SERVICE COMPANIES
Thinking about starting a company or expanding……
In Ljusdal it is possible…
Welcome to Ljusdal
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www.narljus.se
Birgitta Bagge-Strid, Stefan Färlin and Lars Forslöf, Närljus
Närljus’ mission is to develop the business community in Ljusdal. In this brochure we hope to inspire interest in establishing service companies in the municipality. Companies who establish themselves in Ljusdal often expand. Especially prominent here is the positive development within content management and the increasing success within this business area. Since the 1970s a unique cluster of companies has developed in Ljusdal. The foundation of these companies’ business idea is the gathering of experience-based information that has a market value. Over the years a service company culture has developed in the municipality, which has contributed to attracting more companies to start their business here. Our service companies create both diversity and employment opportunities in Ljusdal, as well as contributing to a dynamic business community and a buzzing town centre. Welcome to Ljusdal!
Lars Forslöf, MD Närljus
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Diversity and dynamics Around the globe
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www.twenty4help.se
As a global transport chain, with access to air and ground transport as well as excellent storage possibilities, DHL has the whole world as its market. Regardless of where they are, DHL’s customers can immediately access their worldwide network. DHL’s Express Customer Service is located in Ljusdal, and Ulla Widegren, Customer Service Manager, considers Ljusdal to be a town that meets the company’s demands. “It’s easy to recruit skilled staff in Ljusdal; there is an extensive amount of knowledge here, and a will to continue to develop within the company”.
Carl Butler and Laura Kokkala consider Ljusdal to be a town very well suited to the call centre branch.
“We are the human interaction between digital systems and their users” says Carl Butler, Account Manager at Twenty4Help. “The number of digital systems we are in contact with in our daily lives is continually increasing. Television, computers and telephones are just a fraction of them”. Twenty4Help has the whole of Europe as its market and aims to be largest in Europe. The company is German-owned and has its Nordic division located in Ljusdal. Employees are from Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark, which has been made possible by close co-operation with a number of local partners. As the company is German the support from NärLjus has greatly eased integration into the Swedish business community. It has given the company the possibility to take advantage of the service company culture that exists in Ljusdal. The large selection of leisure time activities attracts young overseas workers, with excellent travel connections to larger cities a definite advantage. With 240 employees and plans to continue expanding, Twenty4Help is an important operator and contributes to diversity though its employees from the Nordic region that have chosen to move here.
DHL has the whole world as its market.Anna-Lena Hjalmarsson and Tommy Henriksen discuss a business task.
She sees other similar companies in the town and their will to co-operate as a huge advantage. The company even has an excellent working relationship with the town’s Employment Office. “They understand completely the type of workforce we need and are sensitive to our changing demands”. www.dhl.se
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Together we are stronger
INFORMATION
ANNONSKRAFT IDTM CITYMARK SELLDORADO Q-SURVEY
BROKERS
DHL ALFAKASSAN PROGRAMGRUPPEN TWENTY 4-HELP
CAD-Q MARKNADSDATA
BYGGFAKTA REED BUSINESS INFORMATION SWEDEN
INVENTORFOCUS BYGGFAKTA DOCU
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MEDIANET TALARFORUM
Success with clusters
Cali Nuur has studied cluster dynamics in Söderhamn and Ljusdal and is currently working with KTH (The Royal Technical College). Cali Nuur’s thesis explores the opportunities and shortfalls of industrial development in the periphery e.g. outside the university towns. He sees company clusters as one of a number of ways to create growth. ”Ljusdal’s service company cluster is not unique in the world, but it is unique in Sweden”, says Cali Nuur. In his thesis Cali studies the factors that create the dynamics of such clusters. Relationships and knowledgebuilding are two factors that he has found to be central to Ljusdal’s success. ”The strength lies in working as a unit and in working together towards companies outside the cluster”, says Cali Nuur. cali.nuur@indek.kth.se
Since the 1970s a unique cluster of companies has developed in Ljusdal. The foundation of these companies’ business idea is the gathering of experience-based information that has a market value. When the company Byggnadsupplysningar AB moved its business from Stockholm to Ljusdal 30 years ago there were not many who realised that it was the start of a whole new concept. The company is today known as Reed Business Information Sweden AB (Byggfakta AB) and has been the model for other companies establishing themselves in Ljusdal who also use the unique method of gathering, re-working and selling information. Ljusdal Information Brokers was founded in 2003 and was able to transform visions and plans into action and measurable results. Leif Rydman of NärLjus works with co-ordination of companies in the cluster and is extremely satisfied with the co-operation that has developed. He hopes that this co-operation will develop into more companies actively taking part in the networking. “Through co-operation a dynamic effect is created in the community, both short and long term. The exchanges and meetings between companies create new business and give opportunities to develop company skills”.
www.infobrokers.se • www.claravallis.com
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The origins of our unique company culture The Internet as a medium
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Hans Strand together with Catharina Olsson-Lindh and Jarmo Hannula.
Byggfakta is not just well known in Ljusdal – most Swedes have, at some point, come into contact with information from Byggfakta, a company that has monitored the Swedish building industry for 70 years! Byggfakta is part of Reed Business Information who are world leaders within media and business information. Reed Business Information Scandinavia is the Nordic region’s largest supplier of business information to the building and industrial sectors. The provided information creates new business opportunities and offers new market channels. Hans Strand, Managing Director for Scandinavia since 2004, expresses it as: ”After a few tough years the Swedish market is showing a very positive upswing. From our head office in Ljusdal we serve not only the Swedish market, we also have localised development resources for the whole Nordic region located in Ljusdal. Our goal is to continue growing and developing in Ljusdal. We have approximately 80 employees today and are growing all the time. A specific advantage for us in Ljusdal is the close contact we have with the council and the access to a number of specialised partners, many of them with their in Byggfakta. An example of this is the highly developed working relationship we have with Annonskraft in selling advertising space in some of our publications.”
www.reedbusiness.se • www.annonskraft.se
Ola Bengtsson, Managing Director of MediaNet, in discussion with salesperson Mia Björk.
MediaNet offers both large and small advertisers the opportunity to advertise on the Internet through a highly developed network. MediaNet was founded in Ljusdal in 1996 and has, today, offices in a number of locations in Sweden. The company has approximately 45 salespeople, business developers and programmers. Ola Bengtsson, Managing Director of MediaNet in Ljusdal, sees a great advantage for his office. ”We have an extremely good working dialogue with the Employment Office and have the added bonus of being able to test possible salespeople first”, he says. ”Future plans are growth, both in the form of staff and turnover. We want to continue increasing our customer portfolio and to grow together with our customers”. www.medianet.se
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With focus on development Feedback and development
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www.idtm.se
Already established service companies attracted IDTM to base its sales office in Ljusdal.
A long-term working relationship with DHL lay the foundations for Staffan Sahlström of IDTM’s in his decision to base his business in Ljusdal. IDTM, an international doping test company, has offices in 80 countries and is a global enterprise. The company could have established its sales office anywhere in the world, but what Staffan Sahlström saw in Ljusdal was the deciding factor. ”Reed Business and Information Brokers showed me that there was a competent workforce in the area, and Ljusdal has a culture suitable for a service company. Even the infrastructure in Ljusdal was attractive, and with the support from Clara Vallis it was easy to start a business here”. Staffan Sahlström experienced high commitment from Ljusdal’s municipality and the teamwork with Gävle University was a definite advantage. IDTM has, together with Gävle University and Utvecklingscentrum, started a project to develop training courses – Sports-learning. At IDTM it is hoped that this project and others like it will lead Ljusdal into becoming a centre for sporting issues. A hub for the sports market where information is packaged and sold on.
Anders Boivie runs Q Survey in Järvsö
Q Survey offers quality assurance by measuring and analysing service, support or sales companies. By offering its customers direct feedback it gives them the possibility to develop and to continually improve their service. Q Survey is located in Järvsö and has a national market. They also work globally with evaluations and investigations of overseas-owned support companies. ”An advantage with Q Survey being located in the municipality of Ljusdal is that there is low staff turnover”, says Anders Boivie, Managing Director of Q Survey. ” A low staff turnover is necessary to maintain high quality investigations and analyses. The company has 14 employees and is expanding slowly but surely”. www.qsurvey.se
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Local skill development At the hub of the wheel
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www.selldorado.se
CityMark is the link between tenants and landlords of commercial premises. The company gathers information about company needs for new premises and matches these to their property owners and landlords. Through an intelligent database many other extra services are created for these landlords. An example is the completely new model of marketing projects for their customers’ office premises.
Egil Wallström, Training Manager for Selldorado, in conference with salespeople.
”Work smarter instead of more” is one of the philosophies behind the business idea Selldorado, a company that gathers skills in a network for sales managers around the country. Members meet in Gothenburg, Lund and Stockholm once a month to exchange ideas and experiences, and the number of members is steadily rising. Members consist of both large public companies and small businesses. Different companies have different needs and Selldorado also organises training courses through the large number of knowledgeable consultants and speakers associated with the network. It is quite simply the customer needs that decide the end product. By increasing skill levels within management the whole company can develop, and for local companies in Ljusdal the network means they can develop at the same pace as those in larger towns and cities.
Peter Sjöberg,Managing Director of CityMark,in conference with Katharina Larsson
According to Peter Sjöberg Citymark’s ambition has always been to grow in Ljusdal. ”It is simple and effective to live and run a business in Ljusdal. I am proud and fascinated over that little Ljusdal can be such an important operator in the property branch, run marketing projects and doing business with Swedish quoted companies”.
www.citymark.se
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Welcome to Ljusdal In the middle of Sweden, in the heart of beautiful Hälsingland, is Ljusdal. Great experiences are always close at hand: nature, culture, events… It is easy to feel at home in Ljusdal, to feel belonging and warmth. Welcome to Ljusdal!
Area: 5642,9 km2 Population (2005): 19,384 Number of companies: approximately 1000 Our five largest companies: Twenty4Help 250 employees DHL 160 employees Kährs Trävaru 110 employees Mekanotjänst 115 employees Setra Group 78 employees
It is close to Ljusdal! Travelling time by car from Stockholm to Ljusdal is not more that 3.5 hours and will be further reduced with the opening of the new E4 through the north of Uppland. Travel time by trains is, with most connections, less than 3.5 hours. With the expected introduction of the express train travel time will be even further reduced.
Ljusdals Kommun • 827 80 Ljusdal, Sweden Telefon: +46 651-180 00 E-post: kommun@ljusdal.se • www.ljusdal.se
Production: Reklamkompaniet Röda Kvarn AB and photographer Lars Lööv, Ljusdal. Translate, Justenglish.
Are you interested in:
Premises – please contact NärLjus: +46 651-188 00 Building permits – please contact Samhällbyggnadsförvaltning: +46 651-183 05 Environmental permits – please contact Miljökontoret: +46 651- 181 40
State Aid Area A
We are situated in regional support area A, which gives the possibility of investment grants through: - under MSEK 25: 40% from The County Administrative Board (Länsstyrelsen). – over MSEK 25: 35% from The Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth (Nutek) Employment aid of SEK 200,000/per employment opportunity from Nutek.
NärLjus – The economic political foundation, NärLjus, was founded in 1986 by the municipality of Ljusdal and Företagarna (the Federation of Private Enterprises). The purpose of NärLjus is to achieve a powerful and differentiated business community and be the first point of contact in matters regarding business.
NärLjus • Åkerstagatan 2D, 827 30 Ljusdal, Sweden • Telephone: +46 651-188 00 • Fax +46 651-141 70 • narljus@ljusdal.se • www.narljus.se