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Our history

Family owned since 1948.

“You never really own a family business. You merely look after it for the next generation.” Three generations of the Spandow family have built Amesto Group from a post-war secretarial agency into one of Norway’s most innovative business groups.

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Our guiding principles

Profitably, sustainably, and with a sincere desire to make the world a better place.

Almost 80 years ago, Else Widerøe founded the company Contact Service, the seed of what has today become the Spabo Group, Amesto, and Spabo Eiendom.

Today, the group has a turnover of NOK 1.4 billion and over 1,000 employees in 9 countries. The company remains family owned and is still run according to the same values as always: business with heart and mind. The cornerstone of the company is to operate profitably and sustainably, with a genuine wish to make the world better.

1948 – The beginning

Else Widerøe and Contact Service.

The story begins in 1948, when Else Widerøe founded the company Contact Service. The company worked with placing secretarial jobs for foreigners who came to Norway after the Second World War, and later moved into the temp staffing industry. In 1980, Thor Spandow, Else's son, took over and developed the company into Norsk Personal Gruppen (later Olsten Personal Norden), which he owned and ran together with his business partner Lars B. Gjerde. In 2001, the company was sold to Adecco. At that point, it was the second largest recruitment agency in the Nordics, with an annual turnover of NOK 2.1 billion.

When Adecco bought the company, Thor placed NOK 150 million of the proceeds into the family's real estate company, the start of what is today Spabo Eiendom, which now owns nearly 500 properties worth NOK 4 billion.

"The balance of head and heart gives life its best chance."

Thor Spandow built his life's work on this philosophy. It lives on in all of the group's companies today.

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Jan Spandow

Jan joined the property business in 2001 and led the real estate company Spabo and its subsidiaries until he handed over daily operations to new CEO Anne Kari Søvik. The company specializes in leasing commercial premises and apartments in central locations in Oslo and Ålesund. Spabo offers both furnished and unfurnished apartments for short- and long-term rental, as well as a substantial portfolio of commercial space in Grünerløkka, Bislett, Tøyen, and Frogner. Spabo also owns properties abroad.

Jan Spandow

Arild Spandow

Arild joined the part of the family business working in services, and in 2002 Amesto Group was established. The company is wholly owned by the Spabo Group. Amesto provides outsourcing services in accounting, payroll, HR and tech, AI and integrations, as well as staffing services through Toptemp. The Amesto group has also brought on several intrapreneurs who choose to put their entrepreneurial spirit to work with us.

Arild Spandow

Ariana Spandow

Having founded and run her own business since she was 25, she too chose to join the group's operational side. She started in the marketing team in 2012 and has since worked on positioning sustainable operations, with a societal perspective as a foundation and competitive advantage for all the companies in the group. In 2021, she became chair of the board of Spabo Group, and today she is active in operations at Amesto Aces.

Ariane Spandow

Entrepreneurs for generations

The Spandow family are entrepreneurs. It's in their backbone and has been a common thread across generations.

We're serial entrepreneurs, both my children and I. Every company, or every apartment building, is a new entrepreneurial project. We're not speculators, we're developers and stewards. We buy older buildings, renovate and develop them. We build new business areas from the ground up, or acquire and develop smaller companies. It's all about creating value and making long term investments.

Thor Spandow 1936-2026