BrazilDutch consulting firm Anderson MacGyver enters the Nordics
Anderson MacGyver, a management and digital consultancy from the Netherlands, has made a foray into the Nordics. The firm’s new hub in Stockholm marks its first international venture, and will serve the consulting markets of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland.
“When we founded Anderson MacGyver in 2013, we already had the ambition of building a pan-European firm,” said Gerard Wijers, the firm’s co-founder, at a special event for clients, relations and media held last week. Now, six years down the line that ambition has turned to reality. “We are extremely proud of this adventure, it is a dream come true.”
In fact, it was the very raison d'être why the founders picked ‘Anderson MacGyver’ as their brand. “We were looking for an internationally useful name that evokes trust. We considered using a combination of surnames (a common approach among partner-led firms in the consulting world), but as you can image Bijmholt and Wijers doesn’t lean well outside of the Netherlands.”
“We drafted a list of options, and then came with MacGyver, inspired by the ex-spy from the same named TV series. He is known for his cleverness in applying technology and we see this as a close fit with our profession and our pragmatic attitude.” Anderson – a typical Scandinavian name – was added as it resembles ‘trust’, and when we later on discovered that the actor who plays MacGyver also has Anderson as his last name, the circle was complete,” said Wijers.
Besides being a personal aspiration, which traces back to the founders’ time at Morgan Chambers and EquaTerra (now part of KPMG), Wijers added that the move supports the context in which Anderson MacGyver operates. The firm from IJsselstein specialises in digital transformation, organisation and IT-driven change, and “IT is a global area of expertise.” Wijers: “The digital challenges and solutions that organisations face are cross-border. Organisations can learn from experiences garnered locally at a global level, so given the nature of our profession it makes sense to learn, share and operate beyond borders.”
Further, Anderson MacGyver works for a growing roster of multinational clients, including the likes of French industrial engineering company SPIE, fast growing international retail chain Rituals, Royal Flora Holland, a wholesale florist that exports to 50+ countries globally, and Vanderlande, a Dutch company that is the world's fifth-largest materials handling systems supplier. On the back of the firm’s track record at such companies, clients are internationalising the scope of engagements supported by the consulting firm.
Co-founder Rik Bijmholt added that the consultancy believes it has now hit the right timing for expansion. “In the Netherlands, we have a stream team [around 40 consultants and staff], a solid stream of consulting and project management engagements, and a loyal client base, with many of those having been around since the very start.”
Into the Nordics
Anderson MacGyver Nordics will formally launch on August 1st when Patrik Hermansson and Emelie Vall Sandberg will start their tenure at the consultancy. The first client and project has meanwhile already been contracted, with the duo to help the client with a digital transformation programme. Sandberg previously worked at Nordic IT services company EVRY as a senior consultant and served a financial services group for a decade. Hermansson joins from BearingPoint, where he was latterly a Senior Manager, having previously held several sales, business development and consulting roles in industry.
“Patrik an Emelie are excellent additions to our team and match with our DNA. They have deep expertise in and a passion for digital transformation,” said Bijmholt. While the firm does not expose its targets externally, the co-founder did point out that he expects the team to grow to between seven to ten consultants by the end of the first year of operations.
Reflecting on the opportunities that lie in the Nordics, Bijmholt said that the Nordics market is in its size roughly equal to that of the Netherlands, but more importantly the cultures and way of working between the two countries show close resemblance. Both regions are relatively mature in their digital endeavours, while clients are open to working with external consultants on expert matters and share a similar culture of collaboration, directness and transparency.
At the event, Bijmholt pointed at the fact that the Nordics is likely to be just the first stop of a broader international campaign. “We are eyeing an entry into Germany,” he said, adding that many of the firm’s clients have operations in Europe’s powerhouse economy and second largest consulting market. “Germany would be a great stepping stone for our expansion in the German-speaking region… and who knows where else,” he concluded with a smile.
