Havator celebrates 60th with growth

Finnish crane and transport company Havator, which operates in Scandinavia and northern Europe, celebrates 60 years in business in 2016.

Havator has 32 offices in Finland, Norway, Sweden and the Baltic States. Customers are primarily in construction, manufacturing, oil refining, energy production, mining and infrastructure. Annual sales are more than €110 million (US$ 124 million), and there are around 600 employees.

Ahti Hanhirova, Havator founder, first invested in the construction sector in 1956 and the company acquired its first mobile crane in 1966. Havator’s offer includes lifting, special transport and harbour crane services. Growth has been organic and by acquisition, especially since outside investment was introduced in 2010. The company said it will buy 60 units of machinery and add 60 new employees in the next year.

Commenting on the compay’s expansion, Jussi Yli-Niemi, Havator CEO since 2006, said, “Achieving growth for the group requires new ways of thinking. Havator acquired companies of various sizes operating in different industries and countries, and the group opened new offices through organic growth. Honing this diverse set of operations into a single, smoothly functioning whole was no small challenge.

“Today, we are one united Havator, whether we are talking about lifting services, special transportation or installations in Sweden, Finland, Norway or the Baltic States. This way of thinking and operating is the only way to achieve synergies between our different sectors,” Yli-Niemi said.

Erkki Hanhirova, Havator president, said, “Adapting to the requirements of the markets has always been a guiding principle of Havator’s operations. We have always directed our resources according to the demands of our customers. The ability to adapt has played a key role in our history.”

Hanhirova continued, “The strength of Havator as a provider of lifting and specialized transportation services is based on versatile and modern equipment. Havator fields an extensive fleet of diverse hydraulic cranes and tracked lattice boom cranes, with 1,250 tonne Demag CC 6800 lattice boom crane as the flagship. At the other end of Havator's equipment range are the small mobile cranes. Dozens of our 30 to 50 tonne mobile cranes are at work every day at the construction sites of private homes and larger buildings.”