From opening night to leading the club

Marcus Martinsson has been part of Hjortviken Country Club since before the doors opened. On 1 January 2027, he becomes its new CEO.

Some careers follow a straight line. The best ones at ESS Group tend to follow the guests.

Marcus started with us as F&B Manager at Jacy’z Hotel & Resort during its very first year. He helped build the food and beverage operation from scratch: the menus, the teams and the rhythm of a brand-new house finding its feet. When Hjortviken Country Club was taking shape in the forests of Hindås, he moved on to become its Commercial Director, and he has been part of the club since the first plans were drawn.

Now he’s taking the next step.

A journey we want more people to make

“Marcus’s journey is exactly the one we want more people to be able to make with us,” says Jonas Stenberg, CEO and founder of ESS Group. “He knows the destination, he knows the team and he knows the guests. There’s no one better placed to lead Hjortviken into its next chapter.”

The handover is already underway. Since 1 October, Marcus has been working side by side with outgoing CEO Kent Johansson, who led Hjortviken through its first years. From the new year, Kent moves into a central role at ESS Group, where he will focus on commercial development, business development and marketing across the ESS family.

The same club, a new chapter

Just 20 minutes from Gothenburg, Hjortviken is one of Sweden’s few true country clubs. It has the 1,750 m² Bay Bay Pool Club, The Club Room restaurant, padel courts, meeting rooms for up to 300 guests, and a lot of long dinners and late nights in the bar.

“We have a fantastic destination, and Hindås is a place with huge potential,” says Marcus. “I’m really looking forward to writing the next chapter together with everyone who works here.”

For Marcus, that chapter is about protecting the feeling that makes Hjortviken what it is. That’s the feeling of missing the place before you’ve even left. When we ask him for his own favourites, he answers without hesitating: a cup of coffee by the fire in the lobby before the house wakes up, and a run through the forests around Hindås when the autumn colours take over and the air turns crisp.

Listening first

One of the first things Marcus did as incoming CEO was to ask our guests a question: What makes you long to come back? What should we do more of, and what would you love to experience here that we haven’t thought of yet?

That says a lot about how he plans to lead.

Congratulations, Marcus. We can’t wait to see where you take it.

For more info about Hjortviken Country Club, please visit www.hjortviken.se