With a Danish CEO and a Norwegian head of sales and marketing, Scandic has been named the best in Sweden at sales and marketing. Thomas Engelhart, Senior Vice President Commercial Operations at Scandic, is the best in Sweden at inspiring his team and getting them to excel. Under his leadership, the hotel chain has reinvigorated its sales culture, given new energy to its brand and captured market share from its competitors, which is why Thomas Engelhart and Scandic received the award “Årets Mercurius 2008”.

Årets Mercurius (Mercury of the Year, after the Roman messenger god) is awarded by financial newspaper Dagens Industri and consultants Mercuri International. Considered the ultimate accolade in the sales world in Sweden, it doesn’t just reward individual performance. It singles out managers who have managed to get their whole organisation to raise its game and pull away from its competitors.

“When I came to Scandic just over a year ago, I was so impressed by this fantastic company – the industry leader in the Nordic region, one of Europe’s largest hotel operators and a global frontrunner in accessibility and the environment. But it was also a company that was a little inward-looking, selling products rather than customer-focused solutions. The brand was well known, reliable and secure, but in truth a little dull. I bet my life that this could be changed – and it could!” comments Thomas Engelhart.

The award “Årets Mercurius” has previously been given to some of the absolute giants in Swedish marketing, including Torsten Jansson at New Wave Group and Jan Ryde at Hästens Beds. Now the Swedes have been joined by a Norwegian with experience from London and Singapore, whose motto is to dare to do things in new and different ways. The jury made its choice based on Engelhart’s ability to generate striking results in a service industry that is both mature and strongly competitive.

Their other comments: “He achieved his challenging objectives by following the strategies in place and creating a goal-oriented and performance-driven organisation with high energy. […]Thomas as a person is hugely customer-focused, goal-driven and enthusiastic in everything he does and exudes a desire to always succeed.”

“I am incredibly happy to receive this award. For me, it’s proof that you can change large organisations in a short space of time if you just work systematically. It is important to have clear structures and objectives, combined with a sales culture that encourages success by always setting a good example,” concludes Engelhart.

Thomas Engelhart
VP Commercial Operations Group
+46 709 73 50 96
Scandic