Editors’ Note

Before assuming his current post at Georg Jensen in 2007, Danish national Ulrik Garde Due was Senior Vice President, International Sales at Burberry, where he participated in its successful relaunch. Prior to that, he acquired more than 15 years’ experience in major international luxury fashion brands, with companies such as Celine, LVMH Group, and Cerruti, as well as spending time in the shipping industry and diplomatic service. A nonexecutive board member of Royal Copenhagen (Axcel), Due is fluent in five languages and holds multiple degrees from schools in Copenhagen and Paris, as well as having completed the Corporate Finance Program at the London Business School.

company brief

Founded in Denmark in 1904, and famous for its elegant Scandinavian designs, Georg Jensen (www.georgjensen.com) has more than 100 stores in 12 countries. Originally a silversmith, creating exclusive silver hollowware and jewelry, Georg Jensen now offers a wide range of gold and silver jewelry, watches, cutlery, and hollowware, as well as items for the home.

You’ve had a very successful career in the luxury market. When the opportunity came about to lead Georg Jensen, what made you feel it was the right fit? What excited you about the brand?

It’s funny you ask me, because the other day I said to myself, at some stage in the interview, he’s going to ask me when I first got acquainted with Georg Jensen. So I thought back, and I remember my father giving me a letter opener from Georg Jensen as a kid, at my confirmation. When you’re 15 years old, you don’t really use a letter opener, but still I appreciated the design of the piece. In the nearly 25 years since then, I have had great opportunities to travel to different continents, and now I get to use all of that experience for the company. There are very few luxury brands in Scandinavia, and for me Georg Jensen is really the name that stands out. It represents the Scandinavian luxury business to the world.

You very recently took on this role at Georg Jensen. What do you see as your key priorities? How have you been familiarizing yourself with the company?

The first thing I did when I met with the management was to say that we needed to enhance our communication. So we ordered BlackBerrys for everybody. We installed a Web cam in our different regional offices so we can be online, which we are thrilled about. My management style is to stay very close to the team and to communicate in a very open and proactive way. So my first mission is to understand who is on the team and how we can work together. I’m also doing a world tour of the different subsidiaries and factories. I started with our factories in Denmark, and then I went to Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, and New York. It has been fascinating, because the demands from every market are consistent, which is a great thing. It makes it much easier to take the brand to the next level. The people from all the different regions have a message about what they think we should do to make this company an even bigger success. But whatever we do, I have to make sure that we keep with our short-, medium-, and long-term visions. I’m not into taking shortcuts to create sales or income if they don’t fit with the long-term vision.

New brands are coming out all the time and calling themselves luxury. Does luxury still have a strong meaning today, or has its meaning been lost?

I think it’s hard to define what luxury is, because it has become a term that really has no ending. I hope it has a strong meaning, but I think that the section of luxury within each individual brand is very different from one to another. But I want the Georg Jensen brand to protect the term luxury, and to make sure that it has the quality that we believe defines true luxury, which for us is Scandinavian design expression at the highest-quality level.

Is it important that new products have a Scandinavian feel, so that no matter what the piece, it’s clear it’s a Georg Jensen?

It is very important – it’s key to our occupation. Whatever we do with the brand, we must respect our origins and our stimulating design-expression impressions. It’s our strength, so we would be crazy not to use it. However, I am not limited to working only with Scandinavian designers. I think we can bring a lot of wealth to the company if we bring in international designers, as long as they fully understand the background of the brand and respect that expression.

You’ve been with the company for several weeks now and have met a lot of people. Are you happy with the talent you have?

I am very pleased, and I was struck by the passion the team has for the brand. That passion is essential. The team is just burning to make this an even stronger brand, which is a great start.

Was it difficult for you to leave Burberry? You were very successful there and are obviously proud of the brand. Was it challenging to make that change?

Of course it was. After nine years, a brand really gets into your heart. But this felt like the perfect opportunity and the perfect time for me. Once I made the decision, I had to detach myself and move on. But it took some time to go through the thought process and to make sure that it was the right thing to do.

You’ve been hands-on in sales and other parts of the luxury business. In the CEO role, will you need to step back with regard to how detailed and involved you get?

I think it’s a question of taking the time I need to gain confidence in our team players. Once that is established, I will have more of a macromanagement style, where I make sure that everybody is clear about their defined responsibilies – then I’ll let them go and run with it. So I would say that through the start-up phase, a more hands-on, micromanagement style is needed. But I hope that soon I can start to delegate and build the brand.

You have two kids, and you’re now traveling around the world. How challenging is to it balance your time?

When I am with my family, I manage to have a really wonderful time with them. I think the key to having the right balance is to make sure that, once I am there, I am there on the set. I think the kids appreciate that. But it is a balancing act, and I have to be very well-organized and structured. It takes discipline and organization, and whenever I can fit in the right time and the right moment for my family, I have to respect it.