Magnus Harryson, CFO Braathens Regional Airlines (BRA)

A company reconstruction puts the finance function under a kind of pressure that most CFOs never encounter. Every number is scrutinised — by the administrator, by creditors, by the court — and it all has to hold up while the operating business continues to run.

Gustav joined us as interim CFO for that period. He balanced the cash and liquidity planning that we needed to steer week by week, brought stability for the team and organization with genuinely complicated interdependencies, and produced the documentation the process required, on time and without drama. Where questions were cross-border or legally technical, he took them seriously enough to get them right rather than settling for a workable answer.

What stood out was temperament as much as technical skill. He was steady when the situation wasn't, honest with us about what the numbers showed, and entirely discreet throughout. In a process of this kind, that combination is rare and it matters more than anything on a CV.

Alexander Ekman, Choreographer and Creative founder


"Artists are told constantly to be more businesslike. What we actually need is someone who takes the business seriously so that we don't have to think about it at all.

Establishing the studio in Paris was a complicated undertaking. It ran across two legal systems and three languages, it involved international partners, and it required a French association and mécénat model built alongside the commercial structure — so that exhibitions and brand partnerships could be funded properly rather than improvised.

Gustav handled it. He went and understood the French structures rather than assuming Swedish ones would translate, held things together over a long stretch, and was honest with me when something wasn't going to work — which I valued more than the times he agreed with me.

The result is a studio with a permanent base in Paris and a funding model that can carry the artistic work, not just the commercial part. And I spent that time making work." It All Begins Here

Mikael Wiborgh, CFO, NO-GA

"My perspective on The Swedish Concept is a particular one: I inherited the work rather than watched it being done. Gustav had been our CFO through the group's growth years, and when we needed the role covered again he came back on an interim basis. That the group asked for him twice is probably the most useful thing I can tell you.

He centralised the group — a new corporate structure designed and executed, and an ERP implementation that rebuilt and simplified transaction flows across the companies. Both were finished, not half-finished, which is not always what an incoming CFO finds. The handover was thorough and he has stayed reachable since.”

Shaan Archer, COO, HAVA

As COO, I needed a finance partner who could do two things at once: stabilise the present and build the case for the future. The Swedish Concept did both.

The work began with an accounting audit, so we knew our real position and could trust the numbers going forward. From there came a financial review of how the business had been run, which became a cost programme that changed our operations at a fundamental level. Gustav then built the financial business plan that gave us clear long-term goals, produced the investor memorandum together with me, met investors alongside us and secured the financing we needed.

The part that outlasted the engagement was the operating rhythm he installed — business review processes, reconciliation routines, and an OKR and performance management structure that kept the company in control after he left. He was direct when it mattered, which is exactly what you want from a CFO. I'd work with The Swedish Concept again without hesitation."