Colourful market leader Flügger

Skanska has been active at this hospital since 2011 with excavation, foundation-laying and frameworks, among other things. The current assignment will be the second phase, out of three, in developing the hospital. In the assignment, Skanska will make additional framework, installation and connection to the adjacent building. Work is set to start in the beginning of 2014 and is scheduled to conclude late 2015.

In 2013, Skanska also won a contract from AB Storstockholms Lokaltrafik, SL for the construction of a new bus depot in Charlottendal, Gustavsberg, east of Stockholm. This contract is worth SEK 375 M. The bus depot will be situated in Ekobacken 1, about two kilometres south of central Gustavsberg. It will be built to accommodate 140 buses and will, amongst other things, include a workshop, parking lots and offices.

Project work has already started and construction is planned for mid-January 2014. The facility is planned to be completed in the summer of 2016.

Also adding to its road-building experience, Skanska is to construct the last part of the E6 highway in south-west Sweden. The client is Trafikverket (the Swedish Transport Administration) and the contract is worth SEK 453 M.

The E6 road is an important infrastructure link between the Öresund, Gothenburg and Oslo regions. The last part that Skanska will complete is 7.5 kilometres, between Pålen and Tanumshede on the Swedish west coast. Construction work has started, and the road will open for traffic in the summer of 2015.

Helping to build communities

Skanska’s roots in Sweden run deep – construction is largely a local activity and the company’s projects place it in numerous communities. It is committed to being a responsible and appreciated community member, based both on how it carries out its projects and on its wider contribution.

Skanska believes that focused efforts are best, so it contributes what it knows and does best. It educates in safety, green building practices and technical know-how as well as supporting relevant local activities. n

COLOURFUL MARKET

LEADER The Flügger group is one of Scandinavia’s largest producers and suppliers of paint products. Industry Europe looks at its growing operations.

Flügger has been looking for growth within its existing markets by strengthening its operation where it already has a presence. The group, which produces and markets a full range of architectural paint, wood stain, wallpaper and painting tools, is one of Scandinavia’s largest producers and suppliers of paint products.

Danish owned, and with some 1500 employees, the group has its own production facilities and a chain of 300 retail stores. It also supplies more than 300 franchise operations. It is currently looking for organic growth across its existing markets, which include Scandinavia, the North Atlantic, Poland, the Czech Republic and China.

Flügger was established in 1783, by Johan Daniel Flügger. It remained in the Flügger family through four generations until 1973. In 1975, the Flügger chain of shops was founded and in 1983 the group went public. Between 1984 and 1985, it then bought Fiona, Den-

mark’s largest wallpaper factory, and Dansk Smergelfabrik, Denmark’s only manufacturer of abrasive materials.

Both factories later merged with Flügger AS. In Sweden, the company bought Stiwex AB and Forsbergs Børstefabrik, paint brush and paint roller factories, which later merged under the name Stiwex AB.

A market leader

In the 1990s, the Swedish platform was expanded. Flügger bought HP Färg & Kemi, Sweden’s third-largest paint and varnish factory that later changed its name to Flügger AB, and it established a new central warehouse in Gothenburg with room for 11,500 pallets, in order to serve the Swedish and Norwegian markets.

In 2004, Flügger bought HarpaSjöfn in Iceland – making Flügger the market leader in the North Atlantic region. The acquisition was made to follow the strategy of development in the Nordic Countries.

Since then, Flügger has grown as an international business. In 2010, it opened Scandinavia’s largest online paint shop and established its chain of shops in the Czech Republic.

Today, approximately two-thirds of its production goes to professional painters and the remaining one-third to end users. Flügger’s core business is to distribute and market a wide range of paints, decorative products and tools. It produces a range of brands but its own is its largest. Now the extensive range of products includes paint, wood stain, filler, wallpaper adhesive, wall coverings, abrasive materials, brushes, tools and cleaning products. It has seven production sites in total and still has plenty of capacity. All the sites produce for their local markets.

Varied production profile

In Denmark, the factory in Kolding manufactures around 20 billion litres of water-based paint, wood preservation and wall paper adhesive every year. When this factory was modernised, it was also decorated by artist Poul Gernes, who is famous for his systematic work with colour. Also in Denmark, in Fåborg, some 10,000km of wallpaper and wallcoverings are manufactured annually.

In Sweden, there are factories in Bollebygd, Bankeryd and Bodafors. The factory