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Ribe Parish Hall. Architecture: Lundgaard & Tranberg Arkitekter. Photo: Anders Sune Berg
Building success with passion and innovation The story of Petersen Tegl is a spectacular one. The brickyard has been located in the same location for 225 years and has been run by the same family in a direct line ever since. At a time when most brickyards tried to make their bricks as cheap as possible, Petersen Tegl went in another direction. Today they collaborate with some of the most well-known architects and export their products to more than 40 countries all over the world. In fact, they have become so successful that the only real concern for the future is lengthy delivery times. By Nicolai Lisberg
“My employees refer to me as the talker.” 22 minutes into the conversation, Christian A. Petersen takes a small break to interrupt himself. He is the owner of the brickyard Petersen Tegl, the seventh generation in a direct line, and speaks about his family business with a mix of pride and passion. He took over the company 88 | Issue 96 | January 2017
in 1971 and would be the CEO, if such a title existed. “My employees are my capital. The guy cleaning the machines is just as important as the guy selling the bricks, because if he didn’t clean the machine properly, the production would stop and we wouldn’t be able to sell our products. I’m not a CEO or something fancy. I’m just
me and there is no difference between my employees and me, which is why no one at the company has their title written on the business cards,” explains Petersen. The 75-year-old owner has clay in his blood. He was only three years old when he stood at the brickyard observing the production and trying to imitate his grandfather with both hands on his back to make his belly bigger. There was no doubt in the little boy’s mind that one day he would be working there. But first, he had to go to school, and later to a machine manufacturer. He was supposed to spend four years at the machine manufacturer, but Petersen did things the way he thought they should be done and he