Danish home furnishing retailer JYSK gears up to open new technology hub in Lisbon, Portugal

JYSK is set to open a new tech hub in Lisbon, Portugal which, it says, will provide more capacity to develop IT solutions making it easier and faster for customers to shop with it. The centre will be established alongside the retailer’s primary IT departments in Handewitt and Aarhus.

Opening during the spring of 2025, the hub will see a number of new employees helping to further develop current IT solutions and implement new ones that will ensure an even better customer experience.

At the same time, JYSK has promoted Keld Marott to Executive Vice President of IT. "Although our recruitment has never been faster, the greater ambitions in IT have led to more open IT positions. The office in Lisbon will help this," he says.

JYSK has entered into a local partnership with a company that helps with recruitment in the startup phase and provides office facilities. The first software engineers are expected to start in May, and the plan is to have 10-15 people employed before the summer holidays.

"In the beginning, the focus will be on hiring colleagues with Java competencies who can actively contribute to our agile teams, as well as a local team leader who can support the development of the location. The goal is to create a tech hub that enables even faster growth and innovation for the benefit of both our stores and customers," says Thomas Høiberg Jensen, Director SAP & IT Development at JYSK.

The choice of Lisbon as a location is based on several factors. Among other things, there is a good cultural match, and Lisbon has various technical education establishments. In addition, many people in Lisbon speak English at a high level, and the city only has an hour's time difference compared to JYSK's primary IT departments in Aarhus (Denmark) and Handewitt (Germany), which makes collaboration easier.

"The new tech hub in Lisbon should be seen as a complement to our existing locations, and we will of course continue to recruit new talents in both Handewitt and Aarhus," says Marott.

2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

Technology hubs will be a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards. which will open for entries in March, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended November's gathering. 

For further information on the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards, please fill in the below form and we will get back to you asap.