Stockholm

Like henry V addressing his troops before the battle of Agincourt, Lord Mandelson, secretary of state for business and enterprise, has a stirring message to stiffen the sinews and summon up the blood of corporate warriors in these embattled times, writes Colin Ellson.

Addressing business leaders and politicians in January, he struck a positive note amid the symphony of gloom. “Learn the lessons of economic history,” said the government’s returned trouble shooter, “and whatever the temptations, whatever the distractions, keep trade flowing and the global economy open.”

As good as his word, UK Trade & Investment is encouraging companies to explore every business avenue, turning a particular spotlight on the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and the neighbouring Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

The Nordic region is a dynamic market of 25 million sophisticated and wealthy consumers, it says, presenting opportunities for UK plc in all sectors. British high-quality products and services, as well as state-of-the-art technology, are well received, among them those from the life science, nanotechnology, communications technology, energy, media, transportation and consumer goods sectors.

The optimism spreads across the Baltic, where UK Trade & Invest cites a favourable business climate, liberal trade regimes, and the importance of trade within the EU as factors in making Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania an attractive proposition for commerce and investment. Here, the potential ranges from construction and chemicals to energy, education and training, IT and communications.

There are direct flights or at least a choice of convenient connections to all these markets, although the news is a curate’s egg of bad and good tidings for both passengers and airlines. Last October, for example, Sterling Airlines, with flights from Gatwick to Copenhagen, Stockholm and Billund, ceased operating and filed for bankruptcy; while Vilnius-based national carrier Lithuanian Airlines went out of business in January this year after failing to come to agreement on a rescue deal with a Swiss investment bank.

There is, however, some light amid the encircling gloom for passengers in the Gatwick catchment area: easyJet launched a daily service from the airport to Copenhagen in January, and Iceland Express will switch its Stansted flights to Gatwick on May 1, anticipating a surge in demand this summer.

Meanwhile, Sun-Air of Scandinavia is catering to business travellers based in London’s Square Mile financial district, unveiling an 11-times-a-week service between London City Airport and Billund at the beginning of this year on behalf of franchise partner British Airways. Optimistic, perhaps, in the face of the City’s woes, but even a little confidence is welcome to counter the relentless negativity of every day’s economic revelations.

SCANDINAVIA
Denmark, Copenhagen
Believe the prophets, and the capital of Denmark looks better placed than many to ride out the storm in these difficult times: last year, it was ranked fourth among The Top 50 European Cities of The Future by the Financial Times-owned FDi magazine. As the country’s economic and financial centre, and a major player in the Baltic region, it has attracted many regional HQ and distribution hubs, with Microsoft and Nokia among the 2,100 foreign companies in town. The city is also big in life sciences and R&D, and in partnership with Sweden – just across the waters of the Oresund – its noted pharmaceutical and biotech companies are key contributors to what is being promoted as Medicon Valley.

SAS flies direct from London Heathrow to Copenhagen 39 times a week, and has 11 departures from London City, Birmingham and Aberdeen, with 13 from Manchester. British Airways operates six times a day from Heathrow; bmi regional has 15 flights a week from Edinburgh, six from Glasgow, and five from Leeds-Bradford; and easyJet offers daily services from Stansted and Gatwick.

Aarhus
Denmark’s second-largest city is also its main port. Ranked among the 100 biggest container handlers in the world, it exports a considerable amount of agricultural products from farms in the area, and imports coal and iron. Aarhus is also home to many computer and technology-heavy industries, and to medium-sized IT and service companies. Flights to Aarhus are with Ryanair from London Stansted.

Esbjerg
Once Denmark’s largest fishing centre, the port and ferry terminal on Denmark’s west coast is still strongly associated with the industry. But today it is best known as the country’s oil town, with companies such as Maersk Oil & Gas, Ramboll Oil & Gas and Atkins Denmark all engaged in offshore activities.
The only direct service from the UK to Esbjerg is from Aberdeen with bmi regional, which offers ten flights a week. The alternative is to fly via Billund – 45 minutes by road from the port city – on a limited choice of carriers. These include Ryanair from Dublin, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Stansted, or Sun-Air (operating as British Airways), which launched 11 departures a week from London City in January this year.

Finland
Helsinki
One of the wealthiest capitals in Europe, Helsinki has an economy based on the service industries, shipbuilding and IT, and as home to the European Chemicals Agency, has attracted many international experts in the sector. The capital is near neighbour to the city of Espoo, base for a thriving science community, including numerous start-ups, Nokia and hi-tech organisations such as KONE, a world leader in the elevator and escalator business, and major energy company Fortum.
Finnair flies from Heathrow to Helsinki four times a day, and from Manchester twice daily. British Airways offers two flights a day from Heathrow, from where Blue 1 operates four times a week. easyJet launched a daily service from Gatwick to the Finnish capital in November 2008. Travel to Espoo is via Helsinki.

Tampere
The third-largest city in Finland is strong in mechanical engineering and automation, information and communication technologies, and health and biotechnology. It also has a pulp and paper industry, and two universities make for a skilled workforce. Flights to Tampere are with Ryanair from Dublin and Stansted.

Iceland
Reykjavik
A successful player in the global community for 20 years, the cool capital of Iceland felt the first cold winds of recession last October, when a worried government seized control of two of the country’s biggest private banks. A some-what chastened financial sector and IT drive the economy, along with telecoms, fisheries, food processing, genetics, energy and publishing companies. Icelandair flies from Heathrow to Reykjavik twice daily. Iceland Express will launch eight flights a week from Gatwick to the capital on May 1, to replace the current service from Stansted.

Norway
Oslo
With a heritage stretching back to the Vikings, via polar explorers Nansen and Amundsen, the Norwegian capital is an important centre of European maritime knowledge.
The city is the base for 980 organisations in the sector, including shipping companies, and ship and insurance brokers. The area is also rich in education and research establishments, which have made Norway a pioneer in new communications techniques and advanced technologies. Also key to the economy are offshore and engineering activities, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.
SAS serves Oslo 34 times a week from Heathrow, and operates 11 flights from London City and four from Manchester. British Airways has four departures a day from Heathrow, with Norwegian.No offering a daily service out of Stansted. In addition, Ryanair flies to the Norwegian capital from Stansted, Birmingham, Dublin, Liverpool and Glasgow.

Bergen
With one of Europe’s largest harbours, Bergen is a growing cruise port, houses the main heliport for workers bound for the offshore rigs of Norway’s vast oil and gas industry, and is keenly involved in aquaculture and marine research. It is also the main base for the Royal Norwegian Navy, and home to TV2, the country’s largest commercial television channel.
From Gatwick, Norwegian.No flies to Bergen daily, with SAS operating four times a week. Wideroe offers 16 flights a week from Aberdeen.

Stavanger
Industry in the city was traditionally based on fish and fish products – until the canning sector wilted under increased overseas competition after World War Two. This was only partially compensated for by a rise in shipping and boat building. All that changed in the 1960s, however, following the discovery of vast offshore oil fields. Since then, Stavanger, with its excellent sea and air connections, has never looked back, with the major energy companies in town driving the economy, among them StatoilHydro. SAS flies from Heathrow to Stavanger 12 times a week, and from Aberdeen it has 11 weekly departures. Norwegian.No offers a daily service from Gatwick, and Wideroe operates 18 flights a week from Aberdeen, as well as three from Newcastle.

Sweden
Stockholm
The Swedish capital is also its financial centre, home to the headquarters of many major banks, plus insurance giants Skandia and Trygg-Hansa, and to the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The past ten years has seen a significant number of jobs created in hi-tech companies, with large employers including IBM, Ericsson and Electrolux. With an almost total absence of heavy industry, some 85 per cent of residents work in the service sector.

SAS serves Stockholm 39 times a week from Heathrow, and operates 11 weekly flights from London City, plus ten from Manchester. British Airways operates six flights a day from Heathrow, and Ryanair flies to the capital from Stansted, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Dublin, East Midlands, Liverpool and Glasgow.

Malmo
Traditionally based on shipbuilding and construction-related industries, the economy of Sweden’s third-largest city went through a difficult period in the last quarter of the 20th century. But the city has seen a revival in its fortunes since economic integration with Denmark, brought about in 2000 by the completion of the ten-mile Oresund rail/road bridge linking Copenhagen and Malmo; today, some ten per cent of the latter’s population works in the Danish capital. Meanwhile, their home town‘s leading university works closely with the hi-tech and pharmaceuticals industries. There are no direct flights from the UK to Malmo, which means flying to Copenhagen and travelling to the city by road or rail across the Oresund Bridge in around 30 minutes.

Gothenburg
With the largest harbour in Scandinavia, Gothenburg has always played an important role in regional trade and shipping. The second strand contributing to the city’s wealth is the manufacturing industry, with large companies operating plants in the area including SKF, Volvo and Ericsson, while banking, finance, meetings and tourism are also important.

SAS operates 13 flights a week from Heathrow to the city. Gothernburg-based City Airline flies 11 times a week from Manchester and six times weekly from Birmingham, while Ryanair operates from Stansted, Dublin and Glasgow.

THE BALTIC STATES

Estonia
Tallinn
In addition to its roles as Estonia’s capital and seaport, Tallinn has been developing its IT sector in recent years, the New York Times describing the city as “a sort of Silicon Valley
on the Baltic Sea.” A former Soviet enclave, Tallinn launched its first venture capital firm in 2005, while important economic factors include textiles, and the food and service industries.
Estonian Air flies from Gatwick to Tallinn two times a week, and easyJet flies daily from Stansted. Air Baltic’s daily services from Gatwick are via Vilnius or Riga.

Latvia
Riga
Due to be developed with the construction of skyscrapers over the next few years, the Latvian capital houses all the country’s main financial institutions, while its foreign commercial trade gained new impetus from joining the EU in 2004. The city accounts for around half of Latvia’s total industrial output, focusing on public utilities, food and beverages, pharma-ceuticals, wood processing, printing and publishing, textiles and furniture, and communications equipment.
Air Baltic serves Riga daily from Gatwick,
with Ryanair operating from Stansted, Dublin, East Midlands, Liverpool and Glasgow.

Lithuania
Vilnius
With its favourable geographic location allowing easy access to the business centres of Europe, the Lithuanian capital is attracting significant overseas investment. This has enabled it rapidly to develop modern technologies, while many international companies in the fields of manufacturing, telecoms, insurance, banking, IT, finance and accounting have been encouraged to set up regional offices or subsidiaries here.
Air Baltic serves Vilnius daily from Gatwick.