Maritime transport leader docks at Boavista's POP and is looking for the "right people"
It is a story that has been sailing for two years and has now arrived in (good) Porto. One of the leading companies in maritime transport, Maersk, inaugurated, this Monday, a technology centre at Porto Office Park (POP), in Boavista, with the presence of the Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira, and the councillor for Economy, Employment and Entrepreneurship, Ricardo Valente. By 2023, the company expects to reach 150 employees.
Invited to cut the ribbon alongside the director of e-commerce of the Danish giant, Christoph Strok, Rui Moreira shared how "it is good to find a company like Maersk interested in what has been happening in Porto".
"13 or 14 years ago, the only thing we were thinking about was how to stop people emigrating to work at Maersk. Copenhagen is a great city to visit, but it is better to stay here and innovate from here," emphasized the mayor, who recalled how "the value chain is changing" towards the development of e-commerce.
From the seventh floor of the POP, Rui Moreira was "happy that Maersk is getting involved in this and setting up its operations here in Porto.
The Danish company's arrival in the city dates back to 2019, with the investment of 1.5 million euros in the Porto start-up HUUB, focused on channel chain management for brands in the fashion area. The work, growth, and the various rounds of investment it attracted caught the attention of the multinational company, which was keen to enter the e-commerce area, and the acquisition of the start-up took place in September last year.
The head of the shipping giant explains that they invested in HUUB "because we saw great technological talent there and talent turns into work, which is much more important".
"The question is always: where do you find the right people, the spirit, the know-how, the commitment to build the value chain of the future?" asks Christoph Strok, with the prompt answer: "We found it in these three guys", the founders of the start-up.
Stressing the importance of the collaboration between the two, the head of the multinational confessed that he was "very pleased to have found so much product management and technology talent here in Porto and I hope we can always do more".
Maersk's new technology centre occupies 850 square metres in Porto Office Park and will start operating with 50 workers, but the goal is to triple the team by 2023. Considered one of the most modern office buildings in the city, the POP is made up of two blocks that integrate the most advanced technological and energy efficiency solutions, with a total of 31,500 square metres of gross construction area plus 15,000 square metres of outdoor green areas.
According to newspaper ECO, in the last quarter alone, Maersk's revenues totalled US$19.3 billion, a growth of 55 percent over the same quarter, taking the company's EBITDA in 2022 to US$30 billion.
