The Outstanding Contribution recipient for AHEAD Europe 2018 has been announced as Petter Stordalen, founder and CEO of Strawberry Group.

Founded in 2016, Strawberry Group comprises ten companies operating in real estate, finance, art and hospitality including Nordic Choice Hotels. Its name, Strawberry Group, holds sentimental value for Stordalen, relating to his childhood and namely being voted Norway’s top strawberry seller at the age of 12.

Commenting, Petter states: “When I was 12, I loved selling strawberries in my hometown. But I often envied the other sellers who had larger and fresher berries than mine. ”Sell the berries you have, because they are the only berries you can sell”, my father told me. The quote became the ‘Strawberry Philosophy’. Today the berry symbolises more than the legacy of my father. It represents the people and companies that, with their bold ideas and badass determination, have created my business universe – Strawberry”.

Following his early business success, Petter went on to grow two hotels into Scandinavia’s largest hotel company in just 15 years. Today, Nordic Choice Hotels boasts 14,000 employees, six hotel chains, 190 hotels and a yearly turnover of USD1.6 billion.

Two of the group’s most notable properties to date opened in 2017 in Stockholm: At Six and Hobo, and have received numerous accolades including best Guestrooms and Urban Hotel – Conversion at AHEAD Europe 2017. A forward-thinking, guest-centric concept, At Six successfully combines art and design in a cohesive manner. The result is a collection of curated and commissioned art pieces from some of today’s most prominent up-and-coming international artists.

Petter will collect the Outstanding Contribution award in front of over 900 industry peers at AHEAD Europe on Monday 19 November at Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, London. Tickets for the ceremony have now sold out - join the waiting list here.