Nitor celebrates seventh year in Sweden

Nitor Sweden’s Managing Director Santtu Vuori has been steering the team in Stockholm since last spring. He looks back on Nitor’s time in Sweden fondly and is also positive about the future.

"We started our journey in Sweden seven years ago with only a handful of consultants. Today we are around 20, with varying backgrounds and different skillsets. Given the wide range of expertise and long experience we have, we are able to help many different types of businesses locally and abroad.

People working at Nitor represent the essence of what a Nitorean really is; passionate, curious and in pursuit of high quality no matter what they do. I’m really proud of the people we have today, they support each other and bring out the best in each of us. They are the fundamental building blocks of a thriving company culture.

Looking ahead, I hope our company culture keeps on flourishing, that we continue on a sustainable growth path, that we widen our customer base and last but not least, that we can continue delivering first class solutions to our customers," Santtu concludes.

Björn Heselius, product owner and UX designer, could hardly have imagined that "a few months in Stockholm" would lead to him moving from Finland to Sweden and being part of establishing a company. Today he is a board member of Nitor Sweden.

"It has truly been a journey. I was just supposed to take care of practicalities and find a new customer in Stockholm, and now suddenly here we are - with over 20 employees and many new clients and projects.”

The company's first employee was Rudolf Grigel, who had met Santtu, Björn and several other Nitoreans during a consulting assignment. They immediately hit it off, and for Rudolf, it felt natural to accept an offer from Nitor.

"Coming from Slovakia, it was a big step to actually stay and work in Sweden. Nitor was the solution. I feel so at home at Nitor, thanks to the open and solution-oriented culture. I have to say I love this company!"

Björn, married to a Swede and raised in a Finnish-Swedish environment, thought that the cultural differences between the two countries would be minimal. Both Björn and Rudolf describe the Swedish corporate culture as different compared to Finnish corporate culture in several ways.

"For example, it's clear that the meeting culture is more prominent in Sweden. There are more meetings. More check-ins. More consultations. It's nice, but it also takes a lot of time," Björn says with a smile.

Despite some cultural differences, the Swedish and Finnish offices have a very good relationship and are always in close dialogue.

In Sweden, Nitor is not as well-known as in Finland and still sees itself as a start-up – but the goal is to continue to grow in Sweden and become a noteworthy IT-company. Today, Nitor has over 20 employees and have recently opened their own office in the heart of the Swedish capital – a project that Björn has worked on for the past six months.

”It has truly been my pet project. Our last office location was in a co-working space by Slussen. Despite very nice premises, we felt a growing need to find something of our own. Having your own space does a lot for the corporate culture. So, we started the search.”

Björn estimates that the team looked at about 55 different options (!) before finding the right one. Just a stone's throw from Östermalmstorg and Stureplan, Nitor has now found a home in an office that houses smart workspaces as well as a "living room." The idea is for the new office to feel as much like a workplace as a place where people can socialize, play games, eat, and spend time outside of office hours. Families and children are welcome to drop by whenever.

"We asked everyone in the company what was valuable to them. We gathered everyone's thoughts and wishes, and since we are a company that creates digital solutions, we naturally made a simple digital service for this. Those who wanted to participate in the office hunt could rate the different locations," Björn laughs.

Because that's the true Nitorean culture – zero hierarchy, and everyone should be able to participate in the projects they find exciting and interesting. Like finding a new office, for example.

"Our new office is fantastic, I'm so happy with it. It contributes to social activities. Like yesterday, we had a board game night here," Rudolf shares.

Björn adds:

"It was so heartwarming when I saw people showing up here in the evening to socialize over dinner and board games. That's exactly what we wanted to achieve with the office hunt – to find a location that could contribute to our sense of community."

Looking ahead, with a ten-year anniversary not too far on the horizon, the plan is to continue expanding without compromising on the culture.

"The situation for our type of business is rough in Sweden at the moment, but we see an upward trend. For me, it's important that whatever we do, the culture and sustainability is in focus. IT-people might not be so hard to find, but it's harder to find the right kind of people for the long run", Björn says.

For Rudolf, Nitor has become a second home over the years and is the main reason he has stayed in Sweden.

"From need to idea and then to reality. That's how Nitor works. We do what needs to be done, and everyone can participate in every decision made, if they want to."

He concludes:

"My favourite memory from Nitor is when I was about to start working for the company, and we sat in a sauna and chatted. I thought 'Wow, my colleagues are amazing.” Another fond memory is when we went to Italy for a conference. Since we usually work on different assignments, this was a perfect opportunity to socialize, learn from each other's experiences, and enjoy the sun. I will never forget that!”