End of an era

When she was younger the then 14-year-old girl from Stranda in Sunnmøre had her first meeting with Bergen when she had a summer job painting aboard a boat, and she saw the sunrise over Bergen from the view of Vågen for the first time. “I want to live here” she told herself. And after her studies at the Norwegian School of Economics she settled in Bergen.

First meeting with Grieg

Her first meeting with Grieg came in 2006 when she started working as Chief Financial Officer in Grieg Logistics. She also became Chair of the Board at Grieg Group Resources (GGR) that had over 30 employees at the time, serving the various group companies with accounting, IT, payment of wages and other core services. This would spark the start of her work with the Grieg Family and her dedication to building up the group architecture.

“As the group companies grew, like Grieg Seafood, I remember one of the things I’m proud of is that we benchmarked the services GGR provided at that time, against external providers, and we still won because we ran an effective and competitive operation”

In 2009 she became CEO of Grieg Maturitas, the group’s holding company. Around the same time Wenche was put in charge of making sure the coming generation of Grieg owners would be ready when the time came.

“We started early with an ownership school twice a year. I think the youngest in the fifth generation was just 8 years old at that time. But it was a lot of fun, and they really enjoyed learning”

When Wenche is asked to look back and compare the Grieg Group today with how it was when she started to where we are today, she says it’s a world of difference.

“Obviously, many of our companies are a lot bigger now, and we have modernized and digitalized a lot of our services. And I remember vividly back in 2016 when we were among the first Norwegian companies to make a sustainability strategy, and we even won the first sustainability prize handed out by Bergen Chamber of Commerce and then Prime Minister Erna Solberg.  And today, having such strategies should almost go without saying.”

Per Grieg Sr.

Wenche was very close with Per Grieg Sr. who passed away in January this year. Her memories of him are many and cherished.

“I was very close to Per, and he was so open about a lot of things. I remember especially one time during one of the meetings of the owners out at Marsteinen, and the entire  family was gathered were he told his whole story, and everyone listened deeply.

He truly was a wonderful man full of knowledge and experience, and I remember the first time I read his book, The Voyage, I was deeply fascinated, and I remember thinking how fun it will be to work with people like that. And it really has been.”

The passion for creating

When asked to describe what motivates her Wenche keeps coming back to creating things. And the same way she had done that in her various roles within Grieg, this is also her passion in her private life.

“I love gardening, especially flowers. I would definitely say that I have green fingers. I also love sewing and baking, so yes, creating and being innovative is something that is close to my heart, be it at work or at home. I also have a green house at Drange in Os, where we have our summer house and spend time by the sea.”

Creating is also true for her work as managing director in Grieg Gaarden, the Grieg Groups headquarters in Bergen.

“After we expanded Grieg Gaarden in 2016, we have had a very profitable growth. I’m very proud of the work and professionalism we have done developing this building into both a good place for our companies but also as attractive office space for our other tenants with a beautiful view to Bryggen in Bergen.

She is also happy to tell about her two grandchildren, who she looks forward to spend more time with, – together with the rest of the family in Oslo and Bergen. They all love to meet to go skiing at Geilo in winter, and Christmas will be spent there.

The next chapter

For Wenche, who enjoys board papers just as much, if not more, than a book, her retirement from Grieg does not mark a retirement of contributing to building strong and innovative companies. She has already served on a wide range of boards during her time in Grieg, and she looks forward to doing so in the future as well.

“I think one of the strengths in the development of the Grieg Group is that both management and owners, have served on various boards in different sectors, and brought  back new impulses and perspectives to Grieg and our companies.”

Whichever companies have Wenche on their board now and in the future is very lucky indeed.