challenges they arefacing today. I admire the company’s determination to actin defiance of the recession. Their fighting spirit rubbedoff and made me feel energised.

Back at the farm

Many people dread staff meetings simply because theyare boring. I used to endorse that view, at times, butdon’t anymore. SCC staff meetings are vibrant,challenging and productive. And at times seductivelychaotic. Although every meeting may not end inconsensus (why should it?), we always leave with aunified sense of direction.

Speaking of speech to a great speaker

Meeting Roland Rudd is intimidating, like meeting perfectpeople usually is. His CV is incredible. Roland will speakat our AGM. It occurs to me just how lucky we are in beingable to attract the best of speakers. It says a lot aboutwho we are.

Beyond the M25

The team and I discuss a mail shot to companies outsideLondon. The list makes you realise that there is more to

the UK than just the capital. We can’t afford not to venturebeyond the M25. In fact, it’s our duty.

Meet the Council

In the afternoon, I meet the Council members. It isfantastic that so many give up their time for the Chamberand it is reassuring to have the support andencouragement of this influential group of people.

The night shift

Night-time is event time. Tonight I head for the RoyalInstitute in a taxi. As the driver starts yawning, so do I.We’re both, not surprisingly, tired. We chat about work,family and children. Our night shifts have just started anddespite the occasional moan we both concede to wakingup happy.

Scan Business | Column | How was your day?

How was your day?


These are our busy lives! We ask a Scandinavian businessman orbusiness woman the question: How was your day? The answer isnever that straightforward.

Corren Troen recently held a successfulProperty Breakfast with attendance fromdevelopers and investors, together withrepresentatives from the financial sector.

All involved in the property market wereinterested to meet over breakfast and lis-ten to an economic overview of the com-mercial property market given by DarrenYates of Cushman & Wakefield’s Euro-pean Research Team.Although Darren Yates anticipated fur-

ther challenges ahead he did indicate thatthere were some signs of cautious opti-mism in the property sector.Darren suggested that the UK still

faces significant downside risk but themajority of forecasters do, however, ex-pect recovery earlier than anticipated,with the economy bottoming out in 2009.He considered that should businesses

and consumers hold back, growth will berestrained and the recovery muted.

He pointed out that, in the mediumterm, growth will be impeded anyway by aslower financial services expansion andtighter fiscal policies. The potential threatof regulatory changes must also bewatched.A recent survey carried out by Cush-

man &Wakefield of 83 property lenders il-lustrated that one of the difficulties in thisclimate is that lenders are attaching con-ditions to new business lending and that49 lenders surveyed are closed for busi-ness at the moment, with the remainderonly lending to existing clients or with con-ditions attached.However, that said, a Bank of England

survey indicated a slight improvement inlending in the next few months, propertybeing sought after as a stable asset class.The property market is showing signs

that it will bounce back by 2011 and 2012 aspent-up demand is released, business in-vestment recovers and there is a boost

from infrastructure works. The 2012Olympics will also help to create a recovery.However, there will also be an accept-

ance of re-pricing and no return to easycredit.The overall general consensus at the

breakfast was that there is at this timegreat potential for opportunities within thesector for well-placed investors to re-en-ter the property market.

Corren Troen is holding another PropertyBreakfast in early September. If interestedin attending please contact Nicola Woolfat Corren Troen; 0207 592 8900, [email protected]

www.billund-airport.com

Birmingham

Manchester

Edinburgh

Dublin

the gateway to West Denmark...

London Stansted

London City

London Gatwick

Property Breakfast By Nicola Woolf, Corren Troen

Scan Business | Column | Property Breakfast


Scan Business | News | Chambers of Commerce

As we all know fromreading the currentnews, women are ad-vancing and gaining alarger percentage ofleading positions andboard memberships.This is a trend we findhighly positive, so wehave therefore takenthe initiative to start aDUCCWomen's Forum.The idea behind theWomen’s Forum is togather women from theAnglo-Nordic businessworld who wish to ex-pand their network. The

DUCCWomen’s Forumwill be held 4-6 times a year and will havedifferent foci according to current concerns or interests of mem-bers. In this connection, we are pleased to announce that our first

speaker, Courtney Fingar, Editor of fDi (Foreign Direct Invest-ment) Magazine, will make the introductory Women’s Forumspeech on 28 September 2009.The DUCC will also, in co-operation with the Italian Chamber ofCommerce, host a Fashion Event in London in September. Thetheme will revolve around the issue of brand and corporate valueand how to maintain it during downturn periods like the present.The speakers represent high value brands and will give their in-sights into the issue in question as seen from their respectiveviewpoints. Keep updated on speakers, time and venue onwww.ducc.co.uk

UPCOMING EVENTS

DUCC Summer Cocktail Party at the Royal Danish Embassy– 8 July 2009Fashion Event – 16 September 2009Women’s Forum: Movement of global DFI – 28 September 2009Danish Design Focus on Furniture: “What is Danish Design andhow can companies with Danish roots take advantage of thatbrand?” – 28 October 2009

Although summer is a quiet period on the events calendar, NBCCis working hard behind the scenes to deliver an interesting and var-ied experience for ourmembers and contacts during the autumn.To kick off the season we are planning a “Welcome to London”event in September. The purpose is to introduce Norwegian andBritish cultures, focusing on both business and social aspects.

In October, we are hosting a Taste & Travel Seminar and Exhibi-tion in Aberdeen to promote Norwegian travel, drinks and food-

stuff to a Scottish/British audience and vice versa. If your busi-ness is interested in exhibiting please contact us.

Also in October we have teamed up with Den Norske Klub for afinancial evening with Øystein Dørum, Chief Economist at DnBNOR, as speaker. StatoilHydro will be hosting the annual Ship-ping & Energy Seminar, and we are happy to welcome our Spon-sor Members to an Advisory Board Dinner at the Ambassador’sresidence.

The ICT Seminar will be held on 12 November where the topic willbe clean technology. And we would also like to remind you of theNordic Thursday Drinks which are held every last Thursday of themonth. It is the perfect opportunity to network with the Nordicbusiness community in an informal atmosphere.

UPCOMING EVENTS

“Offshore Europe” – NBCC in Aberdeen – 8-11 SeptemberWelcome to London – 23 SeptemberFinancial Evening – 8 October

Norwegian-British Chamber of Commerce

Danish-UK Chamber of Commerce

Danish-UK Chamber of Commerce | Phone: +44 (0) 20 7259 6795 | Email: [email protected] | www.ducc.co.uk

Norwegian-British Chamber of Commerce | Phone: +44 (0) 20 7930 0181 | Email: [email protected] | www.nbccuk.com

Scan Magazine | Business Directory

LEGO, the LEGO logo, the Knob con� guration and the Mini� gure are trademarks of the LEGO Group. ©2008 The LEGO Group

LEGO® Company seeks Danish speaking Customer Service AdvisorsLEGO Direct is an award winning contact centre, where fun and creativity play a part in every working day.

We are looking to recruit Danish speaking advisors to join our team in our European contact centre based in Slough (just 20 mins from London Paddington by train). Fluency in spoken and written English is also a requirement for this role.

This role is aimed at maximising sales for the LEGO Company by providing a premium customer service experience to consumers who contact us by telephone (50%) and email / letter (50%) during our busiest months of the year.

These seasonal contracts will start in September and we anticipate that they will run through until the beginning of 2010. During the � rst months of the year we may be able to o�er some permanent contracts to our seasonal sta� .

We o� er a competitive hourly salary of £8.71 plus bene� ts.

To read more about our vacancy or to apply please visit our website here:

http://lego.e-cruitnow.com/uk/

Crisp Service and outstanding cooking making for enjoyable meals atthese award winning modern Indian restaurants where an accomplisheduse of herbs and spices produce a variety on interesting flavours.The atmosphere is vibrant and welcoming with both the visiting

crowd and London locals enjoying the wonderful cuisine.

Recommended by prominent food criticsincluding the BBC good eating guide.

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Tel: 020 7437 8261Fax: 020 7437 3789

134 Cromwell Road,Kensington, SW7 4HATeL: 020 7370 7617Fax: 020 7244 8639

15% Discount Off your total billOffer ends 30th September 2009

www.delhibrasserie.com



Scan Business | News | Chambers of Commerce

The Swedish Chamber of Commerce for the UK hosted its AnnualGeneral Meeting on Friday 5 December 2009 at The Dorchester. Anincrease in new Members was reported for 2008 and a doubling ofnewmembers in 2009 compared to the previous period last year.

“We have been working hard on implementing our new profile, en-suring our many events are up-to-date and delivering what ourMembers are asking for. It is very encouraging to see such a surgein subscriptions and our recent Member survey is nothing but pos-itive,” says Annika Wahlberg, Managing Director.

Today theChamber has around 400Member companies represent-ing not only Swedish-owned companies and subsidiaries, but also agrowing number of British and European companies interested increating new business opportunities or developing existing ones.Members includemajor international companies such as Ericsson,Skype, AstraZeneca,Nordea,Brunswick, Google,H&M,HSBC, Saab,IKEA and Sony Ericsson, as well as a large number of small andmediumsized companies frommanydifferent sectors and industriessuch as Spotify, Ice Hotel and Scandinavian Kitchen.

Join theSwedishChamber ofCommerce today! Contact Sofie Zetter-lund, Membership Coordinator for further information on 020 72248001 or by e-mail to [email protected].

UPCOMING EVENTS

Swedish-Finnish Crayfish Party – 4 SeptemberNetworking reception in Birmingham – 7 SeptemberNetworking reception at Volvo Cars London – 10 SeptemberHumber Golf & Dinner – 29 September

Go to www.scc.org.uk to readmore and sign up.

Swedish Chamber of Commerce for the UK

Swedish Chamber of Commerce for the UK | Phone: +44 (0) 20 7224 8001 | Email: [email protected] | www.scc.org.uk

Companies as well as individuals are welcome to apply for mem-bership. Being a FBCC member gives you many useful benefitsand it is a great opportunity to expand awareness of business inthe Finnish-British business community.

As a part of the FBCC business network you’ll have the oppor-tunity to host events (only for company members), the opportu-nity to make business contacts and to network with other cham-ber members. Being a member gives your company publicitythrough different publications including the annual MembershipDirectory and our website. Also, you’ll receive up-to-date infor-mation of Chamber events as well as events organized in co-op-eration with other Chambers of commerce and institutions.

Membership starts from £30 (Junior membership) per year.Please contact us to choose the most suitable option for you. Toapply for membership, please contact [email protected] orvisit www.fbcc.co.uk. We will also be delighted to provide you withsome more information about Patron memberships.

FBCC Office on a summer break between 20.7.2009-2.8.2009.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Nordic Networking Drinks – 27 AugustFinnish-Swedish Crayfish Party at Deep Restaurant– 4 SeptemberNordic Networking Drinks – 24 September

Finnish-British Chamber of Commerce

Finnish-British Chamber of Commerce | Phone: +44 (0) 20 8741 6352 | Email: [email protected] | www.fbcc.co.uk

Scan Magazine | Business Directory

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Scan Magazine | Scan News

Eight British students who won a com-petition organised by Eco Schools UKand The Danish Embassy in Londonwere presented with their award byHRH Crown PrincessMary of Denmark.The event took place at the residence ofthe Ambassador of Denmark, BirgerRiis-Jørgensen, on 16 June.

The winners were chosen from amongsthundreds of contestants, who all tookpart in a competition to help solve theproblems of the changing climate. Aspart of the prize they will be taking partin a climate and innovation camp foryoung people in Sønderborg, Denmarkon 8-11 August. 500 youths from morethan 45 countries of all continents will

be attending the camp where the ob-jective is to come up with ideas and sug-gestions for what can be done to solvefuture climate challenges.HRH Crown Princess Mary of Den-

mark presented the winners with adiploma and showed great interest inthe project.Bright Green Youth is the youth coun-

terpart of the UN Climate Change Con-ference (COP15) held in Copenhagen inDecember 2009. The opening ceremonyof the camp is 8 August and will be at-tended by several ministers from Den-mark and abroad.

For more info on Bright Green Youth visitwww.brightgreenyouth.org

HRH Crown Princess Marypresents green award for lucky students

More and more people are studyingFinnish in Britain. The reasons vary: aFinnish girl friend, interest in Finnishheavy rock, amove to Finland for a bet-ter life – or just the challenge of learn-ing a difficult language!

Finn-Guild is running three eveningcourses from September for inter-mediate (those with basic conversation)and advanced students. The ten-lessoncourses take place in Camden Town.Registration is underway, so it is advis-able to book now. An evening course forbeginners starts in January.There will be two intensive study days

in October and November, aimed at alllevels. These days are booked well inadvance, so enrol early. They include ex-

tras like Karelian pastries, cinnamonbuns, rye bread and herring.General Secretary, Ossi Laurila, says

that once “the main reason to learn wasa Finnish partner, usually a girl friend,who wanted her man to learn the basicsbefore the first visit to the family. Today,

it’s often the foreign man who wants tolearn before the family moves to Fin-land. I have noticed that it is the Britishhusband who instigates the move, hiswife would be happy to spendmore timein London.“We get varied students on our

courses.This week an 80-year old gentle-manwanted to study to keep his brain ac-tive. I have met pierced, tattooed rockerswho want to learn the language ofNightwish andLordi. And there are alwaysthose secondgenerationFinnswhosepar-ents didn’t teach themFinnish. This is an-other good example of the importance ofbilingualism inmixed families.”

More about Finn-Guild Finnish:www.finn-guild.org or 020 7387 3508

Learning Finnish with Finn-Guild

Finnish lessons attract all ages

HRH Crown Princess Mary.Photo: Steffen N. Christensen

SCAN NEWS Edited by Emelie Krugly

If you have a news story for Scan Magazine you can contact Emelie on: [email protected]



Swedish entrepreneurs and food loversErika Eklundh and Victor Ollén have re-cently launched their new businessventure, Malmö Nordic Dining. Theirambition is to challenge the stereotyp-ical view of Nordic food being largelyherring and meatballs with an array ofquality, carefully sourced produce, in-spiration and product development.

They both have backgrounds as chefs inrenowned restaurants in Sweden andDenmark. On top of that, Erika is agraphic designer while Victor has a de-gree in International business. Withthese combined experiences the duoseems a perfect match.Erika explains how it all started: “One

day I heard the Swedish Minister of Agri-culture on the radio talking about Scan-dinavian food and how Sweden was go-ing to be responsible for the next bigfood revolution. When he was askedwhat was typically Swedish, he went ononly to mention meatballs, lingonberryjam and vodka which I thought was anincredibly boring answer.”Said and done, the duo began re-

search and pitching to investors and

managed to get support from theSwedish Government. Now they plan totickle the taste buds of Londoners andbeyond with their handpicked produce.Great care has been taken to ensure theproducts are offered with characteristicfreshness, simplicity, health, and greattaste. All are wrapped in beautiful andfunctional packaging.“All Malmö Nordic Dining products,

besides being completely natural, unal-tered and artisan produced, are goodrepresentatives of the Nordic Diet in thesense that dietary fibres, unsaturatedfats and slow carbohydrates are all in-corporated. The beauty of Nordic food isit’s purity,” explains Erika Eklundh.

“We hope to attract the modern,

health-conscious consumer with our ex-citing new range of Nordic pro-ducts,bringing them a taste of the latestnew super foods. We’ve had an incredi-bly good response so far. Selfridge’sFood Hall has also shown interest instocking our range. Customers espe-cially adore our cheese selection.”Malmö Nordic Dining’s products in-

clude rosehip preserve, thin crisp breadand fine rapeseed oil to name but a few.These are to be found in selected foodhalls, stores and venues where Nordicproducts are already being promoted,for example Nordic design shops andcafés such as Design House Stockholm,Scandinavian Kitchen, Food Inc and To-tally Swedish. Shortly customers willalso be able to buy directly online fromwww.malmonordicdining.com

Nomusicmedia.com, Norway’s one andonly English language music site, iscelebrating one year in operation. Thesite is updated daily with news, tourplans, album and live reviews, videos,interviews and other surprises.

“We’ve had a fantastic response fromall over the world and the music indus-try enjoys our site, like for examplePitchfork Media, the world’s biggest in-die-music site. It’s been beyond our ex-pectations,” says Åse Røyset, founderand editor of the site.Nomusicmedia was founded by her

and Andreas Larsen; they both have ex-tensive experience in the business.Larsen holds a BA in international mar-keting and relationshipmanagement anda BA in media studies, while Røyset hasa BA inmedia studies, and they each runtheir own label. They both concludedthere was very little English language lit-erature on the web covering music fromthis region and then set out to increaseinternational recognition and interest.Andy Inglis, co-founder of the club ‘The

Luminaire’ in North London and a con-tributor to thewebsite, reviewsNorwegianbands when they pass through London.

He is a big fan of Norwegian music.”Nomusicmedia is really doing a

great thing for bands that are still knock-ing on the door of the UK. Norwegianmusic is often very experimental, I thinkit has to do with the climate in Norway,it is freer in style and there is less pres-sure to be cool.” Nomusicmedia haspublished about 400 articles and is aboutto face it’s first full festival season.Among the largest reading groups in ad-dition to the Norwegians are the English,Germans, Swedes and Americans.

www.nomusicmedia.com

MALMÖ NORDIC DINING – A Swedish Food Revolution

Vic and Erika

Rosehip preserve

Norwegian music site celebrates one year



For anyone seeking a peaceful momentduring the hectic lunch hour in Lon-don, St Olave’s Church in the City ofLondon offers lunchtime recitals, a def-inite treatment for the soul. Therecitals are held Wednesday andThursday every week, except in August,and start at 1.05pm.

Thomas Butler, a retired shippinglawyer with a background in piano andart, and a passion for Scandinavia, isthe orchestrator of these recitals.“Musicians from the Scandinavian

countries play at St Olave’s from time totime. Björn Kleinman, who runs theSwedish Hall concerts, performed acouple of years ago. Others include pi-anist Per Rundberg from Sweden, Anne-Marie Christensen, violinist from Den-mark, Swedish pianist KatarinaStröm-Harg and Ingeborg Boerch, so-

prano,” he says adding: “I always aim tohave some Grieg as close as possible toMay 17.”St Olave’s is dedicated to St Olaf the

patron Saint of Norway and the firstChristian king of Norway. The church isone of the oldest in the City, built circa1450. It survived the Great Fire but wasbadly damaged in the SecondWorld Warand rededicated after its restoration in1951.The tradition of regular weekly

lunchtime recitals of classical musicgoes back 50 years. Admission is free,but there is a retiring collection to coverthe artists’ expenses. The church wel-comes performers who are at an earlystage of their careers as well as thosewho are more established. This year’srecitals have also featured artists fromSpain, Portugal, France, Italy, Hungary,Russia, Lithuania, Cuba, Venezuela,

Egypt, Japan, Taiwan, South Africa,Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Croatia.

For more info visitwww.sanctuaryinthecity.net/concertsand www.sanctuaryinthecity.net

Lunch recitals at St Olave’s– Treatment for the Soul

Malcolm Campbell, who wrote ScanMagazine’s much-loved recruitmentColumn, passed away on 20 June 2009,aged 75. The cause of death wasMesothelioma, a terminal illness.

Malcolm was born in Hong Kong in May1934, the middle one of three boys. In1966 Malcolm married Margaret Longand he became the father of two chil-dren, Clare and Calum, and the grand-father of two grandsons.Malcolm was a man who could draw

on many extraordinary experiences,much knowledge and various personalattributes, his humour being one ofthem. Scan Magazine’s ThomasWinthersays of Malcolm: “He was very funny!We received calls from people who readMalcolm’s column, who thought hemight be a comedian disguised as a

headhunter columnist.”However, it was in personnel man-

agement and recruitment that Malcolmmade his career.After reading chemistry at Imperial

College in London and working as achemist, he changed course and went into personnel management. He becamea director of the Institute of PersonnelManagement before moving into re-cruitment consultancy. After working forClive and Stokes in London for manyyears, he formed the Springman, Tipperand Campbell Partnership. His clientswere worldwide and work often involvedtravelling to exotic destinations such asthe Middle East and Asia.Having rowed for Imperial College

while studying there, he maintained along-standing interest in sailing androwing. Malcolm was also a member of

many London clubs and societies. Heenjoyed a wide variety of music fromjazz to classical and brass bands.

At Scan Magazine, Malcolm wasmore than our entertaining, knowledge-able columnist. Winther says: “He hada wonderful wit and a genuine interest inpeople. He was much treasured byeverybody, not only as a valued busi-ness associate but also as a friend.”It is for this and his selflessness that

Malcolm will in particular be remem-bered.

St Olave’s Church

Obituary

Malcolm Campbell By Rikke Bruntse-Dahl

Pho

to:M

agnu

sA

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ad


Scan Magazine | Culture | Jan Troell

The 77-year-old Swedish filmmaker JanTroell is best known abroad for his 1970sepics The Emigrants and The New Land,which touched the whole world and re-ceived a total of six Oscar nominations.As his new movie is released in the UK,Scan Magazine managed to get 15 min-utes on the phone with him.

Troell’s latest work, Everlasting Moments,a multiple Guldbagge winner, is set in theearly 1900s. It tells the story of a womanwho wins a camera and finds a new joy inlife through it, a story inspired by Troell’swife, Agneta Ulfsäter Troell. “My latestmovie, Everlasting Moments, began whenone day I sat down to read my wife’s draftof a book charting her family history,” hesays. “I got so excited over the potential ofthe draft that I asked her if I could make afilm of the story instead. She agreed andwe started writing a script together.”Before he started making films Troell

worked several years as a school teacher;he began making short films and docu-mentaries in the sixties. “I have alwayshad a fascination for the moving pictureand started using a camera when I was 14years old. Documentaries have also al-ways fascinatedme, I became a teacher bycoincidence, but I think I secretly alwayswanted to become a documentary maker.”Troell’s realistic films and lyrical pho-

tography have placed him among Swe-den’s best filmmakers.

How important has international successbeen for you?

It has not been that important to me, to behonest. But, of course, international suc-cess means recognition and it also meansthat you can afford to carry on doing whatyou enjoy doing the most and that issomething I have never taken for granted.

Did you expect your latest filmEverlastingMoments to receive so much attention?

Not at all, I didn’t think it would reachsuch a great audience, I thought that per-

haps only the Swedish would appreciate it.It has been a peculiar experience gettingall this attention. But it’s wonderful ofcourse, the movie seems to have some-thing universal, no matter what national-ity, people somehow recognise them-selves.

Where do you get your inspiration fromand what motivates you?

I would say the process of making amoviestarts in many different ways, for example,As White as in Snow (Så vit som en snö,2001) was based on the life of the Swedishaviatrix Elsa Andersson and the idea cametome through a picture. Sometimes I havea clear vision or I have an idea that I sim-ply must realize. It’s the curiosity or mydesire to imagine other people's realities.I feel I have the ability and the imaginationto live other people’s lives or what I imag-ine they are like.

What is your greatest achievement of alltime?

As I’m a documentary lover, the answerhas to be the Land of Dreams (Sagolan-

det, 1988), that deals with modern soci-ety's alienation from nature. If I were tochoose one movie that I would like peopleto remember me by, this would be it.

Are you working on any new projects atthe moment?

I’m currently in the early process of mak-ing a new film about the Swedish publicistTorgny Segerstedt. He was a Swedishscholar of comparative religion, a publicistand an editor-in-chief of the newspaperGöteborgs Handelsoch Sjöfartstidningfrom 1917 to 1945. As such he is remem-bered for his uncompromising anti-Nazistance. The movie takes place duringWorld War II.

15 Minutes with Jan Troell By Emelie Krugly

Mikael Persbrandt, Maria Heiskanen and director Jan Troell on the set of EverlastingMoments, 2009. Photo: Nille Leander/IFC Films.

She has just topped 1.5 million plays ofher songs on MySpace and recentlyrecorded her first album “Angels &Starts”. Aasa theNorwegian singer/song-writer has been described as a cross be-tween Coldplay and Joni Mitchell.

The album was recorded in London withMark Ralph (The Filthy Dukes) and pro-duced by Donn Lo (Billy Freedom of CapeFear). The album was mastered by JohnDavis (The Ting Tings, Razorlight andSnow Patrol) at the legendary AlchemySoho.“I would say mymusic is a balance be-

tween vulnerability and strength,” shesays. “I’m very inspired by female icons.I’m glamorous and yet very personal atthe same time. The girl next door doesn’treally appeal to me”.The yet-unreleased album impressed

John Davis, who said he had not heardsuch a solid quality album in a long time.Aasa means goddess in Nordic

mythology, and the goddess permeatesher music in tracks like ‘Goddess’ and‘The Empress’. This source is also an in-spiration for Aasa's visual image.

As a classical pianist she studied withsome of the top teachers in Norway,Salzburg and the UK. She moved to Lon-don five years ago and was inspired bythe singer-songwriter/indie rock scene.“Coming to London made me realize

that I wanted to sing and write songs in-stead and I started to produce my firstsong.”She recorded her first demo in New

York. Back in London, with a demo in herpocket, a friend of hers introduced her toJoe Barboza, originally from California,who then became her next producer, aswell as manager. He immediately likedthe music, but wanted to add his ownmagic touch together with music engi-neer Mark Ralph of the ‘Filthy Dukes’.Since then Aasa has played extensively inLondon. Her plan is now to focus on an in-ternational career and she hopes to per-form at festivals in Norway this summer.Not too long ago Aasa had a memo-

rable meeting with Narada MichaelWalden, who has produced most of Whit-ney Houston's greatest hits as well asother female icons such as ArethaFranklin and Mariah Carey.

“Growing up, I always had a fascinationfor Whitney Houston. ‘I Wanna DanceWithSomebody’ was probably the one song thatstarted my fascination for pop music al-together. I told Narada that his work hadsuch a great influence on me as a child.We all then started singing ‘I Wanna DanceWith Sombody’, it was all very surreal. Atthat time it felt like it was all coming to-gether, that the circle was complete.”Aasa also performed two of her songs

and has been invited to San Francisco torecord with him.

For more info: www.aasamusic.com orwww.myspace.com/aasamusic


Scan Magazine | Music

Aasa the Norwegian Goddess By Emelie Krugly

Pho

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Scandinavian Music By Karl Batterbee

Scandinavia is currentlychurning out qualitymusic at an alarmingrate, from both excitingnewcomers, and muchloved legends. Thismonth, Finland gets its

ownDuffy, Denmark produces a girlband torival Girls Aloud and one of the most lovedand loathed acts of all time returns and sodoes a master of melody!

New pop in old disguise

The modern revising of sixties soul musichas dominated the UK and US musicscenes over the last year. Now Finlandhas got its very own sixties siren, AnnaPuu. Puu has captivated the Finns with

her debut single, C’est La Vie, a melan-cholic motown tribute with lovelorn vo-cals and dramatic bells! Its parent album,Anna Puu, has just gone to number one.

Sukkerchok are an enchanting new girl-band from Denmark. Their debut album,Hvor Som Helst, Når Som Helst, has justbeen released and is a fun-packed, 45minute romp through catchy melodiesclinging to electro synths. Imagine howGirls Aloud would have sounded 25 yearsago, and you get a good idea of Sukkerchok.

The legends are back

The almighty Aqua (yes, they really are back)have just gone to number one in Denmarkand top ten in Norway with Back To The

80s, the lead single from their newGreatestHits album. One of the most globally suc-cessful Scandinavian acts ever, Aquahas re-cently been touring their native Denmark.

Finally, last month we wrote about a newBenny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus com-position. Thismonth, a second new compo-sition from the Abba pair has been unveiled.Story Of A Heart is the first internationalsingle from Benny’s most recent musicalproject, Benny AnderssonBand and it’s justbeenA-Listed byBBCRadio 2. So hopefully,the UKwill be all singing along to the pair’smusic – 35 years after their first UK hit.

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Scan Magazine | Culture Calendar

Scandinavian Culture Calendar– Where to go, what to see? It’s all happening here!

JULY/AUGUST

Edvard Munch (until 5 September)Visitors to the Hunterian Art Gallery inGlasgow will have the rare opportunity tosee some of Norwegian artist EdvardMunch's remarkable prints. The new ex-hibition, Edvard Munch: Prints, is a majorloan exhibition from the Munch Museumin Oslo and features 40 of his finest prints.This will be themost substantial display ofMunch's prints in the UK in over 35 years.Open Mon.-Sat., 9.30am-5.00pm. ClosedSundays and 18-20 July inclusive. Admis-sion free.Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glas-gow, 82 Hillhead Street Glasgow G12 8QQwww.hunterian.gla.ac.uk/munch/

Per Kirkeby (until 6 September)Tate Modern is presenting the first UKmajor exhibition of the work of Danishartist Per Kirkeby. The exhibition will ex-plore the exceptional diversity of Kirkeby’scareer spanning four decades. It will bringtogether his Pop-inspired paintings fromthe 1960s with paintings on canvas fromthe late 1970s, an extensive group ofblackboard works, sculptures, and a se-lection of the monumental canvases forwhich Kirkeby is best known.Tate Modern Level 4. Info.: 020 7887 8888.www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/perkirkeby

Jeppe Hein (until 23 October)Danish artist Jeppe Hein's hugely popularAppearing Rooms returns to the South-bank Centre. Jets of water shoot into theair to create 'rooms', which disappear asquickly as they emerge, inviting visitorsof all ages to try their luck at predictingtheir next move. Southbank Centre,Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XXwww.southbankcentre.co.uk

Meta4 (8 July)This young Finnish string quartet playsnew works by two of their nation's leadingcontemporary composers. Repertoire in-cludes: Jaakko Kuusisto: Play III; KaijaSaariaho: Terra Memoria; Sibelius: StringQuartet in D minor Op 56 Voces Intimae.Part of the City of London Festival, StVedast alias Foster, Foster Lane, LondonEC4 T 0845 120 7502

Maddid’s Nordic Festival at the Space(11-12 July)This Nordic Festival is the only festival ofits kind in London aiming to promoteNordic contemporary culture in the UKand creates networking opportunities forits participants. It will be an annual festi-val and this summer is a taster of what’sto come in future years.A great opportunity to see a piece ofNordic contemporary culture and per-formance.To book tickets visit: www.maddid.com,or call +44 (0)207 515 7799

Annual Architecture Lecture at RoyalAcademy of Arts: Snøhetta (13 July 2009)Award winning architects Craig Dykersand Kjetil Thorsen, co-founders of theNorwegian architectural practiceSnøhetta and designers of Oslo’s ac-claimed new National Opera & BalletHouse, will deliver the 2009 Royal Acad-emy of Arts Annual Architecture Lectureon Monday 13 July.Summer Exhibition Galleries, 6.45–8 pm(doors open 6.30 pm), £15/£8 reductions(includes drink reception until 9pm).Bookings: call 020 7300 5839 or online:www.royalacademy.org.ukRoyal Academy of Arts, Burlington House,Piccadilly, London W1J OBD

Danish collective A Kassen’s (18 July – 23August )Danish collective A Kassen’s first UK proj-ect will launch the Wysing residency pro-gramme on 18 July. Their work MinusRoof is an ambitious performance involv-ing light aircraft from Bourn Airfield, re-moval of 35 sq m of the gallery roof, andthe audience at the performance both onthe ground and in the air! www.wysin-gartscentre.orgWysing Arts Centre, Fox Road, Bourn,Cambridge CB23 2TX. +44 (0)954 718 881

Scan Magazine | Culture Calendar

Henrik Ibsen’sGhosts (22 July - 22August)A widow reveals to her pastor that shehad hidden the evils of her marriage for itsduration. The play will run at the ArcolaTheatre this summer. Henrik Ibsen is re-garded as one of the most important play-wrights of all time and celebrated as anational symbol by Norwegians. 22 July to22 August at 8pm, The Arcola Theatre, 27Arcola Street, London E8 2DJTicket prices: £16/10 Box office: 020 75031646

Beyond These Walls (24 July)Danish artist Tue Greenfort (and others)appear at the South London Gallery. Be-yond TheseWalls is an international groupshow of site-specific and specially com-missioned work prompting fresh per-spectives on the SLG’s architecture. Openuntil 20 September.65 Peckham Road, London SE5 8UH 0207703 6120. www.southlondongallery.org

Book releases:Beatles by Lars Saabye Christensen.Two Norwegian authors are releasingbooks in July. Lars Saabye Christensen isNorway’s leading contemporary writer.He is the author of twelve novels as wellas short stories and poetry. His interna-tional best-selling novel The Half Brotherhas been published in nearly thirty coun-tries. Beatles is published by ArcadiaBooks. Info www.arcadiabooks.co.uk 0207436 9898.

The Water’s Edge by Karin FossumKarin Fossum made her literary debut inNorway in 1974 with a collection of poetry

when she was just 20, before turning tocrime writing. It is with her InspectorSejer mysteries that Fossumwon greatestacclaim. The Waters Edge is published byHarvill Secker.www.randomhouse.co.uk/harvillsecker020 7840 8677

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Scan Magazine | Issue 10 | Summer 2009

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