Long-time Swedish businessman Bo Lerenius, who on Friday stepped down as chairman of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce for the UK, is looking for new exciting board member assignments.

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Bo Lerenius, who has been the head of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in London for the past three years, believes that the role of the organisation is more important now in times of economic crisis than ever before.

“The Chamber of Commerce has a central role to play now. Sharing experiences and networking are even more important in bad times”, he said in an interview with The Swedish Wire.

From growing up in the small Swedish town of Kristianstad, studying business administration in Lund and California, serving as CEO of companies listed on both the Stockholm and London stock exchange and even being honoured by the Queen of England, Bo Lerenius today is an international business heavyweight.

After leaving the chair of the Chamber he has no plans to bow out or work less. On the contrary, he’s eying new challenges in new companies.

“I’m looking at two potential new board work assignments, in one British and one American company”, he said, adding that he may chair companies that are being acquired by EQT, the Wallenberg family’s private equity firm where Bo Lerenius is advisor.

Today he serves as member of the board and advisor of four British and two Swedish companies, such as travel giant Thomas Cook, the world’s biggest security firm G4S and the UK’s largest commercial property company Land Securities.

As CEO of the Associated British Ports from 1999 to 2007 Bo Lerenius was the engineer behind an applaud turn-around of UK’s largest port operator.

You are known for putting radical changes into action and turning troubled companies around. How has the Chamber transformed under your command?
“We’ve made many changes”, he said in his typical energetic and lively way, lining up examples: new manager, more dynamic team, more active council, more high-quality events, new profile, renewed newspaper, new logo…

“There are many talented people in the council and I found it important to make them more engaged. Today council meetings are longer with more discussions and more decisions being made”, he said. “The Chamber has become more focused on its members needs, both small and large members. There’s a greater team spirit and go-ahead than we’ve had in many years. That’s very important, especially on times of economic downturn”.

New chairman is Paul Von der Heyde, head of Swedish furniture company Kinnarps in the UK, who will run the show during the next three years. What’s your advice to him?
“It may sound a bit silly, but I’d advise him to keep working with the strategy we now have. I wouldn’t change anything”.

The British economy is facing tough challenges. How will this affect the business sentiment in the UK?
“British national economy has enormous problems with enormous budget deficits. The new government will not be popular, as they will be forced to make many unpopular harsh changes. After Greece, Spain and Portugal, I believe the UK has the worst economy in Europe. There’s reason to be concerned”.

Your fellow-countryman Carl-Henric Svanberg recently became chairman of BP, that’s now is struggling in the Gulf of Mexico. Any advice for him?
“It’s really brilliant that Svanberg, Michael Treschow (chairman of Unilever) and other Swedes are in those international top-positions. But I am in no position to give them any advice”.

Does ‘Swedish management’ really exist?
“It’s a bit fluffy. But when I started working at Associated British Ports I created a new culture that could be called Swedish management. For example, instead of booking meetings with people sitting in the same corridor through our PAs, which took extremely long time, I said ‘My door is open. It’s just to drop in. And I will do the same with everybody else’. The decision process became much quicker and the entire atmosphere much more lively. I also created a new management team with a Swedish consensus model and people became very loyal. Just by being Swedish the culture changed in the company”.

Career:
1985-1992: CEO Ernström Group
1992-1999: CEO Stena Line
1999-2007: CEO Associated British Ports
2007-2010: Chairman Swedish Chamber of Commerce for the UK

Current directorships:
Chairman: Mouchel Plc, UK (Consulting and business services group)
Board member: Land Securities Plc, UK (UK's largest commercial property firm)
Board member: Thomas Cook Plc, UK (Europe's second biggest travel firm)
Board member: G4S Plc, UK (World's largest security services provider)
Board member: Rörvik Timber, Sweden (wood processing company)
Senior advisor: EQT, Sweden (Wallenberg family’s private equity firm)

In 2005 Bo Lerenius was appointed an honorary CBE (Commander of the British Empire) for services to the UK ports industry, making him the first Swede to receive such an honour.