"They do not only act as an accounting provider, but as a partner that understands our business and contributes to structure and quality throughout the entire chain."

Preem is Sweden’s largest fuel company, with operations across the entire value chain – from refining to production, distribution, and sales of fuel. At the beginning of 2026, Preem merged with VARO Energy and became VAROPreem, but continues to operate under the Preem brand for Swedish customers.

As early as 2005, Preem needed to find a partner who could support their franchisees, and this is when the collaboration with Azets began. When Preem in 2015 decided to also operate stations through a subsidiary, they once again chose Azets as their partner. Since then, Azets has supported both franchisees and the subsidiary with accounting and payroll services.

We met with Jack Lilja, Head of Corporate Operated Stations, Commercial Scandinavia at Preem, to learn more about the two-decade-long collaboration.

What services have you used from Azets?

Accounting and payroll services, supporting both our subsidiary and our franchisees.

What was your situation like before the collaboration with Azets?

The collaboration with Azets began as early as 2005, in connection with Preem launching its then new franchise concept. At that time, there was a clear need to create a uniform and quality-assured structure for how franchisees would manage their accounting.

The goal was to move from a more administratively heavy reseller model to a structure where franchisees could focus more on their operational business.

Azets was chosen as a partner because they had both the capacity and the way of working to support this transition in a scalable and professional way.

Why did you decide to outsource the work to an external partner?

Since the services are primarily aimed at our franchisees and not Preem’s own organisation, it was natural for the handling to be with an external partner.

This enables an independent, scalable, and professional delivery that creates security both for us and for our franchisees. At the same time, it ensures a consistent structure and quality in accounting across the entire network.

What are the advantages of collaborating with Azets?

When Preem established a subsidiary in 2015 to operate stations in-house, we faced the choice of managing the accounting internally or placing it with Azets, as we had done for our franchisees. We chose the latter—a decision that has been revisited several times as the business has evolved.

Each time, we have reached the same conclusion: Azets has systems, working methods, and experience that are well suited to our operations. They do not only act as an accounting provider, but as a partner that understands our business and contributes to structure and quality throughout the entire chain.

Their solution-oriented approach and availability are something we particularly value. When new needs arise or conditions change, they are quick to understand our challenges and develop practical solutions, which allows the collaboration to continue evolving over time.

What in the collaboration has provided your company with the most value?

The greatest value has been the standardisation of working methods and the creation of a more robust financial process, particularly during changes and transitions between stations.

Through the collaboration, we have also been able to ensure consistent accounting for all franchisees, despite the business being carried out across many different limited companies. This gives us a high degree of comparability and transparency across the entire network, which is very valuable for our monitoring and governance.

Would you recommend others to work with Azets?

Yes, absolutely. The collaboration has lasted for a long time, and together we have gone through many challenging periods and complex situations, which has strengthened both the partnership and the trust.

It is precisely this long-term perspective, combined with Azets’ ability to adapt and find solutions, that makes us see them as an important partner going forward.

Has anything in particular happened during the collaboration that you would like to highlight?

During a collaboration that spans nearly 20 years, there are many events and projects to highlight. Together, we have handled everything from new legal requirements and regulatory changes to major system changes in the business.

Since our systems are highly interconnected—for example during changes of POS systems or business systems—this has required close collaboration and joint solutions.

A current example is the work on handling the new food VAT, alongside an upcoming change of POS system at Preem. Such changes often involve a certain degree of uncertainty, but thanks to our long shared history, we feel confident that, together with Azets, we will always find workable and sustainable solutions.