WINNING ON COMPETENCE Leading global construction giant Skanska Group is investing in innovation to ensure it continues to meet the demands of its internal, residential and commercial clients. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to the MD of Skanska Sweden Jorgen Persson to find out more.
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rom modest beginnings in a small Swedish town, the Skanska Group has grown to become one of the world’s leading construction conglomerates, with a wide network of global subsidiaries. Today Skanska is organized in national business units, with Skanska Stomsystem in the Swedish construction unit, where it primarily supplies the concrete structures for projects for Skanska Sweden. Skanska Group was founded in 1887 and is celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2012.
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Mr Persson said, “People outside the business think that Skanska is mainly in the residential and commercial construction business, and while that is an important aspect of Skanska Sweden, our civil engineering activities are as big as our commercial and residential construction activities in each of our markets.”
Multi-national presence Active in the US, Latin America and several European countries, the Skanska Group has a multinational presence. It can call on the
collective skills of subsidiaries of the Group, with each operating independently on a dayto-day basis yet with the strong infrastructure the Group provides. Skanska Sweden is only active in Sweden, so it primarily undertakes projects in its domestic territory, with residential and commercial construction projects representing around 60 per cent of its turnover and civil engineering projects representing the remaining 40 per cent. In 2011 Skanska Sweden had a turnover of 28 bn SEK (3.5 bn Euro). Customers
