“In 2002 the company had 55 workers. It produced pieces of timeless beauty, solid, eternal. Everything worked well: there were no debts but in reality there was not even a hint of a strategic vision. Unfortunately, this isn’t the way to survive. Growth is the engine of innovation, the way the company adapts to changes.”

What was your vision?

There were a lot of companies like ours at the time, with their catalogues filled with beautiful designer furniture produced from the fifties onwards. But none of them were growing. So I tried to concentrate their production in our catalogue, taking over brand after brand, so that Carl Hansen & Søn would truly be capable of representing historic Danish design.

Hans J. Wegner, Kaare Klint, Arne Jacobsen, Børge Mogensen, Bodil Kjær, Frits Henningsen, among the others. Most recently Foyer, a reissue of seating by Vilhelm Lauritzen...

The Foyer series and the Vega chair were designed to furnish two iconic buildings in Copenhagen: Radio Huset, which now houses the conservatory, and Vega, now a concert space. I’m happy that they are back in production and the redesign of the Lauritzen studio has transformed them into contemporary furnishings without affecting their intelligence and original beauty.

You have a very clear vision of what Carl Hansen & Søn is and should be. How do you imagine your company in ten or twenty years?

I’m an optimist and I like to build. I have a lot of experience in management in highly competitive industries and I’ve put the same energy into managing the family brand. I wanted a company capable of growing, preserving and giving back in terms of sustainability, economy and culture. I think I’ve made the right choices in strategic terms. I was mainly concerned with ensuring the supply of raw materials was flexible and fluid, so as to be autonomous. My strength is that I have to answer only to myself. I’m free to do whatever I feel is most appropriate. And when the time comes, I will be happy to hand over to my son.