Fired director of the Port of Hirtshals disagrees with firing: I was very surprised
It came as something of a shock to the Port of Hirtshals' CEO Jens Kirketerp Jensen when he received a dismissal letter from the port's board on December 22nd.
- Such a dismissal always comes as a big surprise, especially on December 22nd, just before Christmas, says the director, who, by agreement with the board, will continue in his job for the time being for the entire notice period, which runs until December 31st, 2021.
The dismissals come on the basis of an external consultancy study that the port board had commissioned at the end of 2020. This study assessed that the current management consisting of Jens Kirketerp Jensen and Deputy Director Karin Eilers were not the right people to lead the port in the challenges and development opportunities that the port faces in the coming years.
Jens Kirketerp Jensen strongly disagrees with this criticism.
- I see no problem in the fact that I could have been the one to lead the development that management wants, he says and continues:
- Now I haven't seen the report, but I have difficult to find the argument that I could not take on the task. I have been here for a number of years, and I have increased the turnover from 50 million. DKK to 80 million. DKK per year. I know that we will live in a more complicated world, but a port is a port. It is about being able to develop the opportunities that are purely social, transport and fishing. It is a broad development perspective, and I think I can accommodate that, and I still do today. So I have a hard time seeing the argument that you should not be able to continue something that is similar to the constellation that exists today, says Jens Kirketerp Jensen.
Proposes a "Jyske Bank model"
Jens Kirketerp Jensen believes that his dismissal is politically motivated. Jens Kirketerp Jensen has sensed that people want a politically rather than a commercially-minded director like him. That is why he is proposing a new management model for the port.
- You could take the Jyske Bank model, they have co-directors. So it is a model that I could see, if you want something more political than what I can deliver, then that is my suggestion, he says.
In Jyske Bank, there is a CEO and three more bank directors in the top management. It is such a solution on a smaller scale that Jens Kirketerp Jensen is proposing for the Port of Hirtshals.
Whether Jens Kirketerp Jensen has a future after December 31 as a co-director or in another position at the Port of Hirtshals is not ruled out.
In any case, the board of directors has announced in connection with the termination that it is discussing a continued connection to the port with Jens Kirketerp Jensen. And Jens Kirketerp Jensen is not averse to finding a solution.
- It depends on how it looks and what the conditions are. Now we have to see how it ends, says the outgoing director.
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