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98 business magazine for i n t e r n at i o n a l e n t e r p r i s e s
Tim Gardner, the newly appointed global leader of Lockton’s Reinsurance business PAGE 57
GE Current’s take on premium tubes PAGE 36 Aon study into workforce resilience PAGE 37 Hilti demonstrates the importance of a positive work culture PAGE 7
Vistaprint expands design offerings PAGE 61
BUSINESSBUSINESSt r e n d s
N I N E T Y - E I G H T H E D I T I O N 2 0 2 1
businessmagazine for
internationalenterprises
business trends
nine
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2021
nine
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2021
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businessmagazine forinternationalenterprises
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business trends
Table of contents
CONSULTING, BUSINESS SERVICES & FINANCEAon 37Argand Partners 5AxiomSL 9 KGH Customs Services 44Kungsleden 43Lionbridge 52Lockton Re 57PwC 46UL 68
ELECTRONICSDR. FRITZ FAULHABER GMBH & CO. KG 24 GE Current 36SMOORE 47
HEALTHCARE & FITNESSAker Biomarine 65B-Temia, Inc. 23SINTX Technologies 56Zwift 21
INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING, MANUFACTURING & SERVICESBrambles 25EVAC 15FARO Technologies, Inc. 35Hera Group 69Hilti 7Jotun A/S 49OX2 63Ricardo Plc 11Svenska Aerogel 55Takara Belmont 29Vistaprint 61
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGYAdvania 67Airship 73Cognigy 26 TietoEVRY 66
MOBILITYRemix 45ROSE Bikes 33
ONLINE GAMBLINGGVC Holdings 40
RETAIL & E-COMMERCEAsics 60Autodoc 53 Coty 31ESR 27Urbanista 74
SECURITYAuthentix 13
SURVEYINGHexagon Geosystems 71
SOCIAL MEDIA, SOFTWARECaptiv8 10
TELECOMCisco, Inc. 41Lifesize, Inc. 17Motorola Solutions, Inc. 19
TRAFFIC, TRANSPORT & LOGISTICSAireon 3
Urbanista
Website: www.urbanista.com
Anders joined Urbanista in 2012 and
has successfully managed to grow the
company into a profitable business.
“What I’m particularly pleased about is
that we’ve grown in a healthy way,” he
says.
He readily admits that Urbanista is a
highly competitive market but points out
that they’ve found a niche in making
products that are both functional and
beautiful. “What we want to offer is good
audio product for modern minded
people, with designs that they are proud
to wear and a brand they want to belong
to. We fit in with the Scandinavian design
aesthetic with our focus on clean, simple
lines and functionality without sacrificing
beauty. Ultimately our ambition is for our
speakers, headphones, and other
products to make it easier to listen to
music, wherever you are. When you’re in
your car you need a different set of
headphones than when you’re going for
a run. The price point we’re at allows
people to have a different headset for
every occasion.”
With each Urbanista product taking its
name from a major city, the brand
clearly targets urbanites. Anders points
out that while they initially focused
uniquely on physical retail, they now
have a good balance with online sales
through their own platform. This has
also given them a clearer idea of who
Urbanistas are. “They are in the 18-30
age bracket, mostly, and they typically
lead active lives.”
To celebrate their 10-year anniversary,
the company called on 10 Urbanistas to
help compile individually-curated city
guides to 10 cities that have influenced
them. “We decided to publish the guides
despite of the pandemic; people need
something to dream about,” says
Anders.
While sales of Urbanista products in
physical retail have been negatively
impacted by the pandemic, this has been
offset by online sales, he adds. “Our
It’s been a decade since Urbanista first began releasing its award-winning collection of true wireless, sport, and over-ear headphones, speakers, and earphones, each named characteristically after different world cities. The global pandemic hasn’t stopped the company from celebrating its anniversary with the release of individually curated city guides to 10 cities that have influenced the brand. “It’s a celebration of what we’ve achieved over the past 10 years,” says Anders Andreen, the CEO of Urbanista.
Celebrating a decade of innovation in audio
online business has been growing very
fast and we have been able to react very
quickly. When the world changes you
need to change, too. Ten years ago this
company embarked on an interesting
journey, and I believe we are somewhere
in the middle of that journey now. We
want to continue to grow, as a brand and
as an innovator, but also as a role model
in sustainability. We’ve eradicated all
plastic packaging from our new products,
for example. That hasn’t been easy and
you could argue it only makes a small
difference, but it’s important to us, and to
Urbanistas worldwide.”
Urbanista is available online as well as in
30,000 stores and 90 countries around
the world.
businessmagazine for
internationalenterprises
businessmagazine forinternationalenterprises
business trends
nine
ty-e
ight
h ed
ition
2021
nine
ty-e
ight
h ed
ition
2021
11 12
business trends
Delivering solutions fit for the future
As a global strategic, technical and environmental consultancy, Ricardo UK Ltd, based in West Sussex, is a specialist niche manufacturer of high performance products, committed to delivering outstanding projects focused on class-leading innovation in Ricardo’s product areas of engine, transmission, vehicle, hybrid and electrical systems, environmental forecasting and impact analysis. In 2020, the entire Ricardo team has been recognised as a ‘UK Business Hero’ for designing and manufacturing PPE to supply to frontline NHS and healthcare workers. Steve Dyke, Managing Director Ricardo EMEA, says: “Everyone at Ricardo was extremely proud that we got involved in this initiative which I feel reflects not only Ricardo’s professional expertise, but also the values of our people.”
“Electrification is at the core of our
evolution but a battery is not going to
be the answer to everything. We need
that alongside the hydrogen economy
with de-fossilised fuels for those
higher energy consuming sectors
where the energy density of battery
technology is not going to be a full
answer and we are currently investing
in hybrid test rigs and a state of the art
hydrogen test facility at our Shoreham
Technical Centre in the UK.”
Digital engineering is at the heart of
everything Ricardo does for its
customers, promising a faster time to
market for new technologies as well as
reducing risk and enhancing real-world
efficiency and performance. “The
market; full-service offering; holistic
understanding of the market situation,
requirements and solutions.
Throughout Ricardo’s history,
innovation has been in its DNA to use
its expertise to help make
improvements or address challenges
positively which help to create a world
fit for the future. In that spirit, Ricardo
has been acclaimed a ‘UK Business
Hero’ in recognition of its work earlier
this year in designing, manufacturing
and assembling personal protective
equipment (PPE) for frontline NHS and
other healthcare workers. ‘UK Business
Heroes’ is a national recognition
campaign led by the British Chambers
of Commerce to recognise UK
businesses who have gone the extra
mile to help the local community
during the pandemic.
“Around the middle of March when the
Covid-19 pandemic began to escalate,
we all felt that that we could be
applying our engineering, design or
manufacturing capability to help
alleviate some of the challenges which
were emerging. We were extremely
proud to ‘do our bit’ and to have been
able to play a small part in protecting
those in the front line at care homes
and in the NHS,” Steve proudly states.
He concludes: “COVID-19 has had a
transformational impact, and in some
ways, the pandemic can be regarded as
an accelerator of the megatrends that
virtual environment is becoming the
core for the development process as
well as for many of the control aspects
of the product,” Steve explains.
The third trend Ricardo’s expertise is
focused on, especially now that the
global pandemic continues to change
mobility possibly forever, is the light
urban mobility solutions that can help
manufacturers, governments and
logistics companies move people and
goods around cities quicker, more
sustainably and more efficiently. Ricardo
has a holistic understanding of the
opportunities, challenges and diverse
solutions for light urban mobility.
“Whether organisations are looking to
develop e-bikes, scooters, mopeds,
motorcycles, four-wheelers, three-
wheeler last mile delivery, mail delivery,
on-demand personal transport of three-
wheeler public transport vehicles,
Ricardo provides light urban mobility
clients with a full service offering,
ranging from initial product definition,
through design and development to
effective manufacturing solutions for
production vehicles.”
Uniquely, Ricardo offers customers
both commercial insight and technical
or operational capabilities, acting as a
trusted technical and commercial
adviser, and providing them with
critical benefits in the development of
their light urban mobility market and
product strategy, including speed to
Ricardo UK Ltd
Shoreham Technical Centre,
Shoreham-by-Sea
West Sussex, BN43 5FG
United Kingdom
Website: www.ricardo.com
Ricardo is named after its founder, Sir
Harry Ricardo, and was originally
incorporated and registered as Engine
Patents Ltd. in 1915. Its activities today
cover a range of market sectors
including passenger car, commercial
vehicle, rail, defence, motorsport,
motorcycle, off-highway, marine, clean
energy and power generation and
government. Its client list includes the
world’s major transportation original
equipment manufacturers, supply
chain organisations, energy companies,
financial institutions and government.
Steve Dyke: “Ricardo has over 100
years of expertise in innovation and
has been renowned for supporting
manufacturers in the global transport
and mobility sector, minimise waste,
and drive product efficiency and
performance through world-leading
technologies. Today, that ethos is still
very much at the heart of everything
we do, but with a focus on delivering
and accelerating a net zero carbon
future. Our vision sees us as the
trusted global engineering services
partner delivering clean, efficient,
integrated propulsion and energy
systems.”
Steve identifies three big trends that are
relevant for its industry clients today:
sustainable solutions for mobility and
energy; digital engineering; and light
urban mobility including last mile
delivery.
were already in place, such as
heightened regulatory pressure, market
consolidation, less traditional
outsourcing, decarbonisation, and
technology uncertainty. While no one
could ever have predicted what has
happened this year, our view is that the
long-term vision for future mobility is
probably still reasonably unchanged.”
Ricardo remains committed to applying
its expertise in integrating new
technologies, cost reduction around
electrification, digitalisation, and
offering trusted guidance on renewable
fuels so that manufacturers can bring
their products to market quicker,
greener, and cheaper, achieving their
goal of net zero carbon.
Steve Dyke, Managing Director Ricardo EMEA
Shoreham
Technical Centre
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