Sea transport leader docks at POP in Boavista and is looking for the “right people”

It is a story that has been sailing for two years and now docks in Porto. One of the leading companies in sea transport, Maersk, inaugurated, this Monday, a technology center in Porto Office Park (POP), in Boavista, with the presence of the Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira, and the councilman for Economy, Employment and Entrepreneurship, Ricardo Valente. By 2023, the company expects to have 150 workers.

Invited to cut the ribbon next to the e-commerce director 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 from emigrating to work at Maersk. Copenhagen is a great city to visit, but it is better to stay here and innovate from here”, underlined the mayor, who recalled how “the value chain is changing” towards the development of e-commerce.

From the seventh floor of POP, Rui Moreira was “happy that Maersk is getting involved in this and basing its operations here in Porto”.

The Danish’s arrival in the city dates back to 2019, with an investment of 1,5 million euros in the Porto start-up HHUB, focused on managing the chain of fashion brands’ channels. The work, growth and the various rounds of investment that attracted the attention of the multinational committed to entering the area of e- commerce, and the acquisition of the start-up took place in September last year.

The head of the sea transport giant explains that they invested in HUUB “because we saw great technological talent 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 a prompt answer: “We found in these three boys”, the founders of the start-up.

Highlighting the importance of the collaboration between the two, the manager of the multinational confessed that he was “very pleased to have found so much talent in product and technology management here in Porto and I hope that we can always do more”.

Maersk’s new technology center occupies 850 square meters in Porto Office Park and starts the operation with 50 workers, but the goal is to triple the team by 2023. Considered one of the most modern office buildings in the city, POP consists of two blocks which integrate the most advanced technological and energy efficiency solutions, in a total of 31.500 m2 of rough construction area plus 15 thousand m2 of outdoor green areas.

According to the newspaper ECO, in the last quarter alone, Maersk’s revenues reached the 19,3 billion dollars, a 55% growth compared to the same quarter of the previous year, taking the company’s EBITDA in 2022 to 30 billion dollars.