Swedrive a company in Lagan in Småland, southern Sweden, with a long tradition behind it.
They develop and manufacture advanced technology in electrical mechanics, specially designed for widely divergent industries. All the processes involved in the development, manufacture and sale of electromechanical cylinders, jacks and worm drives take place at Lagan, enabling flexible solutions for customers.
Swedrive has about 60 employees, a turnover of SEK 110 million and is part of the Nordstjernan investment company, via Dacke Industri. The company makes transmissions and gears for everything from height adjustable x-ray tables to loading and unloading ramps on ships. Swedrive is at a point where it has a major focus on growth, and in the longer term also internationalisation, which in the past year led to Finnveden Executive being tasked with filling two important posts at the company. Mikael Petersson explains that they first recruited an Operations Manager and are currently looking for an International Key Account Manager.
Choice made on gut instinct and reputation
“We have a relatively new owner that is choosing to focus on us and invest in our development, which is exciting,” says Mikael Petersson. “About a year ago we employed an Operations Manager who was responsible for our entire supply chain,” he adds. “We didn’t have anyone in a similar role in the company already and it felt important to find the right person for the position.” Mikael says that they received quotes from several different recruitment companies but decided to go with Finnveden Executive. “It was the confidence we had in them and their reputation that decided it,” he explains. “Our main contact even introduced themselves and Finnveden Executive to our board before we made the decision. We had an important post to fill and we wanted to do it thoroughly.”
As Mikael describes it, they had a good gut instinct and a good dialogue right from the start. “It felt as if Finnveden Executive understood our company and our culture. I think they were great at getting a picture of us, what we need and what we are looking for in the person we want to employ. Despite everything, recruiters only gain a limited insight into the company they are helping and they need to do a lot to get the right picture. The price tag isn’t an unimportant aspect either, but it feels even more important that the relationship is a good fit.”
Successful collaboration
Mikael Petersson says that Swedrive is happy with their relationship with Finnveden Executive. “They use the right processes and have the skills we need. We’ve found that there’s constantly mutual respect in our collaboration. We conducted a dialogue and in the end it was their combined assessment and their tests, together with our shared picture of the candidates, that led to the right choice.”
”It felt as if Finnveden Executive understood our company and our culture.”
Mikael Petersson
VD, Swewire
