It is an overcast afternoon in November as Berit Flodin sits in her basement office at typewriting agency, Snabbstenografen, typing clean copies of a number of letters for her customers. One of her most loyal clients arrives needing help with the translation of a few documents. He is agitated because his secretary has been taken ill and it is going to be extremely busy the following day in his office. After a brief discussion with Berit, they come to the conclusion that one of Berit's colleagues could just as easily sit and perform her transcription work on the customer's premises and, at the same time, assist him as his secretary. The temporary staffing company is born.
Proffice originated in Snabbstenografen which was founded in 1960 by Berit Flodin. The company offered typing agency services and later started hiring out secretaries in the Stockholm area.
The operation was run for many years by Berit and her husband Hans Hägglund and, with time, additional professional categories were added, such as telephonists and administrative assistants. The company expanded geographically with establishments founded in Malmö in 1976, Uppsala 1986 and Gothenburg 1987.
By degrees, the operation expanded to include linguistic secretaries, word processors, temporary telephonists, temporary terminal operators and typing agency centres, and in 1987 they were all brought together under the Proffice umbrella.
The principal owner, Christer Hägglund, acquired Proffice in 1989 since when operations have expanded at a fast pace. In 1997, the Norwegian company Personellassistanse was acquired, and Proffice Care was launched. In 1998 operations were established in Denmark and, since the acquisition in 1999 of the Finnish company Office Team, the company has been operating in Finland.
