Kim is the first 10-year jubilee in JYSK UK

Kim Blackwell, Finance Manager at JYSK UK, is the first employee in the UK to celebrate a 10-year anniversary.

Kim Blackwell’s journey at JYSK started by coincidence.

It began when her CV ended up on the desk of a recruitment agency that was looking for employees for JYSK’s UK Head Office.

At the time, JYSK was completely unknown in the UK. Once Kim learned about JYSK, she was interested in the company and the job. Kim joined JYSK UK as just the third employee, and she is still part of the UK team that has grown to include over 130 employees.

“It feels nice to say that I have been part of JYSK UK’s journey from the beginning – proud actually. Not many people can say they have taken part in building a whole department from scratch,” says Kim.

"I love working at JYSK. We have a friendly atmosphere at the office and everyone gets along very well."- Kim Blackwell, Finance Manager at JYSK UK

Kim started at JYSK in 2007, before the first two store openings on April 4th 2008 in Lincoln and Mansfield. She clearly remembers the openings.

“We all stayed at the Bentley hotel in Lincoln – at the time Lars Larsen also had a Bentley, so we thought it was appropriate. On the day of the opening, the team split up and I went to the store opening in Mansfield. Management from Denmark came to the store openings and we were all very excited,” says Kim. 

Multitasking in her job

Since the first two store openings, some things have changed. The Head Office, located in Stockport southeast of Manchester – 5 minutes from Kim’s home, looks the same. However, more employees have joined the company along the way.

“The first year was really hard work. When I started as Accounting Manager, I was the only one in the Finance department and therefore had to do all tasks myself. Today, we are three people working in Finance, and it has been great getting more colleagues,” says Kim.

The Head Office in the UK is very busy and as the organisation is still quite small, Kim and her colleagues also cover other job functions. Therefore, multitasking is something that Kim and her colleagues master every day.

“In all ten years I have done many different tasks, and that is what I love about my job. I always have something different to do. I remember being asked at the job interview how I would react if JYSK did not expand as quickly as planned and therefore not enough work to do – I think they were afraid I was going to get bored – but that has never been the case,” says Kim.

A strong team

In the beginning of this year, David Ashton became the new Country Manager for JYSK UK. He has high ambitions for JYSK and believes that a strong and united team is important in the development of JYSK UK.

“It feels nice to say that I have been part of JYSK UK’s journey from the beginning – proud actually."- Kim Blackwell, Finance Manager at JYSK UK

A new initiative this year was to combine kick-off with the company’s annual party for all employees.

“It was really brilliant and motivational. It was great to gather all employees for a couple of days and combine our kick-off with a social event,” says Kim. 

The event was held at a theme park, Alton Towers, and JYSK paid for hotels and access to the park. For the first time all stores were closed the day after the party where everyone was gathered for a meeting and teambuilding.

Celebrating with colleagues

The social aspect and spending time with her colleagues in a different way is something that Kim values in her job.

“I love working at JYSK. We have a friendly atmosphere at the office and everyone gets along very well. Once a month we have Social Friday which is a great opportunity to have fun with your colleagues after work,” says Kim.

Kim will celebrate her 10-year anniversary on December 3rd. In the beginning of next year, some of her colleagues from both Head Office and stores will follow.