Aiming for common, international accounts

Telinekataja acquired ABAB Sverige’s business in summer, 2019. Heikki Rönkä says that ABAB was decided on precisely because of their high-quality operations and company culture. ABAB, which operates mainly in the Stockholm-Gävle region, is known for its quality. Like Telinekataja, ABAB is a family business, which was seen to be useful in reconciling company cultures.

In an international comparison, the professional skills of Telinekataja are top-class. With decades of experience and diverse sites, Telinekataja has clear processes and quality criteria, strong design expertise and resources. This know-how is now being exported through ABAB to the Swedish market.

“ABAB’s customers have already sent a strong message that they are very interested in the “0 accidents” status achieved in Finland in 2019. There is clearly both an appreciation and demand for the work we do in occupational safety in Sweden,” says Heikki Rönkä with satisfaction.

ABAB also has a lot of good practices that Telinekataja can learn from. In addition to plans, the equipment already crosses the border, as needed. If they so wish, the personnel will also have the opportunity to move to work in the neighbouring country and gain international experience.

“We were on the move at the right time”

Heikki Rönkä, who started as head of international business at the beginning of 2018, has made his career in construction, projects, business management and development, procurement and planning. In addition to the Nordic countries, he has gained experience in international business in Europe, Russia and India.

“Telinekataja is a mix of my own expertise and new challenges. It’s rewarding to be able to bring your own experience for the benefit of your company. The straightforward decision-making, freedom of action and customer perspective of an experienced family business inspire me in this task. I am particularly pleased with the planning and quality of the operations. And of how well things have been thought out.

Since the start, Heikki’s focus has been strongly on the other shore of the Baltic Sea, in Sweden. Along with the acquisition, entering an interesting, large market has gone as planned at Telinekataja. Within a year, even other acquisitions have been made in the industry, and larger players than before are now emerging within the market.

“The past year has shown that we were on the move at the right time, and that we bought the right company. The cooperation has gotten off to a good start, and both parties are receptive and open to the development of new things. The shared everyday life has also shown that it is nice to work with the ABAB staff,” says Heikki Rönkä.

Marko Härkönen, who previously served as Telinekataja’s Regional Manager for Western Finland, has also joined the international team. Marko has nearly 20 years of experience in scaffolding construction and working with demanding industrial customers. Among other things, he has led scaffolding and international projects, for the construction phase of the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant in Russia, for example. Marko, who is known as a strict but cooperative professional, is valued both in the East and in the West,” says Heikki.

The division of labour between the men is clear. Marko’s expertise includes high-quality, competent scaffolding construction and its export to subsidiaries, as well as support in tenders and project implementation. Heikki is responsible for the operations of foreign units as a whole, including the comprehensive development and growth of operations. 

Safety and productivity for industrial maintenance – across borders

The scaffolder sees that in the 2020s, the company’s growth opportunities exist, particularly in Sweden, where the market is much larger than in Finland.

“In Sweden, our goal is to take some of the market share and grow into the top five in the industry. In the competitively priced market of hundreds of small scaffolding companies, ABAB’s quality is a good basis for a path to growth. With the help of the Telinekataja Group, we want to acts as trendsetters and diversify the service offered to our customers, by further developing the quality of expertise, equipment, customer service and design. Our mission “Safety and productivity for construction sites” and our well-known motto from Finland “Keeping our word” are strong messages for the Swedish market as well,” says Heikki Rönkä.

ABAB Sverige has served construction and industrial customers since 2010. Outside Stockholm, and especially in construction, locality is an important factor. The industry is more geographically concentrated than in Finland. The area between Stockholm and Gothenburg, and along the Coast of the Gulf of Bothnia has the majority of Swedish industry, and therefore also the potential customers. ABAB Sverige is already cooperating with several major industrial plants, including BillerudKorsnäs’ Gävle plant, Stora Enso’s Skutskär plant and GE Healthcare’s Uppsala plant.

“In addition to construction, industrial maintenance is a large and interesting market, where we aim for extensive agreements covering several production facilities with national and international companies. We believe that the quality of our operations, our uncompromising work for safety and our productivity-enhancing reporting are strengths for us to differentiate ourselves from other actors. At the same time, we are able to raise our customers’ standards from their scaffolding and weather protection suppliers, which gives us a clear competitive advantage.

In the operating model familiar from the scaffolding caterer, regular follow-up meetings help the customer manage the costs and schedules of scaffolding. This new form of cooperation in Sweden has already received positive feedback from ABAB’s customers.

“In the Nordic countries, our vision is to be one of the big agents, and serve our customers even more widely. Our goal is to have shared customer accounts that operate internationally – across land borders,” says Heikki Rönkä.