An interview with Tobias Markgård
Tobias, welcome to the Brüning Group! You started at the company this month – why don’t you tell us a bit about your professional background?
Thank you! It feels great to be onboard, I have looking forward to my start for a while now, so it feels so good to be here! I have a quite wide background. I have been in management roles including purchasing, supply chain, sourcing and sustainability to mention some of them. I always have been close to sales, with experience from work in management team I have been working strategically with business development where sales always have been important.
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You are from Sweden, but you will spend the first three months here at our headquarters in Bremen. How are you experiencing your onboarding so far? What are your first impressions of the Brüning Group?
My new colleagues have really taken care of me, and I really feel that they making their best to bring me in to the business in the best way. It’s clear for me that the Brüning Group is a company who takes care of its employees and there is a culture of including the people, I really like this.
As already mentioned, the colleagues are great, I like the office. I really like the culture and spirit of the company. We want somewhere, we would like to be someone. Most important, we want to do it together as a team.
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In future, you will be responsible for business development in Sweden, particularly in the area of waste wood and waste. What particularly appeals to you about this task?
To come into this role in this situation is very inspiring. I mean the colleagues have done a great job so far with starting up Sweden. To take over at this time and continue to develop it together with the team will be a great challenge and I really like great challenges.
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What goals are you pursuing in your new role in the future?
There are of course many small goals and steps to take but the big goal for me is to make difference. In this case the difference will be to develop the Swedish market. Bring more customers in, develop the supplier base and perhaps in a longer term develop new products and categories. I think we have big opportunities together to make something great here.
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You will soon be returning to Sweden and working from there. What differences do you see between Germany and Sweden, e.g. in terms of work culture, communication, business practices, etc.? What do you need to bear in mind?
I have been working with German people before and then I thought the differences was bigger than I see now in the Brüning Group. To mention one difference, I would say that Germans are a little bit more “straight on”, Swedes are a little bit softer in the communication and that´s important to think about, even if I’m Swedish the “German way” fits me well.
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Away from work – what do you like to do in your spare time and is there anything you are particularly looking forward to when you are back in Sweden?
To spend time with my family and friends. I also like to exercise with a few hours at the gym every week and also to have a run from time to time. If I have some time over I’m gladly watching a football or hockey game.
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Welcome again and thank you very much for the interview!
Thank you!