The West Coast
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GLOBAL INTERNET HUB Page 14 The big THE BEST guide OF BOTH to Esbjerg WORLDS PAGE 24 Page 18 THE GLOBETROTTER'S ROUTE TO Page 8 THE WEST COAST INSPIRATION/LIFESTYLE/CAREER 4 CONTENTS MOVE TO 4 A permanent pit stop 7 A look at the future 8 The globetrotter's ESBJERG route to the west coast 10 The interior designer 12 International furniture 8 10 ow easy is it to move? for exciting jobs, and we will tell you the with local roots H We want to move you men- story of a city that grew from nothing 14 From fishing port to global tally and physically to the to become not just an offshore hub, internet hub west of Denmark. but perhaps the biggest data hub in the Nordics in just a few years' time. 18 The best of both worlds This is where Denmark's fifth-largest There's lots of good advice and guides 21 Mini guide to Fanø city is to be found, a bustling, interna- to Esbjerg's culinary highlights, plus the 22 International upper secondary tional energy metropolis with lots of things to see and experience around the education gains a foothold opportunities for work and career, not Wadden Sea. to mention sport and art at the highest 24 Insider's guide to Esbjerg level. The area as a whole is speckled I moved here myself from Frederiks- 27 Exploring the Wadden Sea with charming villages and small berg. I was amazed at how much towns, nestled in spectacular scenery, there is to do and see in the city and 30 The Tinder family FURNITURE INTERNATIONAL ROOTS WITH LOCAL 12 PAGE especially Ribe, the aesthetic, historical surrounding area. Not to mention 32 Ice arena with and popular gem. the unique mentality found here, international format with energy and business as the key This magazine seeks to present some of activities. It's fun to live a place where 34 Mad about sport 14 the job and lifestyle opportunities that so much happens, and where people 36 A musical lifestyle Esbjerg has to offer. Many of the stories pull together when there's something to will be told by people who already have be done or created. 38 Music academy student with meteoric success moved here to live and work. You will meet entrepreneurs specialising in Enjoy your read! 40 Sustainability on the menu design, people who have moved here Susanne Nordenbæk 43 The art historian's dream job from abroad and the rest of Denmark Director, Business Esbjerg 36 32 Publisher/Business Esbjerg Editor/Marketing Manager Birgit Bech Jensen E-mail/ [email protected] Editorial group/ Business Esbjerg, Related og KIRK & HOLM Copy/editing/ Related Design/ KIRK & HOLM Print/ Rosendahls Photos/ Red Star Publishing date/ 1 February 2019 – Business Esbjerg creates growth and development in the municipality of Esbjerg, marketing the entire area as an attractive place to live, work, study, run a business or take a holiday. Our objective is to bolster Esbjerg's position as Denmark's 'Energy Metropolis' and third growth centre. AN INSIDER'S GUIDE ESBJERG TO 24 PAGE 2 – Energy Metropolis EnergyMetropolis – 3 hen I enter Kaffesmeden, a when he bought the business from his over, there were only three employees, W coffee bar in the centre of father in 1994. but now there are 45, working at offices A PERMANENT Esbjerg, Henrik is already in Esbjerg and Copenhagen. seated in a corner with a cappuccino. It Importing 70,000 new cars every year may only be Wednesday, but this turns Only two years later, when he was 32, "We have a lot of activities within the out to be his second visit there already he happened to come into contact with offshore wind turbine industry, and this week. the Italian Grimaldi Group shipping line. have of course grown in line with its That turned out to be a major turning own expansion on the global market. "I like using the city's cafés, and often point in his career. Together, they set Most of our customers are located hold meetings there instead of at about importing cars to what is now abroad for the same reason, requiring the office," explains this 54-year-old Scandinavian Auto Logistics. Over 70,000 a lot of travel to build the business up. PIT STOP businessman. And there is no doubt that vehicles are now landed at the Port of Nowadays, I leave most of that to others. he holds a lot of meetings. Henrik is the Esbjerg, accounting for around 30% of I'm rarely away from home more than owner of no less than five businesses in Denmark's annual imports. a couple of days every other week." When Henrik Otto Jensen left his job in London Esbjerg and Copenhagen. 'Home' is only ten minutes' walk from in the late eighties to work in Esbjerg, it was only "I helped attract Grimaldi Group to Es- the coffee bar we are in, located in the To and from London bjerg, making it into one of the biggest new Kareen neighbourhood. meant to be temporary. Now the owner of businesses Born in Esbjerg, he moved at an and longest-lasting shipping routes ever in Esbjerg and Copenhagen, he's still here, in a city early age to London to study. After to use Esbjerg. We started off importing "I used to be surrounded by forest and he loves for its scenery and pioneering spirit. working as a trainee at one of the UK's Fiats in 1999, but nowadays handle a sea, but in early 2018 I decided to move oldest shipping lines, he was appointed number of other makes," says Henrik. into city and bought an apartment here. manager of a British shipping firm As a result of his close links with the I love seeing how the city changes at in his early twenties. A road accident Italian line, he has even been awarded close quarters, and things are moving tragically paralysed his father from the one of Italy's highest honours, and is fast at the moment. And being able chest down, causing Henrik to return to also the Vice Chairman of Denmark's to simply walk to work is of course Esbjerg for a while. shipbroker's trade association. From forest to city In the meantime, his father's former I helped attract business, renamed Niels Winther Mar- Grimaldi Group to itime, grew rapidly. When Henrik took it Esbjerg, making it into one of the biggest and longest-lasting shipping routes ever to use Esbjerg. "At that time, my father owned and ran Niels Winther & Co., a shipping company, and I came home to try and revive the business after it had started to get into difficulties without him at the helm. Via contacts in London, I managed to win contracts with the bulk coal-car- riers bringing coal to the Esbjerg power station. Things just progressed from there," he says by way of explaining the pit stop that ended up being permanent 4 – Energy Metropolis EnergyMetropolis – 5 wonderful," he says, pointing out the get through that critical early stage. The never been tempted to leave his home nearby Street Food as one of his favourite idea came from a trip to Silicon Valley in city again. venues for an easy evening meal. 2017." He felt immediately that a startup incubator of the kind he had seen there "Esbjerg has lots of space. Neither Plenty of ambition would be perfect in Esbjerg: the roads, bike paths nor beach are A LOOK INTO Cutting down on travel means Henrik ever crowded. I've visited lots of really has more time to pursue new ideas and "There is a unique spirit in Esbjerg. While exciting places around the world, but I initiatives. other cities may have long-established could never be without what Esbjerg and traditions created over the generations, its surroundings can give me, including "I recently helped start up Boost Esbjerg this is a relatively young city. That's why sport on land and sea. – a free incubator for entrepreneurs in it fosters so many entrepreneurs in many THE FUTURE their startup phase. Esbjerg has several ways, people with plenty of ambition. This I love to get out on my mountain and Esbjerg has always been a dynamic city, something that can really shared office facilities, but we needed has been a great place for me to run and racer bikes. In the summer, I sail be seen in recent years. It has become the coyntry's fifth-biggest city, something for the new-starters who were grow my business." competitively in Ho Bugt, along with 10- not yet making money. They need help to 15 other boats. Oh, and I've just started but how will it develop over the next few years? Jesper Frost Space is good to windsurf again. We have the perfect Rasmussen is the mayor, and gives us a few pointers. Even though Henrik has visited lots of conditions here, with lots of open water, exciting places on business trips, he has space ... and wind!" hat are the highlights hat are your visions for hat do you think W of recent develop- W Esbjerg over the next W Esbjerg will look like ments in Esbjerg? few years? by 2025? We laid out a vision for more of a Esbjerg is Denmark's youngest I think that it will be a city 'city-type environment' in Esbjerg large city, and I would love to comfortable with its role as a city back in 2015.