The secret to success is our talented employees

“We offer the best products and we have a highly skilled staff of dedicated employees who provide excellent service. That’s the secret to our success,” says Per-Olow Jansson, the company’s Managing Director. “Our core values are competence, guidance, development and reliability. We strive to always act in accordance with those values in running the business, each and every day. They’re more than just pretty words on paper to us, too! They permeate our company culture and each one of our employees apply them in carrying out their professional duties,” he says.

Strong company culture

“GPA became a part of Indutrade already back in 1995, at which time I was working as sales manager. The core values of the company culture were already well established at that time. The entire time, Indutrade has emphasized how important employees are, which has really inspired us. Our company culture has evolved in sync with Indutrade’s own. The importance of values and company culture has increased for both us and Indutrade throughout our journeys of growth,” he says.

Sustainable choices

“Sustainability is another aspect that has become increasingly important over the years. Quality is a fundamental component of our sustainability work and we strive to deliver excellent products with a long lifespan. One important aspect of this is, of course, the resources used during manufacturing, along with how they are transported and whether they can be recycled. We weigh all of these factors when selecting what to offer in our range of products. Sustainability has become much important to our customers over time. Our largest customers, in particular, state requirements on sustainability. Our smaller customers have perhaps made a bit less progress, but in this regard, we can often assist them and help them make more environmentally wise choices,” he says.

Clear routines

“Having a long-term owner like Indutrade, and no pressure of an exit strategy, has been very important to our growth. When we were acquired, Indutrade allowed us to keep running the business as before, just as they had promised. With a larger owner, however, we were required to implement some new routines for things like reporting and ongoing processes. We became more organized and structured, which is necessary if you want to grow successfully and maintain profitability. We also got a professional Board of Directors, which provides us with support, while also putting requirements on us. We didn’t become a top-down organization though. Quite the contrary! You know your customer best at the local level and this is certainly how we run the business. All of our strategies are grounded in how we believe that the business should be developed. And, as long as we follow the overall plan, we’re given a great deal of freedom and are supported in our efforts,” he says.

New career paths

“Belonging to a large Group is also a bonus when it comes to recruiting talented employees in that we are able to offer a wider scope of career and development opportunities. For example, we now have an intranet and central HR function at Indutrade, which opens up new opportunities for all employees of the Group. It also helps to have a stable, reliable owner when setting up collaboration with new suppliers,” he says.

Belonging to a large Group is also a bonus when it comes to recruiting talented employees in that we are able to offer a wider scope of career and development opportunities

“For GPA, being a part of Indutrade has offered the perfect mix of being able to retain our entrepreneurial spirit, yet with requirements on establishing a structure for such things as regular Board meetings and budgets. We collaborate with our fellow subsidiaries, too, and there are many examples of our joining forces to bid on larger projects that we wouldn’t have been able to manage on our own,” he says.

Future outlook

“The future looks bright for GPA. One of our goals is to add at least one new supplier of quality products each year. Right now, we are considering three, in fact. Over the short term, we aim to derive benefits from digitalisation. We want to generate more new assignments via our website and also increase our e-commerce. In addition, we’re investing in continual skill development for our employees, offering each of them at least one week of training per year. Over the long term, we will benefit from focusing more on the environment and having more stringent demands. The solutions we provide help improve both safety and the environment. Examples of this are water purification, grease and oil separation, flood protection for properties and safer chemical transport in pipe systems. The market for these things is growing and we aim to grow too,” concludes Per-Olow.