Peter Ågren

former President SSA Sweden, Shurgard Europe

Meet our moderator of the 2026 Nordic Conference.

Peter Ågren joined the self storage family in January 2004 after almost 15 years in the hospitality industry across the Nordics and continental Europe.

In his  own words, Peter received a very warm welcome from Michael Fogelberg and the small Shurgard team in Sweden and Denmark.

His first twenty years with Shurgard were spent in operations in Sweden and Denmark, while also managing the new market in Germany and the more mature Shurgard UK market. During this time, he focused on growing the company, improving the customer experience, and developing people.

The SSA Sweden and Denmark was founded in 2004 to make the voice of self storage stronger and louder.

For the past four years, he has managed national accounts and other income streams at a European level for Shurgard. There are great opportunities to enhance the customer experience at our properties while also generating incremental revenue.

In addition to still enjoying our self storage industry and family, he is looking forward to growing his personal family as he prepares to become a grandfather this May.

Carl August Ameln

First Risk Capital

Carl August Ameln is a Norwegian entrepreneur and self-storage pioneer with over 30 years of industry experience. He has founded and developed multiple self-storage businesses across Scandinavia and Europe, helping establish and grow the sector in the Nordic market. His work spans operations, real estate development, and investment within the storage industry.

Gavin Shields

Stora

Gavin Shields is the founder and CEO of Stora, the operating system for growth-focused self storage businesses. Before founding Stora, Gavin launched and scaled startups and ran his own self storage business, giving him first-hand insight into the challenges of legacy systems, manual admin, and operational drag. Today, Stora helps operators modernise and unlock new revenue through automation, pricing intelligence, and flexible integrations — and powers hundreds of self storage businesses worldwide.

Isak Larsson

co-founder, Second Space

Isak Larsson is Co-Founder and CEO of Second Space, a Norwegian self-storage company focused on acquiring, owning, and developing well-located properties for self-storage use. With more than 20 years of industry experience, he has worked across operations, property development, and expansion.

Louise Stokes

Head of Sales, Kinnovis

Louise Stokes is Head of Sales at Kinnovis, working with self storage operators to introduce automation into everyday operations. Prior to this, she was Head of Digital & Operations at Swift Storage in Australia, where she helped design and scale a fully remote-managed, digital-first operating model. Starting as the first hire, Louise supported the growth of the business to 15 sites over three years with a lean central team. Today, she focuses on helping operators simplify operations, improve customer experience, and scale sustainably using smart technology and automation.

Dean Daly

blue self storage

Dean brings a wealth of experience from the construction and housing sectors, but it’s his knack for thinking outside the box that truly makes him stand out. 📦 As Operations Director, he’s all about shaking things up, finding creative solutions, and making sure the company is always one step ahead and never boring 💡. With a passion for exceptional customer experiences and a drive to do things differently, Dean leads with energy, vision, and a focus on sustainability. From championing green initiatives to delivering bold ideas, Dean ensures the business doesn’t just grow, it stands out.

Ann-Kristin Hartmann

First Risk Capital

Ann-Kristin has more than 15 years of experience in the self storage industry and currently serves as CEO of First Risk Capital. She has previously led self storage operations in Norway, Sweden, the UK, and Ireland. Today, she is Chair of the Swedish Self Storage Association and serves on the FEDESSA Board as both Executive Council Member and Treasurer. In addition, Ann-Kristin acts as a consultant and holds several board positions within self storage companies in the First Risk Capital portfolio.

Jill Leckie

Developed by Me

Jill is a full stack marketing consultant, specialising marketing for self storage. Her belief is that brand awareness and top-funnel marketing activity combined with high impact, short term performance marketing (PPC)  activity is the success factor in sustainable, long-term growth. With over a decade's worth of experience in digital marketing, Jill’s business, Developed by me AB, helps small teams with big business and brand ambitions to achieve their goals through data-driven insights and strategies. Jill is a Hyper Island alumni and a certified LinkedIn and Meta advertiser, with skills in paid social media, Google Ads, email marketing, SEO, and content creation.

Mikael Lindgren

Senior Advisor Combating Customs Crime (MOU), Intelligence Unit East

Mikael Lindgren is a highly experienced customs specialist with more than forty years of operational, investigative, and intelligence expertise within Swedish Customs and international enforcement missions. Since 2020, he has served as Senior Advisor for Combating Customs Crime (MOU) within the Intelligence Unit East, where he focuses on strategic intelligence, cross‑border cooperation, and high‑level criminal enforcement initiatives.

Throughout his career, Mikael has held several key leadership roles within Customs Region East, including Head of the Controls and Criminal Investigation Unit (2013–2020), Head of Operations (2010–2013), and Head of the Controls Unit (2007–2012). His longstanding work in intelligence dates back to serving as Head of the Intelligence Unit for Customs Region East (1996–1999).

Mikael’s international experience includes serving as the Nordic Police and Customs Liaison Officer in Latvia and Lithuania (2001–2007), Intelligence Adviser for CAFAO in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1999–2001), and Adviser to the EU’s Sanctions Assistance Mission in Ukraine (1993). Earlier in his career, he held various investigative and prosecutorial roles within Stockholm Customs, building a strong foundation in customs law enforcement and criminal investigations.

Starting his career as a Customs Officer in Stockholm in 1980, Mikael Lindgren has spent more than four decades strengthening Nordic and international cooperation against customs‑related crime. His expertise is widely recognized across the enforcement community, and his work continues to influence modern customs intelligence practices.

Ollie Saunders

Head of Self Storage, Savills

A real estate professional with a leading profile in the self storage sector having worked across the UK and EMEA since the 1990s from a valuation, agency and corporate finance perspective.  He is head of self storage at Savills which is Europe’s largest and leading team of advisors to the sector.
 
Ollie has a deep sector knowledge, bringing together his first-hand transactional experience and creativity, together with an analytical professionalism

Ville Stenroos

co-founder, Cityvarasto Plc

Self-storage pioneer and co-founder of Cityvarasto Plc (listed on Nasdaq First North Helsinki)

In 2007, we launched the world’s first online self-storage rental platform, enabling fully unmanned facilities with mobile phone access and no on-site staff

Today, Cityvarasto is Finland’s largest self-storage operator with 70+ locations nationwide. Our group also includes PakuOvelle.com, Finland’s leading van rental brand, and Opiskelijamuutot, the country’s largest moving company focused exclusively on private customers

Glenn Bengtsson

Market Manager Scandinavia, Shurgard

Glenn Bengtsson is Country Manager Scandinavia at Shurgard Self Storage, with 15 years of experience in the self storage industry across Sweden, Denmark. Since joining Shurgard in 2011, he has held senior leadership roles spanning regional, national, and multi-country operations, with a strong focus on operational performance, scalable growth, and people leadership.

Glenn is Chair of the Danish Self Storage Association, a board member of the Swedish Self Storage Association, and represents DK at European level through FEDESSA, contributing hands‑on operator insight to industry collaboration and standards.

Earlier in his career, Glenn held more than 10 years of commercial and multi‑site roles in grocery retail, building a strong sales, operational excellence foundation.

 

 

Charlotte Van Maele

Schollaert Removals & Storage

Charlotte Van Maele built her early career at the intersection of technology and communication, working as a functional analyst in web development after completing her studies in marketing and communication. That blend of strategic thinking and technical fluency would prove to be exactly what was needed when she began turning her attention to the family business.

Ten years ago, Charlotte started lending a hand to Schollaert, the removal company run by her husband Thibaut's family, at first quietly, in her spare time, fitting it around her professional life. What began as informal support gradually grew into something more deliberate. Five years ago, she formalised her involvement, taking on freelance work for the company with a clear focus: modernising its marketing, driving digitalisation, and improving the way things were done day to day.

The results of that groundwork are now visible in how confidently Schollaert is moving forward. Since January 2026, Charlotte has stepped fully into the business, working alongside Thibaut as he takes on the leadership of the company his family built. It's a transition they're navigating together, one that brings Charlotte's years of behind-the-scenes contribution into the centre of the story, right where they belong.

 

Francesca Damiano

Casaforte

Francesca has been involved in Casaforte's marketing and communications since the company changed management and pace in 2017.

Expert in communications and marketing strategies, she coordinates a team that includes online marketing experts, digital specialists, and neuromarketers.

Always passionate about communications, she quickly understood the importance of the Human-to-Human approach also in the self-storage sector, creating emotional experiences for customers that go beyond the simple conversion funnel, bringing innovation and originality to communications and facilities.

In 2021, she joined Casaforte's Advisory Board and in 2024, she earned a master's degree in Neuromarketing, Consumer Neuroscience, and Market Research to deepen her understanding of customer decision-making processes.