​​In the photo: Sofie Indevall and Mikael Fränckel Sekab, HM Queen Silvia, HM Carl XVI Gustaf, Pär Johansson, LLCAB, Petra Forsström, Business Manager Härnösand Municipality Jenny Horn and Rikard Horn from Jeansbolaget Härnösand, our County Governor Berit Högman, Härnösand Municipal Director Lars Liljedahl, Karin Sundqvist, Communicator Härnösand Municipality and Anna Hedensjö Johansson for the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise.

Some time ago, Sekab was invited to Härnösand municipality to meet other companies, the county governor and our king and queen. The king and queen were present to draw attention to efforts made in the county in conjunction with the Covid 19 pandemic.

It was an interesting meeting during which we could ascertain both similarities and differences in how the business community has been affected and how everyone has creatively tackled their situation during this year and a half of the pandemic.

It is both pleasing and an honor for me and Sekab’s CEO that Sekab was one of the companies in the county to be highlighted and to be given the opportunity to share and reflect over what we have achieved during this difficult time.

Insights that strengthen us going forward

At the beginning of March, when the COVID-19 pandemic reached us, we at Sekab became aware that there was a great shortage of hand sanitizer throughout Sweden and Europe, and we received a huge number of calls from both the business and the public sectors which were in great need of disinfectants. In less than two weeks, we converted parts of our chemical production to also be able to deliver disinfectants to the healthcare sector. At Sekab, we all agreed that our healthcare sector should not have to worry about access to hand sanitizers and we wanted to help. We are grateful that we had the conditions in place that allowed us to help out in a difficult situation and are proud of what we have achieved together in such a short time.

The strength and commitment we showed together is of great importance for Sekab’s continous development. It is heartwarming to see of what we can achieve with a clear goal, accumulated knowledge and a lot of heart. It confirmed for us that we have an incredible capacity to take action when needs be.

The pandemic has also demonstrated how incredibly important it is to have good business relations and secured suppliers, especially when national borders close. Thanks to our good cooperation with local suppliers, we never had a shortage of raw materials. We now also see that the interest in both secure and geographically close at hand suppliers is growing, which has given us in-depth customer relationships that will endure. Today, for example, we supply bio-base raw materials for the production of disinfectants to producers who have not previously been our customers.

The transition to a more sustainable society has in many ways accelerated in the wake of the pandemic and it has become clearer to more people what we need to do and the ability and will to modify and convert and be able to adapt is extremely important today when we all have to help and align to a more sustainable society. Sekab is an important player in this evolvement.