WeAreCustomsSupport

In this series, we will interview the people who are always ready to assist you with your customs-related needs in foreign trade. Next up in this series is Mikael Eriksson, Managing Director of our Sweden organisation.

In this series, we will interview the people who are always ready to assist you with importing or exporting your goods without worries. Next up in this series is Yvonne Shaw, who is the office manager in Paisley, UK.

Who are you? 

My name is Kati Fortino. I’m 32 years old, and I live near Helsinki with my Italian husband and our 1.5-year-old boy. My career in customs started in 2013 at SA-TU Logistics, now Customs Support Finland. I’ve had different positions in the customs industry. I began in exports and transitioned to digital transformations and communications. I grew as the company grew, and now I’m the Marketing Coordinator for Finland and Sweden.   

In this series, we will interview the people who are always ready to assist you with importing or exporting your goods without worries. Next up in this series is Jens Stevens, who is a senior customs consultant in The Netherlands.

Who are you?

 “My name is Christa Doornbos. I have been working at Customs Support for four years now. I started in Finance and made a switch to Human Resources about two years ago.

 I am Human Resource Operations Manager. In this role, I am responsible for human resources in the Netherlands. I do not work alone, I have a great team of three colleagues. Two of them work on human resource-related matters, and one specializes in recruitment.

 We handle anything ranging from contracts, payroll, and onboarding to training and development.”

Who are you?

I'm Nicola Haynes, a senior customs consultant. I've been working in the customs field for nearly 40 years and have been in all sorts of roles. I've worked for HMRC, out in the industry and I've worked in consulting, so I've experienced customs activity from all sides, really.

Let’s look at some of the numbers for 2021 first:

Who are you?

My name is Esko Holopainen, and I am the customs clearance director in Finland.

What does a director of customs clearance do?

I manage all the customs activities in Finland. This includes all the development of our digital systems, overseeing our team of customs declarants, and resolving any issues that arise.

With 42 years of experience, Bruno can be called a veteran in the Italian customs industry. He started his career in customs at 19 years of age as a delivery boy for a customs broker in the Port of La Spezia. After a few years of running across the port of La Specia with customs documents, he decided to get his customs broker license and successfully took the exam in 1987. 

So, Frits, tell us a little about yourself!

My name is Frits Tenge, and I am 63 years old. I was born and raised in Arnhem, but for the past 42 years, I have been living in Grubbenvorst, a small town in Limburg in the South of the Netherlands. It is the centre of asparagus cultivation. I live there with my girlfriend Thea, and we have a son and a daughter, and three grandchildren! In 1979 I started working at the Dutch Customs Authority. I started as a border guard, checking passports at the border.