OY ANGLO-NORDIC AB | 1935–2005
T he Anglo-Nordic story
T he Anglo-Nordic Story
OY ANGLO-NORDIC AB | 1935–2005
T he Anglo-Nordic Story
The Anglo-Nordic Story
”We are not good because we are old; we are old because we are good.” (Quoting one of our suppliers)
© Oy Anglo-Nordic Ab 2005 ISBN 952-91-7951-0 Coverdesign: Helena Kajander Layout: Tapani Ritamäki Printed by: Tammisaaren Kirjapaino Publisher: Oy Anglo-Nordic Ab
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Contents Foreword 7 The beginning 9 The growth of the young Anglo-Nordic 21 Through hard times 47 From the city to Lauttasaari 69 Stabilizing positions 73 The change of generations 77 Concluding words 89 Snapshots from over the years 90
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Dave Bensky, Chairman of the Board of Anglo-Nordic.
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Foreword
O
n 1 October 2005 Oy Anglo-Nordic Ab celebrates its 70th anniversary. The company is still a family business, fully owned by the Bensky
family. Over the years, ethical values have been the guiding principles of all decisions and actions taken by the company. Despite the increased pace and mechanisation of the business environment, Anglo-Nordic has preserved a respect for human values in its relations to employees, customers and suppliers. Ethical values in decision making are important. The seven decades of Anglo-Nordic’s existence have been a voyage through both storms and fair weather. The company’s struggle for survival has at times been extremely tough and at others a real pleasure. For me, having followed the development of Anglo-Nordic for over half a century, the greatest satisfaction has been to see how the new generation has successfully taken the helm of our ship and navigated it through hazards and obstacles into clear waters. It has been a privilege to work with an extremely dedicated, loyal and committed staff. Together we have experienced failures and successes. Together we have built the Anglo-Nordic of today. This book is dedicated to all who are still with us and to those who have reached their well earned retirement or left our midst. Our loyal customers and suppliers have played an important part in our success through the years. For this we extend our sincere thanks. Dave Bensky 7
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Hemo C. Bensky, the founder of Anglo-Nordic.
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The beginning
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N 1 OCTOBER 1935 the company that in 1945 became Oy AngloNordic Trading Co Ltd Ab and later Oy Anglo-Nordic Ab was registered in Helsinki. The nine intermediate years were filled with drastic events – a heavy period of depression after which the world began to head towards a new war. Finland was also buffeted by these whirlwinds, compelled to take up arms to defend its independence.
The vision of Hemo C. Bensky Already before the outbreak of the Finnish winter war in 1939 the real founder of the company, Hemo C. Bensky had established the contacts that were to form the basis for Anglo-Nordic’s international activity. Hemo C. Bensky was born in 1911 in Viipuri, Finland’s second largest cosmopolitan city, where he also attended school. Viipuri was a vibrant and vital city with a thriving commercial life. Bensky matriculated in 1931 and began to study journalism. He then had to do his compulsory military service, after which he applied to the Jerusalem Hebrew University to continue his journalism studies. He was accepted by the University, but when his mother died in 1935 he decided to stay in Helsinki. He interrupted his studies in 1936 in order to join his father in Karjalan Kangas Oy. His father, Mauritz Bensky had started the firm in Viipuri as a textile wholesaler, and when it moved to Helsinki in 1932 it included furs in addition to textiles. In 1941, between the two Finnish wars, Hemo started negotiations with 9
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his international friends and business acquaintances. These negotiations could only be concluded at the end of the war, when international borders were once again open. Bensky began by joining forces with the firm Oy I.B. Gumpler Ab. This had been registered in Helsinki in 1935, mainly importing ships’ paints on a fairly small scale. This activity more or less ground to a halt amidst the turbulence of the Second World War, after which Hemo brought it out of the shadows and into a new beginning with persistence, innovations and the right international contacts.
An international chain of enterprises with joint representations The decision on the form of the joint activities had been made in discussions between Bensky and three of his friends who had a wide experience in international commerce. The working name of this new enterprice, ‘Heberobe’, was made up of the initial letters in the names of the four partners. In addition to Bensky, they were a member of the Venezuelan embassy in Stockholm, Reynaldo Herrera, a member of the Swedish Royal family, Count Carl Johan Bernadotte, Winthrop Rockefeller from the US. Count C.J. Bernadette has written that already in his youth he had been interested in business and had carefully followed events in the international commerce. He wrote: At that time the industry had not yet realized what an important impact a royal person can make in international business relations. I also think that the opinion prevailed in the very conservative and old fashioned court that it was improper to use a royal person in commercial connections.”
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The most important role Count Bernadotte had in the launching of the Heberobe group was to open essential doors for the rest of the group. Once the decisive point in their plans had been reached, the participants were to name their businesses Anglo-Nordic. The only exception was another of Bensky’s friends, a close friend also of Count Bernadotte, Carl-Axel (Cagge) Westfelt in the US. He was active commercially using his own name, as the name Anglo-Nordic might not have been the most appropriate in his part of the world. The name of Hemo C. Bensky’s business became the Oy Anglo-Nordic Trading Coompany Ltd Ab, later shortened to Oy Anglo-Nordic Ab. In addition to Finland and Sweden, independent businesses with the name of AngloNordic were started in Norway, Denmark and England.
A modern network Because imports after the war were strictly regulated, the Heberobegroup was in a good position to succeed. The European countries, except Sweden, whether they had been occupied, as with Germany, Austria and Italy, or were tired victors, like England, were more or less economically ruined by the war, The working principal for Heberobe from the outset was to create an international business group that would begin to satisfy the great prevailing need for goods through its combined representations. Working together in the Anglo-Nordic countries, the group comprised a large enough market as well as a sufficiently strong representative capacity to be attractive even to big American industries. All the partners had excellent commercial relations around the world. When one of them found a new product or representation, he was to try to get exclusive representation for the whole Anglo-Nordic group for their respective countries. According to the agreement, the finder would get 5% of the com11
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Friends and businesspartners Hemo C. Bensky and Carl Johan Bernadotte.
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Reynaldo Herrera, one of the members of the Heberobe Group.
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mission from each country in the first year, 3% in the second and 1% in the third year.
Entering the cement business with great expectations During the first few years, the great plans of the group failed to get off the ground. In 1947, Hemo C. Bensky went for the first time to Central America with Reynaldo Herrera to investigate the possibilities of conducting business. When Carl Johan Bernadotte visited Venezuela during the 1940s and 1950s he noticed that there was a huge shortage of cement for the building industry. He asked the Anglo-Nordic office in Stockholm to start negotiations for the export of cement to South America. The Managing Director of Cementa (Svenska Cementförsäljnings Ab) in Malmö, Persson, showed an interest in the matter but set strict conditions. In addition to having to pay for the goods cash on delivery from the factory, the Anglo-Nordic group would have to charter in its own name an ocean liner to transport the cement. However, Cementa was so interested to start exporting to Venezuela and other places in South America on a grand scale that after some negotiations Persson promised an initial 50% credit for the shipments. Bernadotte was granted exclusive rights to sell Cementa’s cement in Venezuela. He also requested and was granted the rights to transfer, according to his wishes, these rights to the newly founded Corporation Heberobe in Caracas.
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Shipments become a problem The shipments had first of all to be arranged. The orders were for relatively small quantities of about 1,000 tons per lot. The Swedish Johnson Line, however, dominated the South American cargo traffic and the whole capacity had been fully booked for a long time ahead. That, unfortunately, put the new export shipments on hold. Meanwhile, Bernadotte and Bensky looked around in Finland and Sweden for something else to sell. According to their correspondence with Carl Westfelt in New York, some orders were received both for import and export. The letters mention such products as equipment for hydraulics and mining, kraftpaper cement bags, fruit marmalade, batteries for cars and railway wagons. However, the export of cement was the main business. Bernadotte and Bensky even tried to charter some smaller ships capable of carrying about 500 tons per trip.
Setbacks By spring 1951 the shipments had not begun, so Cementa made a new proposition for cooperation with Heberobe, but with much less favorable conditions than before. Bernadotte managed to get the worst points changed and a new agreement was signed. In May, Bernadotte wrote to Westfelt saying that for some time he had not heard anything from Venezuela and asking him to investigate. At the same time he informed Westfelt that an agreed order of hardboard from Finland would be ready for shipment at the end of the month. By the beginning of June there were the first signs that the whole Heberobe proposition was in danger of never getting off the ground. The exclusive salesrights and credit option with Cementa were reaching 15
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the end of their validity. Something else had to be found to export as long as the opportunity for credit remained. Bernadotte wrote to Westfelt that he was negotiating with Boliden on the export of batteries. In the same letter he mentioned that he and Bensky had made progress in Sweden and Finland.
Another bad setback came the same month Westfelt reported that an international cement agent had disassociated himself from the generally accepted pricing level. This caused enormous losses for many international agents. In his reply to Westfelt Bernadotte states that while it is unfortunate that they have not started operationsthey should consider themselves lucky that they had not been able to start the shipments. This would have incurred considerable losses for Heberobe and might have meant the end of everything. It was considered best to give up the whole cement business and concentrate on other things.
Heberobe at the end of the road The setbacks started to take a toll on the partners’ enthusiasm, and they started to disengage themselves from the Heberobe project. In his report to Bernadotte in June 1951 (copy to Bensky) Carl Westfelt stated that he had been in contact with Winthrop Rockefeller, who had said that while all the parties would still have liked to see Heberobe active, the businesses proposed were relatively small and vague in terms of prices and deliveries. The cement business, as well as the hardboard business from Finland, was never realized on the scale planned. In the words of Winthrop Rockefeller, “Heberobe was never meant to dabble in small business.� He saw no point in engaging a staff as the business would anyway only generate losses, at least initially. 16
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Both he and Herrera complimented Bernadotte and Bensky for the very thorough work they had done on behalf of the Heberobe project. They assured them of their positive attitude towards them and said that they would at any time be interested and willing to engage in some new projects, either by financing or otherwise. Maybe there would be a more opportune time to restart the Heberobe project. As time went by, the co-operation within the group grew steadily weaker. Import restrictions in many countries had been abolished and the varying conditions in the different countries made the parties develop in different directions. Co-operation between Finland, Sweden and US continued for a long time. Business dealings with US stopped when Carl Westfelt died, in the 1990s, and now even Sweden has chosen a different path. When Bensky’s successor, his younger brother Dave, travelled to London in the 1950s he tried to find a firm with the name of Anglo-Nordic. He found one located in a small cellar, where a small Irishman was cutting out figures of animals from foam rubber, which he marketed. Dave Bensky never found out what had happened with the original Anglo-Nordic. After a while the Irishman too disappeared. Later, a firm in London, headed by David Parsons and active in the oil burner and oil heating business, received permission to use the name AngloNordic Burner Co. For many years contact between Parsons and the AngloNordic of Sweden and Finland were close but this gradually faded.
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Paul Suni of Pan Am Co. presenting the Admiral diploma to Hemo C. Bensky.
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The first shareholder certificate.
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Anglo-Nordic operated for a long time at the Hufvudstadsbladet building on Mannerheimintie. The office moved several times to the building’s higher floors, eventually becoming based on the top ‘tower’ floor. This used to be the private chapel of Amos Anderson, the renowned arts patron. 20
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The growth of the young Anglo-Nordic
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N THE LATE 1940s, Anglo-Nordic grew in line with post-war consumption trends. Anglo-Nordic assembled the first Finnish oil burner and manufactured the first Finnish ballpoint pen, which soon became a symbol of better days in a world of scarcity. This was also the beginning of the stationery division, which is nowadays an important part of the company. In 1950, Anglo-Nordic again made history by arranging the first TV broadcast in Finland. During the 1940s Hemo Bensky energetically continued Anglo-Nordic’s import trade. Immediately after the war it mainly functioned as an agent on commission. The company’s office was situated at the premises of Bensky’s father Mauritz on the second floor of Mannerheimintie 18, the Hufvudstadsbladet building. Mauritz Bensky had given Hemo and his younger brother Dave the use of a room, two writing desks and a typewriter. Hemo was in charge of the customers and Dave of the typewriter. In the following years the young company moved upwards, first to the fourth and then to the seventh floor, at the top. In 1948 the name of the company was changed to the present, shortened version – Oy Anglo-Nordic Ab.
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The import restrictions governed the business for a long time Strict restrictions governing foreign trade lasted from 1945 to 1957. Because of these regulations, imports formed a small part of the supply of goods. Payment deals were bilateral. Trade between Finland and different countries comprised various exchange deals (so called compensation and parallel deals) that often dependeds on clearing agreements. As export surpluses to certain countries remained more or less constant, these clearing accounts were used in three-way trade deals. The receivables were exchanged for free currencies, usually at a considerable loss in the exchange rate and used for imports from a third country. This situation was the reason for an incident with the license authorities that happened towards the end of the 1950s. In those days the license authorities wielded much power andsometimes proved it rather sadistically. Dave Bensky, the current Chairman of the Board and at that time the recently appointed Managing Director, recalls a typical incident. I remember having applied for an import license for $200,000 for the import of oil burner parts from Sweden, England and the United States. There were lengthy negotiations, sometimes at the offices of the authorities, but mostly around a restaurant table. It seamed impossible to find any free currency for this import, but at last I was asked if I would have any use for Finnish-French clearing currency. I knew a person in Paris, who had specialized in converting clearing currencies. I got the rate of exchange from him and the customer accepted it. I called the licence bureau and informed the authority in question that I could accept it. In a few days I got a message to say that the licenses were granted. In those days you had to deposit in the bank half of the value of the licenses. I did this and got hold of the licenses in question. When I took a closer look at them, I noticed to my horror that there was a 22
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condition attached. “This license is valid only on condition that the French authorities approve that it will be charged to the clearing account between France and Finland.” It was quite clear that they would never accept this, as there were no French products involved. Naturally I called the man in charge at the licensing bureau and said, that this condition was out of the question and that I wanted it removed. He just laughed at me and said “No way.”
... but who had the last laugh But something had to be done. I had deposited a great deal of money in the bank, and couldn’t afford to just let it lie there. The next day I flew to Paris where I sat the whole day together with my French acquaintance trying to figure out what could be done, how we could get the approval of the French authorities, which we had to have in order to be able to open the required letter of credit. The day went on and no solution was found. In the evening, when I was on my way to the airport, when all hope was gone, I got en excellent idea. I asked the Frenchman to enquire from the authorities if we could make a payment from the Finnish-French clearing account if it would be charged to the French-Czechoslovakian clearing account. This was accepted by the French authorities and we got a big paper with a lot of stamps affirming this. This paper was good enough for the bank and we could open the letter of credit. The problem was solved even though we naturally never had anything to do with the French-Czechoslovakian clearing account. At that time the licenses that were not used within six months were to be returned to the authorities. When I met the same official after about six months he asked me with a smirk why I had not returned the licenses. When 23
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I told him that I thought that you did not have to return used licenses he wondered “Have you really used them?” “Of course” I said. “Wasn’t that the idea?” Afterwards, he often asked about how I had been able to use them, but I never told him. It just shows how mean some of the officials could be. He hadn’t even thought it possible that the licenses could be used.
One of our import licenses and the letter of confirmation. 24
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The Manager of the industrial division was Harry O. Galle.
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The first significant import deal The preceding incident happened in the late 1950s, but in 1946, when the import licence situation was even more difficult, Hemo managed to get approval for Anglo-Nordic’s first sizable import deal. Anglo-Nordic was granted an import license for 8,000 gross (1,152,000 pcs) condoms from Akron, Ohio, in the US. Expectations were high because there was every reason to believe that this would be a lucrative business. The deal had been developed during a long time together with the Association for the Prevention of Venereal Diseases. It was agreed with the association’s chairman, Professor Eero Uroma, that it would receive part of the profit. The association had, of course, been instrumental to Anglo-Nordic being granted the necessary import license. Once the license had been granted everything looked rosy. But then the Ministry of Welfare stepped in. In all probability the goods would have sold out in no time, but then the ministry produced a list of pharmacies to which the condoms were only allowed to be sold. The ministry even set the price. In the end Anglo-Nordic barely profited, apart from the substantial publicity that the issue generated. This was the beginning of Anglo-Nordic’s first balloon venture. May Day was close, a time when a lot of balloons were sold on the streets. And there were still quite a number of unsold condoms at Anglo-Nordic. At that time, when the foreign currency was scarce, no import licenses could be had for nonessential items. Word soon got out about the unsold condoms at Anglo-Nordic and in no time there was a line of balloon vendors waiting outside the office. The vendors paid cash for the condoms, filled them with helium and added a bit of colour to them, and for the first time since the war there were some enormous and impressive May Day balloons in Helsinki and around Finland.
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The Korean War brought a boom in business during 1950–1952 and increased pressure on Finland to adapt itself to the general European business trends. The liberalisation of trade between countries gave the Finish traders the opportunity for more liberal import quotas. The first significant step was taken in 1955, when about 40% of imports were freed. This mainly affected raw materials and production items. The move was important as it signified the first steps towards deregulation.
The importance of imports increases During the early 1950s Hemo Bensky devoted much energy to building AngloNordic’s network of representations. Slowly but surely the activities moved from business on commission to imports on the company’s own account. The most important product lines of Anglo-Nordic’s imports were oil burners and their spare parts, pens, stapling machines and other stationery items. With the gradual liberalisation of imports the firm’s activity was naturally directed to two separate lines of business: oil heating and school and office equipment. In this way two separate branches of the company emerged, the industrial division and office equipment division (initially called the ‘pen division’). Both divisions had different groups of customers, as well as their own department heads and sales staff.
A time of innovation Anglo-Nordic had now started to concentrate increasingly on its own imports instead of only being agents. Because licences regulated the import business, a company’s programme had to include a great variety of product groups to be able to increase its 27
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Brochures showing some of Anglo-Nordic’s oil burner parts. 28
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turnover and make business economically sound. It was easier to get import licenses for many smaller quantities than for one large consignment. Anglo-Nordic was a triple pioneer. It assembled the first Finnish oil burner – “Radiant”, it manufactured the first Finnish ballpoint pen – the Reynolds Flyer, and it arranged the first TV demonstration in Finland.
Oil burners Before the Second World War there had been some experimenting in oil heating in Finland. After the war this method of heating became popular and AngloNordic was among the first enterprises in this line in Finland. Immediately after the war it started to import Home Ease oil burners from the US. The first Radiant burners were assembled in Helsinki in the early 1950s. Housings made by the Radiant Oil Burner Co. in Brooklyn, New York were used. The burners were assembled using Sundstrand pumps, Newman motors, Allanson or Jefferson transformers, Torrington fan wheels and Steinen nozzles. These were the product parts that Anglo-Nordic represented in Finland. In this line and in the sales of oil burner parts, especially Sundstrand pumps, Anglo-Nordic Finland worked closely with Anglo-Nordic Sweden.
Ballpoint pens Anglo-Nordic has played an important part in the history of ballpoint pens in Finland. In the publication celebrating the 50th anniversary of the company, Dave Bensky wrote: You have to be at the right place at the right time and then be able to take advantage of it. This, like life as a whole, is a question of luck. My brother, 29
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Assembling Reynolds Flyer ballpoint pens at Mannerheimintie 18.
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Some of the ads showing the new Reynolds Flyers. 32
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the founder of the company, Hemo C. Bensky just happened to be at the same place as the owner of the Reynolds Pen Company, Milton Reynolds, who offered Hemo the license to manufacture the Reynolds pens in Finland. He seized the opportunity. Anglo-Nordic’s daughter company – Finnish Reynolds, manufactured the first Finnish ballpoint pen, the Reynolds Flyer, in 1948. Suomen Hartsiteollisuus Oy made the plastic parts, but the ballpoints were imported from Holland. The capillary tubes were filled with Akvila ink and the pens were assembled on the premises of Mannerheimintie 18. The ballpoint pen, which later has become one of the most common items in the world, was a novelty after the Second World War and as much in demand as nylon stockings. The pens were introduced on 14 of November in the well known office and stationery store Oy Wulff Ab. The marketing was supported by an intensive advertising campaign. The pen became an instant hit and production could hardly keep up with demand. There was a shuttle traffic between Anglo-Nordic and ‘Wulffs corner’ at the crossing of North-Esplanade and Mannerheimintie, where customers would wait in line for the pens. The queue reached the statue of The Three Blacksmiths near the Stockmann department store on Aleksanterinkatu. At peak about a 1,000 pens were sold an hour.
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The staff of Anglo-Nordic in the early 50’s in restaurant Adlon together with Hemo C. Bensky.
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The TV presentation Expectations for the 1952 Olympic games were in the air when Hemo C. Bensky, together with his friend Carl Johan Bernadotte, decided to bring television to Finland. The Finnish Broadcasting Company – Oy Yleisradio Ab, planned to televise the games and Bensky decided to speed up the arrival of the new media by arranging for the Finnish public to get acquainted with it. On 18 November 1950, Anglo-Nordic, as the representative of General Electric organised a televised presentation of broadcasting on the fifth floor of the Stockmann department store. Some of the screens were placed in the store’s windows at street level, facing Mannerheimintie. This sparked massive public interest and the crowd was so big that a protective metal barrier had to be erected to protect the shop windows. Many dignitaries were present, and after brief remarks by Bensky and Bernadotte the Mayor of Helsinki, Erik von Frenckell gave a speech. The transmission relayed entertainment followed by a boxing match. The anchor for the event was Finland’s best known radio voice, Count Carl-Erik Creutz. The equipment was kept on display at Stockmann’s for another ten days. Whenever the history of television in Finland is recalled this event is mentioned. The presentation gave Anglo-Nordic plenty of publicity, but because Yleisradio reckoned that their technical means were at that time insufficient, the plans were put on ice, and the Helsinki Olympics were not televised. The staff from General Electric had the chance to experience something they found highly exotic. At this time the Cold War was at its frostiest. The men from GE wanted to see the Porkkala area, which the Soviet Union had ‘rented’ and which it used as a military base. Hemo took them by car along the Jorvas road up to the boundry of the Soviet base. He told them to use their film cameras from the 35
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A crowd outside Stockmann’s window watching the first TV transmission shown in Finland.
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The Mayor of Helsinki Erik von Frenckell speaking at the TV demonstration.
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inside of the car, while he went up to the fence to talk to the guard. The Americans were thoroughly exited having succeeded in filming the Soviet Union, as they put it. For them it was great and exotic. Back home they could say that they had been like CIA agents filming Porkkala.
American lessons the hard way During this period Hemo’s younger brother Dave lived in New York. He had moved there in 1947, believing that there would be far better opportunities in the new world than in Finland, which existed under the shadow of the Soviet Union and communism. His first job in the US was for an import firm, where he was assigned to increase relations with the Nordic countries. The owners were two brothers who shared an office. The thing that stuck in Dave Benskys mind was a notice on the wall which read in bold letters “If you never disagree, one of you is superfluous.” His next job was as a salesman for a factory that produced raincoats. His sales district was New York State, Pennsylvania and Ohio. But success was less than modest, perhaps because at the time it was the driest summer in about a hundred years. However, this job left its imprint on Dave and taught him that whatever work you do, to be successful you have to follow the norms and accepted customs, however foolish they may seem.
No hat, no orders On one especially hot morning, Dave had parked his car, taken about ten raincoats on his arm and started his round. His first stop was a pleasant looking 38
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men’s haberdashery. He opened the door and walked in from the suffocating outside temperature into the wonderfully cool atmosphere of a pleasantly air conditioned room. The owner of the store received him kindly, looked at the coats and praised them. It appeared as if the first order of the day was in the bag, but the store owner continued: “Next time you come by here, it is possible that we will do business, but you’ve got to be properly dressed.” If you worked in the clothing business, at least in those times in the USA, you had to be well dressed, and that meant that you had to wear a hat. This was a bitter experience for a young man, and one not quickly forgotten. Dave’s time spent in US was instructive. He views such practical experiences and memories as corresponding to many years of schooling, and of being invaluable for managing Anglo-Nordic.
The relation between price and quality Even later Dave gained useful experience in US. In the early 1960s AngloNordic represented a flame control for oil burners called Firey. This was an excellent control, but expensive. When Dave visited the manufacturer in Pittsburgh, he mentioned that it was impossible to sell such an expensive flame control in competition with cheaper varieties. The export manager asked if the other controls were sold by factory representatives. When Dave said yes he said,“Well, then they know what they are worth.” Dave Bensky has used this argument many times when Anglo-Nordic’s sales reps have had similar complaints about competition.
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Close relations between brothers Despite an age difference of 11 years, the relationship between the two brothers was exceptionally close and affectionate. If Hemo was in Helsinki when Dave came home on leave from the front during the war, they had a fixed agreement to lunch together at Hotel Torni, in the small suite on the 13th floor. One of these occasions took place on 9 February 1944, making for a far
An idyllic family scene. Hemo and Mary Bensky with their children Roni and Hedy. 40
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longer lunch break than anticipated. The infamous Russian bombardment of Helsinki started during the afternoon and the visit to the bomb shelter lasted until late at night. It was a foregone conclusion that after the war Dave would work with Hemo. This cooperation, however, endured for only a short time, as Dave left for the United States to try his luck.
The brothers in peaceful surroundings in 1944. The war against the Soviet Union has ended and Hemo is demobilised. Dave is still in uniform, on leave from the war in Lapland. 41
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Hemo C. Bensky 2.7.1911–21.5.1953.
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A tragic loss In 1953 Anglo-Nordic suffered a sudden and tragic loss. At just 42 years old, the Managing Director Hemo Bensky, the soul of the company and an untiring optimist, who was often far ahead of his time, suffered a sudden stroke at the Stockholm offices of Anglo-Nordic on his return home from New York. A few hours later he passed away at the Serafimer Lasarettet hospital.
The younger brother takes charge Hemo’s younger brother Dave, who had recently returned from New York where he had lived for nearly five years, became his successor. He originally planned to stay in the US for good, but to accommodate the wishes of both his father and father-in-law he promised to return to Finland for a few years. He was working for his father-in law’s clothing factory at the time of his brother’s death. The tragedy forced him to change his plans. In life things do not always turn out as planned, and Dave’s fate became entwined with Anglo-Nordic’s. Contrary to his earlier plans, he decided to stay in Finland. After his brother’s death Dave hitched his wagon to that of Anglo-Nordic’s, buying 50% of the company’s shares from Hemo’s widow Mary. Mary continued to work for Anglo-Nordic until 1981, when she started her well earned retirement. Dave Bensky was born in Helsinki in 1922. When he was three, the family moved to Viipuri, later returning to Helsinki in 1932 when Dave started high school. In 1938, he went to England and enrolled at Bradford Technical College. When he spent his vacation in Finland the next summer, there were already 43
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Mary Bensky, 1914–1989.
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indications of the impending war and he did not return to England. The Finnish Winter War started in early 1939. Dave volunteered for the army in January 1940, and was accepted to start training in April. The winter war had just ended, but the army training period and the continuation of the war with Soviet Union kept him in the army for nearly five years. At first he was posted at the Hanko front line. He then joined the troops of General Lagus and fought on the Karelian front, at Äänislinna and Svir. At the end of the war he was posted to Lapland, when the Finnish army, according to terms of the armistice agreement, had to chase the Germans out of Finland. He was discharged in November 1944 and left for the US in 1947. The Soviet and communist influence, which prevailed in Finnish daily life did not make for an attractive atmosphere for a young and adventurous man starting out in life. Starting at the helm of Anglo-Nordic was not easy. Dave had been acquainted with the workings of Anglo-Nordic in the earlier years, but was relatively inexperienced to be a Managing Director. The good and faithful customer relations that Hemo had built and his many friends were a great help and strong support for Dave in the beginning. The relatively small firm of a handful of employees went on to grow steadily. Under Dave’s leadership and later of his son Leo-Dan the firm has grown to become a successful family business with a staff of about 100. Dave’s other sons, Kenneth and Hemo are also active in the company.
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Victor Reich, founder of Ballograf.
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Through hard times
I
N THE MID-1950s the key products on Anglo-Nordic’s sales program were connected to oil heating. When the Suez oil crisis broke out during 1956–57 none of them could be sold, and soon Anglo-Nordic’s warehouse was filled with unwanted stock. These were hard times, but soon the situation returned to normal and business was flourishing again. In the meantime, however, several oil burner manufacturers had appeared on the market. They all used parts in their production represented in Finland by Anglo-Nordic. They were clearly not happy that, in addition to supplying them with parts, Anglo-Nordic competed with them in the sales of oil burners. A decision had to be taken on whether to sell parts or oil burners. The choice seemed hard at the time but luckily the right decision was taken. By concentrating on parts and accessories for oil burners Anglo-Nordic became the dominant market supplier of these products. At this time, Anglo-Nordic acquired two important representations, Rapid staplers in 1956 and Ballograf pens in 1958. This was the beginning of the fast growth of the stationery division, which made Anglo-Nordic the leading supplier in this area.
Ballograf The launch of the Swedish Ballograf pen was an aggressive operation. Although the import was totally regulated by licenses, the advertising budget was almost as big as the total value of the import. At that time TV advertising was new in Finland. It was started by students of technology, more or less as an 47
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experiment, but became successful and popular. Anglo-Nordic had a one-hour show broadcast every Monday. To begin with it was called ‘The Ballograf Show’, but after a few weeks the name had to be changed. The authorities did not allow the name of the product to appear in the title. The pianist of the show was Erna Tauro, well known in the musical circles in Finland, so the name was changed to ‘The Erna Tauro Show’. This co-operation continued even after the death of Victor Reich, lasting over 40 years. In addition to very satisfactory sales figures, Anglo-Nordic’s aggressive and successful marketing had also made the Ballograf name so well known that it was included in the list of best known brand names in Finland. In 1998, the new and young management of Ballograf-Bic thought that they themselves could take care of the sales to the more important customers and suggested that Anglo-Nordic would handle the remaining unprofitable part of the market. This was, of course, unacceptable to Anglo-Nordic, and thus this long and mutually profitable co-operation ended. It should be noted that since then the name Ballograf has not appeared on the list of the best known brand-names. The place of Ballograf in Anglo-Nordic’s pen program was immediately taken over by the world famous quality and prestige-pen, Cross. It had been offered to Anglo-Nordic earlier but, for reasons of correctness towards Ballograf, Anglo-Nordic had refused. Nowadays, Cross and the products of the Japanese manufacturer Pentel have succeeded in replacing Ballograf. In 2000 and 2003, Anglo-Nordic received the Distributor of the Year award from Pentel.
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During the launch of EPOCA Dave Bensky with Ballograf ’s Swedish representative Öhrnrot on the balcony of hotel Palace in Helsinki.
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The board of KONPAP congratulating Dave Bensky on his 70th birthday 3.2. 1992.
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Rapid The import of Rapid staplers also depended on import licenses. The exceptionally high quality of the products was one of the reasons for the enormous demand, which could not nearly be satisfied with the small numbers of licenses that were granted. When the imports were liberalised, Rapid easily took its place with a top market share. The Rapid distributorship is Anglo-Nordic’s oldest and through the years the relations between Anglo-Nordic and Rapid have developed from a business relation to one of friendship. The relationship began with the contact established between Simon Brick, one of the founders of Rapid, and Dave Bensky. When Simon retired (or semiretired) that relationship continued between his son, Herbert and Dave. Later, when Leo-Dan Bensky had taken over the position as Managing Director of Anglo-Nordic, he and Herbert Brick also became friends. Relations between the two firms have continued to be a mixture of business and friendship, and it has become a tradition to meet at least once a year in a friendly golf match either in Hestra or Helsinki. Finland is sometimes called the promised land of associations, and naturally there was an association of wholesalers in the stationery trade. At one point Dave Bensky applied for membership, but he was refused because AngloNordic sold directly to the supermarkets such as Kesko and SOK. Time passed, and as AngloNordic became a prominent supplier of stationery goods, the association came back and asked Anglo-Nordic to join it. Of course Anglo accepted and in time Dave Bensky became the chairman and later the first honorary chairman of the association.
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Rapid’s first office in Hestra in Sweden in the 1930’s.
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Rapid production buildings in Hestra today.
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Greyhound There was a new car sport, which had caught Dave Bensky’s fancy. AngloNordic participated in the late 50’s in bringing the first Go-Karts, also known as Formula K, to Finland. This did not reflect any commercial aspirations of the firm but was a reflection of Daves personal interest in the sport. Anglo-Nordic also had their own team driver – Kalevi Luotolinna who performed excellently and brought many victories to the team. Of course Anglo-Nordic also had to find something else for him to do, so a garage was rented in the Tölö district of Helsinki and a car service was established with the well known name of Greyhound, which handled all the activities connected with the Go-Kart business. These activities were terminated in 1960 and the name Greyhound remained dormant until 1978, when AngloNordic became interested in the leisure and sports sector.
Anglo-Nordic’s team driver Kalevi Luotolinna in his GoKart. 54
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Sticky In 1954 Dave Bensky was offered the Finnish rights to a new invention, Sticky building blocks. The product seemed excellent and Dave bought the patent for Finland. This was before the appearance of Lego, and the possibility of a great success was in the air. Sticky was a Danish plastic block or stick, about 3 or 4 cm long with a diameter of about 0,5 cm. The stick had 3 holes and 3 corresponding pegs on each side at 90 degrees. The production of this stick required absolute exactness, as the size of the holes and the pegs could not vary even by a fraction of a millimetre. The samples were examined time and time again before they were accepted and a sample order was placed. Dave Bensky’s whole family as well as many of the employees’ children built model houses, cars and animals which were given to shops for promotion. These samples were exactly according to the required measurements and the building was easy. Then the Stickys to be sold were ordered in lots of half a million and were packed in nice colourful cartons. The control had not been as strict as it should, probably because of inexperience. The result was that when the children started building with the new Stickys, part of them fell apart when the holes were bigger than the pegs and some split, when the peg was bigger than the hole. Nobody knows, what a smash item Sticky could still have been today. A short time later another Danish building block came on the market, Lego. If nothing else, this experience gave an expensive lesson to the management of the importance of strict product control.
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Many of the children of Anglo-Nordic’s staff built objects out of Sticky building blocks, which then were used for advertisements.
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The world’s smallest dictating machine On a visit to the Hannover fair in 1958 Dave Bensky found a new and very interesting exhibit, the Minifon dictating machine. The dictating machines were a new product on the market, as the rationalisation of office routines had started. The Minifon was at that time the smallest dictating machine in the world. Speech was recorded on a very thin metal thread on a spool. The accessories included a microphone which looked just like a wrist watch or one which you could fasten in your button hole. The marketing of the Minifon was greatly helped by the fact that it was used in a few American spy movies. In addition to the fact that it was practical it was also a nice toy which you could use for pranks. Together with Sähköliikkeiden Oy Anglo-Nordic sold such quantities in Finland, that it was mentioned in Minofon’s worldwide publication. At the same time Anglo-Nordic sold a somewhat bigger dictating machine, the Swedish Agavox.
Mrs Stach signing an order confirmation, with Dave and Ruth Bensky watching. 58
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A Minifon advertisement.
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David (Bonzo) Wardi, head of the stationery division until 1985.
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The technical division grows The technical division and the stationery division competed hard with each other, which helped to increase annual turnover. The technical division expanded in many directions. In addition to oil heating equipment, new subdivisions were created for car accessories, tools and electric and electronic parts. Among car parts and accessories the most famous were Dutch BZ sparkplugs, probably better known in Finland than anywhere else in the world. This was because Anglo-Nordic had signed a sponsorship agreement with the top Finnish racing driver Curt Lincoln, hero of the Djurg책rdsloppet, which he won in 1961.
Curt Lincoln advertising spark plugs. 61
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Klemens Holappa and Oulu In 1964, Anglo-Nordic opened a branch office in Oulu in northern Finland. With great distances in a sparsely populated country such as Finland, it was important to do all you could in order to assure your customers good and speedy service. Anglo-Nordic had about 100 customers in the northern regions, and for them this represented a very welcome improvement in the service. The man in charge in Oulu was Klemens Holappa. He was a good salesman and knew how to handle customers. When his district was enlarged and came to include some purely Swedish speaking areas, Dave Bensky asked him if he knew enough Swedish to manage. “Oh, sure” said Klemens convincingly. That was that and everything worked out fine. Later the story was told, that when he came to a Swedish speaking customer he had said, “I not speaking Swedish. Here paper and pen. Write order.” And he got the order. The office in Oulu was closed in 1984 when improved logistics and a rationalized handling of shipments made the branch office an unnecessary expense.
A lost opportunity As already mentioned, Dave Bensky pointed out that a lot of things that happen are a matter of luck. You have to be in the right place at the right time. But that isn’t enough. You have to seize the opportunity when it appears. Dave tells about a case in point that happened to him long ago: In the early 1960s a business friend from abroad offered me the franchising rights for a group. He even told me the name. It was the pop band The Beatles. I thought that orchestras come and orchestras go, one month here and the next gone – so I wasn’t interested. 62
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The office in Oulu.
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I have never tried to figure out how much I had lost on that decision and I don’t think that I ever will.
“A bottle of aquavit if the joint doesn’t hold” In 1958, the industrial division again obtained a new sales item. A good friend of Dave Bensky’s in Sweden suggested that he should start to market Abiko solderless terminals. Of course a new item was an attractive proposition, and this was a new way to connect terminals to a cable. Dave Bensky explains: “What are Abiko terminals?” I asked. My friend Abbe Mühlrad showed me the small items and I asked what they cost. “About 5 öre a piece,” he said. When I asked what was the use of selling such small and cheap items, Abbe got excited. He started showing me different electrical apparatuses and how many terminals there were in each. After he had convinced me that we could sell millions of them I of course accepted his offer. Within a very short time they became one of the most important items of the industrial division. At time we called them solderless terminals, because the normal way to fasten the terminals to the cable was to solder and our way was to crimp them. One important sales channel, in addition to the industry, was gasoline and service stations. There this new item was looked upon with a great deal of suspicion. We were asked, “Why shouldn’t I solder them the way my father and grandfather did?” Our salesmen explained patiently that a crimped connection was faster and very much stronger than a soldered one, but they did not want to believe this. Our salesmen had permission to promise a bottle of vodka to anyone who could pull the joint apart. The cable itself could not, of course, be torn apart. The strong guys got exited, and their muscles and eyes bulged but the connection held. We didn’t have to give away a single bottle. 64
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Abbe Mühlrad, creator of the ABIKO cable terminal collection, and Dave Bensky celebrating the inauguration of Anglo-Nordic’s new premises in Kauklahti. Their friendship started in 1958 and continued until Abbe Mühlrad’s death in 2003.
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As we were in a hurry to start the marketing and had no promotional material, a colour photograph of the Abico terminals was used as our first brochure. 66
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The Anglo-Nordic logo through the years
For a long time the Anglo-Nordic logo included a pennant. To many this created an image of a shipping company, and the pennant was therefore left out of the newer logos.
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The move to Kiviaidankatu 2 in Lauttasaari in 1968 gave Anglo-Nordic more space to work from.
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From the city to Lauttasaari
U
NTIL 1968 ANGLO-NORDIC had been situated at Mannerheimintie 18, but gradually the premises became too small and crowded and the warehouses were scattered all over town. The customers complained that they had difficulties in finding a parking space and when they had been luckty to find one, it seemed that their time on the parking metre always was running out just when they were ready to give an order. It was time to move. New premises were rented at Kiviaidankatu 2 in Lauttasaari, where space was found for the offices and a great amount of stock. Anglo-Nordic stayed at this address for over twelve years.
The entertainment division starts with Abiko-radio The first product of this division was a well known Japanese radio, which was specially manufactured under the name of Abiko for Anglo-Nordic. It was sold in a specially designed carton, with the name Abiko clearly visible through a plastic window. It was sold with much success at a slightly higher price than the original. This proves how important an attractive package is in the sale of a product.
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Clarion enters the picture At the beginning of the 1970s Anglo-Nordic was appointed the representative in Finland for the renowned Clarion car radio. At that time Clarion was well established on the European markets, but it was still relatively unknown in Finland. Clarion was one of the pioneers of car stereos and its innovation was the continuously playing cassette player. Sales were started with a strong advertising and aggressive marketing strategy. Within two years Clarion was one of the three most sold brands in Finland. At the 1976 world ice-hockey championships held in Katowicz, Poland, Anglo-Nordic arranged a quiz. There was a large Clarion sign posted behind one of the goals. When Finland was playing the USA people watching the game on TV were asked to count or guess how many times the Clarion sign was seen during the game. There were good prizes to be won and answers came pouring in to Anglo-Nordic. This was one of the most successful campaigns for the company, although many were annoyed, as due to the quiz they could not concentrate on the game.
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The first Clarion showroom in Lauttasaari.
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In the 1990s an old dream was realized when Anglo-Nordic moved to its own premises in Lauttasaari, Helsinki.
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Stabilizing positions
T
IMES WERE GOOD in the 1980s. The turnover had been growing steadily and the old premises were no longer enough. In 1981, AngloNordic realized the long cherished dream of buying its own premises. The house across the street at Kiviaidankatu 3 was for sale. It was like made for Anglo-Nordic’s needs and it was bought without delay. The first steps were taken to establish a sports division. Anglo-Nordic acquired the representation for Hanimex squash rackets, later exchanged for the well known Grays racket. In 1980 Anglo-Nordic also got the representation for the world famous line of Fila sports clothes. At this time the firm of Greyhound was taken off the shelf, where it had been put when the activity with Go-Karts ended. Greyhound became a retailer in sports and fashion goods and opened a shop on Lauttasaarentie, near to Anglo-Nordic’s main office. It specialized in the sale of squash and tennis equipment and surfboards. The place became well known and the retail business flourished, but it soon became evident that it was not in line with Anglo-Nordic’s activities, so the shop was closed in 1986 and the activities of Greyhound were consolidated with Anglo-Nordic’s. The name of Greyhound was once again shelved with the launching of Anglo-Nordic’s sports division under the leadership of Kenneth Bensky. At this time Anglo-Nordic’s main goal was to stabilise its position and make its operations even more efficient. Emphasis was placed on improving and restructuring its already solid economy. The product lines were rationalised and priority was given to profitability. The time was ripe to prepare the transfer of leadership to the next generation. 73
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Finance Manager and Executive Vice-president Martin Simberg has been with Anglo-Nordic for over a quarter of a century.
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Martin Simberg In 1979, Martin Simberg joined the staff of Anglo-Nordic. Squash had something to do with the move. Dave Bensky was the chairman of a squashclub in Lauttasaari and Martin Simberg was a member of the board. AngloNordic needed someone in the economy department and Dave asked if Martin would be interested. He was and a deal was struck. As long as Dave’s back could stand it, the two spent many lunch hours on the squash court. Martin Simberg acclimatized right away to life in Anglo-Nordic. Martin was and is satisfied with Anglo-Nordic and Anglo-Nordic appreciates his unwavering loyalty and dedicated work. Martin is now the Executive Vice-president and the only non-Bensky member of the board.
Do-it-yourself centre In November 1985 Anglo-Nordic made a new try at the retail business. They bought the best known hobby and do-it-yourself store in Helsinki, Askartelukeskus Oy. It was a very interesting interlude, but it showed again, that you should not spread your activities in too many directions. Anglo-Nordic is a wholesaler and should stick to it. This experiment lasted only for three years. Then it was sold to a person who could give this business all the time and attention it needed.
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Dave Bensky with his three sons Kenneth, Hemo and Leo-Dan. “They used to say they were my sons, now I say I’m their father.”
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The change of generations
T
HE ECONOMY had been strengthened and the routines were all planned for the coming change of generations. Dave Bensky’s three sons had all been acquainted with the workings of the company since childhood, and it was easy for them to agree about their division of labour in the firm. The oldest son, Kenneth, already started at Anglo-Nordic in 1973, in the data processing department. From there he joined the stationery division, transferring later to the sports division as Product Manager. Hemo, the middle son, started working in the advertising line in 1981. Since March 1988 he has been in charge of Anglo-Nordic’s advertising and marketing department with responsibility for planning the marketing and co-ordination of sales promotions for all divisions. The youngest son, Leo-Dan, who had been Vice-president since 1985, took over as Managing Director on 1 July 1988. Dave Bensky remained Chairman of the Board, satisfied that the firm was in good hands.
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Anglo-Nordic and sports In the mid-1990s Anglo-Nordic acquired many new agencies for its sports division, which has grown to be a key part of Anglo-Nordic. The sports division is a notable supplier of winter sports equipment. Head brand products are its most important group. As sports has always been close to the hearts of the Bensky family it was natural that Anglo-Nordic would be engaged in sponsoring sport and sportsmen. In the 1980s Anglo-Nordic began sponsoring Sami Elopuro, who at his best was number 6 on the world professional squash ranking. In 1996 he retired from professional sports and Anglo-Nordic welcomed him as a member of their staff. He started working in the advertising and marketing division together with Hemo, but has since moved to the multimedia division as Sales Manager.
The Bensky family’s pet dog Ginny featured in an advertisement for surfboards. 78
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When Sami Elopuro left professional sport to join AngloNordic he started off in the media and publicity department. He later moved to the multi-media department as Sales Manager. He has shown in his work the same fighting spirit, decisiveness and determination as he did on the squash court, and he is now one of the key figures at Anglo-Nordic. 79
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Since the early 1980s Anglo-Nordic has also been a sponsor of the Helsinki ice hockey team HIFK. Today the items advertised through this sponsorship are Nokia and Pentel.
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The HIFK ice-hockey team wore Pentel and Nokia N-Gage logos when HIFK won the bronze medal in the national hockey league in 2004. 81
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New premises in Kauklahti As turnover continued to increase, the Anglo-Nordic premises in Lauttasaari became too small to enable an efficient handling of all necessary operations. In May 1988, Anglo-Nordic bought a plot of 15,000 square meters opposite the old and idyllic Kauklahti railway station in Espoo. The construction of the new office and warehouse building started in autumn 1989 and was completed in spring 1990. The official inauguration was held on 1 October that year, Anglo-Nordic’s 50th anniversary. At the same time Finland was caught in the worst depression since 1930.
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The Bensky family at the inauguration of the the new premises in Kauklahti, Espoo.
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Enter mobile phones Towards the end of the 1980s Anglo-Nordic came to the conclusion that some new products were needed for its electronic division. At that time there was a lot of talk about a new product, the mobile phone. In 1988 at a meeting of Clarion importers two central European representatives told of a Technophone mobile phone that they were selling. The manufacturer was an English firm named Technophone, owned by a Swede. Leo-Dan got in touch with him, but was told that distribution in the northern countries was handled through Sweden. In early 1989 Leo-Dan approached the manufacturer again and a mutual interest was found. In 1990 Anglo-Nordic started importing Hi-Tronic phones to Finland, manufactured by Technophone. This was the beginning of Anglo-Nordic’s mobile phone business.
Nokia takes over Technophone The sales of the phone got off to a good start, but one morning in February 1991 the morning papers were revealed that Nokia had bought Techonophone. It was a time of great apprehension but everybody was relieved when Nokia gave the assurance that nothing would change. Anglo-Nordic continued to sell mobile phones with the name of Technophone. The new Technophone models corresponded to the new Nokia models. Naturally competition developed between Nokia’s and Anglo-Nordic’s sales staff. Nokia, of course, had nothing against this as it helped to increase sales. In November Nokia announced that Technophone and Nokia would merge. About a month later it was agreed, that Anglo-Nordic would be Nokia’s Technophone partner in Finland. Thus began the co-operation with Nokia that continues to the satisfaction of both parties. 84
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Hemo Bensky presenting Technophone. 85
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Leo-Dan Bensky and Nokia’s Anssi Vanjoki testing new Nokia mobile phones.
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In 1995 Nokia decided to end all its different brands and to concentrate on marketing all products under one brand name, NOKIA. All other brands were discontinued and since then Anglo-Nordic has been the only official Nokia wholesaler in Finland.
Casio In 1998, the Casio digital cameras were added to the sales programme of the multi media division. The sales got off to a very good start and now, with the development of this line and with all the new models coming on the market, it has become a an important addition to Anglo-Nordic’s product line.
Anglo-Service In 2000, Anglo-Nordic transferred service operations for mobile phones to a newly formed daughter company, Anglo-Service. This has become the leader in this line in Finland.
Anglo-Nordic acquires Konttinen & Karsikko oy At the end of 2003 Anglo-Nordic bought Konttinen & Karsikko Oy. This family company was established in 1907 in Viipuri by Gustav Konttinen and August Karsikko, but moved to Helsinki in 1943. Konttinen & Karsikko’s product range clearly complemented the products sold by Anglo Nordic’s stationery division, while K&K’s long experience with the sale of business gifts was also of great interest to Anglo-Nordic. There is every reason to believe that combining K&K’s specialist knowhow with Anglo-Nordic’s efficient 87
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logistics and general management will make a very successful merger in the long run.
Hitachi In June 2004 Hitachi appointed Anglo-Nordic to be their wholesaler in Finland for their home entertainment electronics line. This was an important addition to the multimedia division, which further strengthened the position of Anglo-Nordic in this sector.
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Concluding words
T
his book reviews the basic facts about Anglo-Nordic, and describes the company’s beginnings, struggles and achievements over seven decades. The Anglo-Nordic story includes disappointments and failures, as well as overriding successes. But above all, it is a story of the perseverance and hard work of the company’s leadership, backed up by loyal and dedicated staff. The efforts of these people have enabled Anglo-Nordic to overcome all obstacles to reach the prominent position it holds today. With an annual turnover of more than 100 million euros and a solid financial base, the company’s management can look forward to the challenges of coming decades with confidence and high expectations.
Leo-Dan Bensky Managing Director of Oy Anglo-Nordic Ab. 89
Snapshots from over the years
Carl (Cagge) Westfelt visiting Finland at the end of the 1950s. Left to right: Dave Bensky, Ruth Bensky, Mary Bensky and Carl Westfelt.
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Dave Bensky, the President of Clarion Mr. Yataka Oyamada, and LeoDan Bensky at Clarion’s Tokyo headquarters, October 1987.
Mr. Kitamura of Clarion and Leo-Dan Bensky at the Hongkong Fair, October 2002. 91
Anglo-Nordic’s tools division visiting Keter’s factories in Israel, May 2000.
Leo-Dan Bensky with Gunnar Finking and Rainer Brexendorf from LUX at the Cologne Tool Fair, March 2003. 92
Ilkka Salaja, Leo-Dan Bensky and Timo Vaskio outside Pentel’s Ibaraki factory, October 2002.
Sales Directors Timo Vaskio and Ilkka Salaja as guests of Pentel at a Teppanyaki restaurant in Tokyo. 93
In January 2003 Anglo-Nordic was granted Rapid's “Lifetime
achievement award”, which was accepted by Leo-Dan Bensky from the President of Rapid Mr. Tommy Bäckström (left), and the Vicepresident of Rapid’s Division Office Mr. Peter Cerny (right).
Leo-Dan Bensky at a reception held by the Ambassador of Japan, Mr. and Mrs. Hasegewan, August 2002. 94
”The Anglo-Nordic Story” describes the origins and history of this Finnish family company. Over the seven decades since Anglo-Nordic was established in 1935, the company has expanded from its modest beginning as a small trading company to become a major import and marketing company dealing with a wide range of products for many business sectors. Hemo C. Bensky (1911–1953), the founding father of Anglo-Nordic, was a far-sighted businessman, who entered enthusiastically into international trade as soon as borders began to reopen after the Second World War. Thanks to his openness to new ideas and his international contacts, he succeded in manufacturing the first Finnish oil-burner, the first Finnish ballpoint pen and to arrange the first TV demonstration in Finland. When Hemo C. Bensky died at a regrettably early age, his younger brother Dave Bensky (born 1922) took over the helm at Anglo-Nordic. Three of Dave Bensky’s sons are also active in the family company today, with Leo-Dan as Managing Director. Anglo-Nordic’s first seventy years have been highly eventful, and the company’s future prospects are bright. Dave Bensky and his sons Kenneth, Hemo and Leo-Dan, together with a staff of about a hundred employees, have built Anglo-Nordic into a major import and wholesale company with an annual turnover of more than 100 million euros. Many of the brands imported and sold by Anglo-Nordic represent the top end of the international market in their fields. The company’s main business areas today are covered by the multimedia, stationery, sports and tools divisions. Oy Anglo-Nordic Ab celebrates its 70th anniversary on 1st October 2005.