SSL celebrates 25 years, in Marbella!
2024-10-18
Scandinavian Shipping & Logistics AB was founded in 1999, being at that time a shipping agency. Today, our biggest mode of transport is road transport, mainly to and from Lithuania, Poland, Turkey, Ukraine and the UK. We continue to represent several shipping companies, including Höegh Autoliners and X-press Feeders.
Today, there are 80 employees in the SSL Group, operating in six business areas: SSL Freight Forwarding, SSL Liner Agency, SSL Customs, SSL Port Services, SSL Overland and SSL Projects. In addition we have five offices in Sweden, along with one in Vilnius and one in Helsinki.
At SSL team spirit, community and value creation are core values, which is why we bring all colleagues together for a kick-off each year. We strongly believe in building relationships by meeting and spending time together, which provides opportunities to further strengthen SSL through a great company culture.
Last year we had a fantastic weekend at Hooks Herrgård, just outside Jönköping in southern Sweden. Right then and there, I (Johan Ignell, CEO) and Björn Eklund (our chairman and main shareholder) promised that we would celebrate our silver jubilee in a spectacular way, and that’s exactly what we did!
On 3 October we all flew to Malaga for transfer to Puerto Banus. Once there, we checked in at the Hard Rock Hotel, which turned out to be a real party hotel – perfect for the purposes of our trip. On Thursday and Friday we worked from the hotel, where we were also able to enjoy delicious lunches and dinners in the hotel’s many restaurants.
The real celebrations started on Friday evening with a garden party at Björn’s house. The DJ, lighting, sound and catering were fantastically well organised, and the evening ended with a lot of swimming in the pool.
On Saturday morning we had a conference at the Hard Rock Hotel, where I spoke about what had happened since we last saw each other at Hooks, got the chance to reconnect to the workshop on our vision, and spoke about the SSL Group’s future prospects.
Also, Mats Andrés Björkman shared an exciting story about the history and development of Marbella. This included plenty of gossip about various celebrities who have lived on the Costa del Sol over the years!
In the afternoon it was time for an excursion to Benahavis, a small mountain village about 30 minutes from Marbella. There, accompanied by five guides, we had a fantastic hike in the mountains. During our hike, we were given lunch and the opportunity to swim in one of the rivers we passed, which was much appreciated as the sun was shining and the temperature was around 30 degrees.
After the hike, it was time to get ready for the evening’s big party, held at the Gamonal restaurant. There was good food, lots of laughter and dancing into the small hours.
On Sunday there was the option to have lunch together down at the seafront for those who wanted to before the bus left for Malaga airport for the journey home.
This trip was mine and Björn’s way of showing our staff how much we value them and how proud we are of SSL. We think it shows that we are serious about our vision: We Create Value!
We couldn’t have wished for a more successful silver jubilee celebration! A big thank you to everyone who contributed to the first 25 years of the SSL Group. We’re now looking to, and looking forward to, the next 25 years!
/Johan Ignell, CEO
