Interview with Pasi Anttila, Polartherm

For Finnish heating specialist Polartherm, the path to Bergman & Beving did not start with an operational problem. It started with a question of ownership. The company wanted an owner who would let it keep working in the same spirit, with the same people and in the same place. In Bergman & Beving it found one, along with a stronger platform to build on.

Polartherm develops and manufactures mobile heating equipment for demanding, often mission-critical use, across both civilian and military markets. What sets the company apart is less any single niche than the combination of niches it has chosen and a product portfolio built up over decades. To Polartherm’s knowledge, no other company offers quite the same mix.

On the civilian side, the company is particularly strong in North America, the result of years of close work with top-tier partners and steady refinement of its products alongside customers. Central Europe is a second key market, developed over many years with one highly capable partner. One of Polartherm’s most distinctive areas is aircraft heating, which it has designed and built since the 1980s. It is a small, specialised field that holds little interest for large manufacturers, and that expertise later opened the door to military work, including projects with the U.S. Air Force.

Military business has been a significant part of the company since the early 2000s. Polartherm has won several competitive tenders for ground support and tent heaters, supplying first the U.S. Air Force and later the Canadian Armed Forces, and building a reputation as a trusted supplier in demanding, mission-critical applications.

Built behind the brand

Much of that success comes down to deep specialisation and close customer relationships. The operating model adds something less common. While most of the products are Polartherm’s own, the business in many ways resembles contract manufacturing. The company builds equipment for its key customers under their brand and in their colours, so Polartherm itself is rarely the visible end-brand. Its customers gain added value by strengthening their own, an arrangement that has been well received and sets the company apart from competitors.

Behind it all is a team that tends to stay.

“We have exceptionally long employment relationships, also on the shop floor, which is rare today. Our people carry deep, practical knowledge that cannot easily be replaced,” says Pasi Anttila.

That continuity, together with a strong belief in the company’s own work and a culture of working together, has been central to how Polartherm has developed and held its quality over the years.

Finding the right owner

Polartherm did not face major operational challenges before joining Bergman & Beving. The issue was ownership. Over time the traditional structure, where shares could be bought back by the company when a shareholder retired, was no longer sustainable, and that prompted a search for a long-term alternative.

Bergman & Beving stood out as a responsible, long-term owner, one that acquires companies to develop them rather than to sell them on. Just as important was continuity for the employees. The change of ownership was arranged to affect daily operations as little as possible, with the company continuing as before, in the same location and with the same people and resources.

For Pasi Anttila, the balance since then has worked well. Decision-making is genuinely left to the companies themselves, which is not always the case in larger groups, while support is there whenever it is needed. Being part of a larger group also offers a stronger platform for the future, particularly for acquisitions and further expansion. Those opportunities are not all immediately active in the current market, but they remain a clear path once conditions improve.

“What has surprised me most is how little our day-to-day work has changed, while we now have access to a stronger structure behind the company,” says Pasi Anttila.