Xref Limited (ASX:XF1), the human resources technology company, has today announced the expansion of its European operations with the opening of its first office in the Nordic region.
The decision to establish a physical presence in Oslo, Norway, as a base for the Nordics (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland and Finland), comes in response to the unsolicited demand Xref has been receiving from a growing number of organisations across the region. Further, the Xref platform’s multi-language capabilities and flexible architecture have enabled a rapid and smooth roll-out and successful trials with some of the Nordics’ biggest recruitment companies.
The characteristics of the Nordic countries create a natural demand for the service and assurance Xref offers, with a strong appetite for HR governance but a high reliance on traditional reference checking methods. As reference checking is still typically a part of the recruitment process in the region - with most organisations requiring subordinate, peer and manager references - the opportunity to replace unreliable approaches with data-driven, secure solutions is high.
Given the Nordics’ strong appetite for innovation (Sweden is regarded as a leader in HR innovation[1]) – the region presents an enormous opportunity for Xref to expand its business in a labour market which is 30% larger than Australia. In addition, as has been the case in Canada, the successful launch in one region tends to create almost immediate opportunities in neighbouring countries.
Supporting Xref’s entry into the Nordics, the Company is delighted to announce the appointment Hans Jorgen Wang, as General Manager for the region. Hans joins Xref with more than 14 years’ experience in the recruitment industry, as a director of the world’s leading recruitment specialist agency, Adecco. At Adecco, Hans was responsible for leading sales across the Nordic countries, as well as establishing the Norwegian branch, Adecco Select.
Hans is joined by three experienced hires and, combined, the team delivers unrivalled local knowledge and expertise, with an industry network that has enabled them to hit the ground running.
● Anne Berit Rendum - Anne brings extensive recruitment industry experience, as well as project management and wide-ranging sales expertise.
● Christian Blomberg - Christian offers vast sales and account management knowhow from the financial and real estate sectors.
● Mette Luthcke - Mette joins Xref with sales and account management experience from across the software industry.
[1] European Innovation Scoreboard, 2017
Hans Jorgen Wang has extensive experience in the recruitment sector, having spent more than 15 years as a director at industry giant, Adecco. With responsibility for sales across the Nordic countries, as well as establishing the Norwegian branch, Adecco Select, Hans built an impressive network throughout the local industry.
Following his time at Adecco, Hans moved on to become CEO at ClearSense, a Swedish digital and print marketing company, where he leveraged his leadership capabilities to manage the restructuring of the entire organisation. Most recently, Hans moved to Nordic-wide company, Webcruiter. Returning to the recruitment industry and, in this case, moving into the software space, Hans led the sales division of Webcruiter in Norway and Sweden. With his entrepreneurial mindset, leadership knowhow and recruitment industry understanding, Hans joined Xref as General Manager for the Nordics region.
Hans Jorgen Wang, General Manager, Xref Nordics
“Servicing Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Finland and Norway, has not been a problem for us to date, particularly given the multi-language capabilities of the platform. However, creating a Nordics-specific Xref presence, both physically and digitally, was a logical next step for a region that demands a dedicated, automated service like ours. We are working with Hans and the team to ensure the platform delivers the specific needs of clients across the Nordics and will continue to scale with the demands of the market.”
Executive director / CTO Tim Griffiths
“The introduction of a physical office in the Nordics made perfect sense to us, given the demand we have already seen. While our platform has been capable of servicing Nordics’ countries, the rapid growth opportunity we’re seeing in the region, required an experienced local team to deliver the service, as well as the local knowledge and expertise, our customers have come to expect globally.”
Executive director / CEO Lee-Martin Seymour
“The Nordic region is a natural expansion point for our Europe operation based in London. Further, the market exhibits similar characteristics to our core Australian market. I would like to welcome our new Nordic team to the wider Xref family."
Xref chairman Brad Rosser said:
