Sad I'm leaving one of best teams I've ever worked with
Jens Nielsen is leaving the company's Immingham base after seven years to head up its new Irish Sea operation, as reported.
Although he admitted having mixed feelings at leaving behind what he describes as "one of the best teams I've ever worked with", the 49-year-old Dane believes the company is in extremely good shape.
By coincidence, just before his departure the firm was in the happy position of being able to take back 12 of the 41 staff made redundant at the height of the recession last year.
And he believes that DFDS' acquisition of transport company Norfolk Line will enable the full potential of the company's outer terminal, opened in 2006, to be realised.
Mr Nielsen said:"The company is in an incredibly strong position. The company was strong already, but with the acquisition of Norfolk Line I believe the company is at the threshold of a huge leap.
"It's been nice to have been able to help steer the company through a very difficult 2008 and 2009, and I feel privileged to be leaving at a point where the company is back in black figures and is recruiting people for the first time in 18 months.
"We are seeing new developments and we are going to see why we built the riverside extension. There will be a very quick turn around of vessels and, I think in future, you are going to see even bigger vessels."
Mr Nielsen arrived in Immingham in 2003 as commercial director, before succeeding Ebbe Pedersen as managing director the following year. Although he had worked for DFDS before, his previous experience had been in transport and logistics, rather than shipping.
Born in Denmark, Mr Nielsen went straight into the transport business from college. He first worked in England when he was 19, but after going back to Denmark, he returned to the UK in 1989, where he has remained.
His work has taken him to more than 20 different addresses in 30 years. His early years at Nordic House had been a steep learning curve, he said.
Among his major tasks was overseeing the ambitious riverside extension in partnership with ABP. But what he will remember most fondly is the change in culture of the company that he helped to bring about.
"My overriding feeling of pride is of the type of company that this has become: the culture, the camaraderie, the incredible ability to adapt to circumstances quickly. It's one of the best teams I've ever worked with," he said.
Mr Nielsen also played a prominent role in the ultimately successful battle to scrap backdated port rates – a result he admits was a "huge source of satisfaction".
But an equally challenging role awaits him in Belfast.
"The Irish economy was hard hit by the recession and the predictions are it will be one of the slowest to recover. It's going to be a challenge for everybody."
DEPARTING: Jens Nielsen.
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