Exciting news from Heleen Blokpoel, SME-member and owner of @17 Kungsängen / Salong Lombard:

"I am proud to share some information about my role as hairdresser in the Netflix production The Playlist, Spotify Untold. 

Last year summer I got a phone call from Yellow Bird with the message that they needed a hairdresser for a big production. There is a difference between hairdresser and hairstylist, the first one also cuts and colour hair, the last one styles the hair.

Since I was the only hairdresser in the production, I created, cut and coloured hair from all the extra’s and the main cast and at the set the hairstylists reproduced what I ‘designed’. I will enclose some pictures, how big the changes could be.

It was a rollercoaster and a lot of fun to work with all these creative and inspiring people.

The global premier of The Playlist will be on the 13th of October!"

What a day and night we had on 2 September in beautiful Malmö. The second of our three annual dinners to mark our 20th anniversary.

Day programme
The fantastic day programme was organised by Invest in Skåne. Ulrika Ringdahl, Managing Director of Invest in Skåne and her colleagues Martin Diamantoudis and Jonathan Herrlin showed the Dutch the great possibilities of this region, also known as “the heart of Scandinavia”.  The unique geography makes it a point of connection between Denmark and Sweden through the Öresund Bridge. 
Skåne’s strengths are the strategic location, innovative leadership, access to highly skilled people, a collaborative ecosystem and an exceptional quality of life. Strongholds of the region are tech, life science, food industry, ESS and MAX IV research facilities, advanced materials and manufacturing industry and smart sustainable cities.

One of the partners in the collaborative ecosystem is Cleantech Scandinavia. Their mission is to connect people, promote innovations and investments for sustainable growth and agile success. Laura Fostinone gave our guests more insight of the support Cleantech Scandinavia is giving to start-ups by offering a.o. access to an international network of industries, cities and investors.

A bus transported day guests to the Eleda Stadium, home of Malmö FF. MD, Niclas Carlnén, welcomed our network and stressed the importance of corporate responsibility for Malmö FF. Karin Heri, sustainability manager of Malmö impressed all participants by explaining how the corporate responsibility strategy became incorporated in the daily routine and leads to an enormous impact in the Malmö region.

After lunch the group left for a very interesting tour in the MAX IV Laboratory in Lund with an introduction by Magnus Larsson – Head of Industrial Relations at MAX IV. This is a Swedish national laboratory providing scientists in academia and industry with the most brilliant X-rays for research. 

Annual Dinner
In the evening both day and evening guests met at the wonderful Turning Torso. With a cocktail or mocktail in their hands our Dutch and Swedish guests mingled while enjoying the fantastic view over Malmö and Copenhagen. 
Chair of the Dutch Chamber Els Berkers opened the evening and stressed the importance of building further on our network in the South and West. Celebrating 20 years of networking in Sweden is an excellent opportunity to bring Swedes and Dutch together in this region.

During the evening singer and Sverige’s got Talent finalist Maja Jakobsson entertained us all with a wonderful performance.  Ambassador Bengt van Loosdrecht thanked all involved for offering a broad and interesting programme that might inspire to further cooperation between Sweden and the Netherlands.

We thank Elis Dijkstra, Els Berkers and regional directors Bram Nabuurs and Wouter Ridder for making this an evening to remember for all guests.

We thank Elis Dijkstra, Els Berkers and regional directors Bram Nabuurs and Wouter Ridder for making this an evening to remember for all guests.

/E.B.

On the 21st of September Team West hosted the 6th Walk & Talk of the year on the virtual golf courses of Indoor Golf Group, Europe's largest indoor golf chain. Commercial Director Martin Strempel and site manager Christian Piri welcomed us and explained the concept of indoor golfing and why it is increasing in popularity. Thereafter it was time to start playing. Our advanced members immediately hit it off on the virtual course whilst the beginners started practicing hitting the balls. After some good warming up rounds the actual games began and our regional director Viola even took home the big price of the evening! Well done! 

A very big thank you to Martin and Christian for teaching us how to play golf and an overall great evening. We are now looking forward to our next event which will be a Walk & Talk during the Lights festival in Alingsås. More information will follow soon.

​/E.M.

How did you end up in Mid Sweden?
After having lived many years in Italy where my entire life was focused on work and career, I decided 5 years ago it was time for more life quality. It was through LinkedIn that I found an interesting job close to Sundsvall in the center of Sweden. Regarding life quality, the Västernorrland region has a lot to offer: a beautiful nature with mountains, lakes and the Bothnian sea. Moreover, the way of working and doing business here is more relaxed than in the south of Europe. After many years of travelling I finally found my home and I obtained a good balance between work an leisure time!
 


What is Elkapsling doing?
Elkapsling is manufacturing custom-made and standard enclosures for industrial applications, the infrastructure, telecom and energy business. We are part of the Lagercrantz Group that is quoted on the Nasdaq Stockholm. Our business is going strong and despite all the rapid changes in the world we’re looking positive towards our future.
 
What is your role within the Handelskammaren region Sundsvall?
I’m a board member for the Handelskammarens Sundsvall region. Our main job is to help our members by creating a better business environment. We are a collective voice towards politicians, authorities and the public sector where we address important topics like creating a better infrastructure, to make sure we can attract skilled personnel to our region and to improve international trade.

What are your expectations with regards to the Dutch Chamber?
First of all, the Dutch Chamber is a great opportunity to improve my network. At the same time, I hope I can help the Dutch Chamber to become stronger here in the central part of Sweden. This area is developing very fast and there are huge investments going on in green and sustainable industry. Therefore, this could also be the right time for the Dutch Chamber to put more focus on our region.
 
/M.N.

After a deserved summer break, we extended the summer vibes a bit longer during our informal Back-2-Work mingle at Boulebar in Stockholm Haga ‘La Cheminée on 6 September.

Merci to everyone who has been so (playfully) engaged to make this a wonderful kick-start of the 2nd part of the business year in company of good friends.  

/S.B.