Laura Hay Uggla is the new chair of Sydhavnen A/S, elected at the company's annual general meeting on March 9. The newly elected chair and board of directors will now continue working on the development of Grenaa Sydhavn and activities in the area.
At the annual general meeting of Sydhavnen A/S, a subsidiary of Grenaa Port, two new board members were welcomed and two were bid farewell.
One of Sydhavnen A/S's objectives is to develop and promote Grenaa Sydhavn as a recreational and sustainable area where maritime life goes hand in hand with business, innovation, events, and culture.
Two new members
Two of the board's five members have been appointed by Norddjurs Municipality. Jan Petersen, who has been appointed to the board by Norddjurs Municipality since 2022 and has served as chairman of Sydhavnen A/S, has resigned from the board. The same applies to Anne Bjerrekær, who has also been a member of the board since 2022.
Laura Hay Uggla and Aleksander Myrhøj have joined as new members. Myrhøj has been appointed as representative for Norddjurs Municipality, as has Benno Blæsild, who remains on the board.
At a subsequent board meeting, the board constituted itself with Laura Hay Uggla as chair and Henrik Carstensen, director of Port of Grenaa, as vice chair.
The new board now consists of:
Laura Hay Uggla, Chair
Henrik Carstensen, Vice Chair
Aleksander Myrhøj
Lene S. Sørensen
Benno Blæsild
Henrik Carstensen thanked the two outgoing board members for their efforts:
“I would like to thank Jan Petersen and Anne Bjerrekær for their commitment and work on the board over the past few years. At the same time, we look forward to working with the new members, who bring strong skills to the board’s work.”
Experience from business and local politics
Laura Hay Uggla is no stranger to port management. She has been a member of the board of Port of Grenaa since 2021 Port of Grenaa has served as vice chair since 2022.
She holds a Master of Laws degree from Aarhus University and has previously served as a councilor in Aarhus Municipality. Today, she is a board member of a number of commercial enterprises and cultural institutions, including chair of the ARoS art museum.
Laura Hay Uggla sees great potential in developing Sydhavnen:
"Sydhavnen is a very central location with great potential for both Grenaa Port and the town of Grenaa. I am convinced that this will require a strong team effort from the board of directors, Norddjurs Municipality, and the town's citizens and business community," she says, elaborating:
“I grew up on Hjarnø in Horsens Fjord and am fascinated by the connection to the sea and the unique gathering place that can be created around a harbor.”
The newly elected chair brings experience in urban development, including from her time as councilor for Technology and Environment in Aarhus.
“Through my work on a number of cultural and business boards, I have also developed an eye for both cultural and commercial opportunities. With this experience, I hope that I can contribute positively to the development of Sydhavnen and build on the great efforts that Grenaa Port, Norddjurs Municipality, and the previous board have already put into the project."
Aleksander Myrhøj is a member of the municipal council in Norddjurs Municipality for the Socialist People's Party (SF). He has been active in local politics for a number of years and works as an independent special education consultant.
Further develop the vision for Sydhavnen
One of the new board's most important tasks is to draw up a good plan for the development of the area and to implement concrete initiatives. On the drawing board is, among other things, a plan for Sydhavnstorvet and a possible development of the red building located in the same area.
This development work is being carried out in close collaboration with the association "Norddjurs Development Association for Climate and Sustainable Development," which consists of representatives from Norddjurs Municipality, the Kattegat Center, Port of Grenaa Sydhavnen A/S.
Mette Klit, who took up the position of CEO of Sydhavnen A/S in April 2025, has spent the past year focusing on talking to the port's stakeholders and gathering their ideas for developing the area.
"We recently brought together a large number of the area's event organizers, including restaurateurs, hotels, and associations, for a networking meeting, where it became clear that there was strong support for joint development. This is a really positive approach to build on as the new board gets started on its work," says Mette Klit.
She warmly welcomes the new chairman of the board:
“There is no doubt that Laura Hay Uggla brings some strong skills that we need. She has experience with fundraising, and funding is one of the prerequisites for us to develop the area.”
Turning up the culture
At the general meeting, it was also emphasized that Sydhavnen has experienced great local support for the cultural events that have been held during 2025. Therefore, some of the activities in spring and summer 2026 will be scaled up.
“We are repeating the success of our one-day Sydhavnsfestival on Saturday, August 1, where this year we will be offering more music and expanding the festival area. In addition, we are also very pleased to welcome Nordisk Skudetræf on Tuesday, June 30, when we expect a number of beautiful wooden ships to visit our cozy harbor," says Mette Klit.
In the coming years, the Sydhavnen board will have to decide which initiatives to prioritize and implement, as well as how to seek funding to realize the projects.
The board will begin this work in earnest when it holds its next board meeting in April.
The Board of Directors of Sydhavnen A/S
Laura Hay Uggla, Chair
Henrik Carstensen, Vice Chair
Aleksander Myrhøj
Lene S. Sørensen
Benno Blæsild
About Sydhavnen A/S
Sydhavnen A/S is a subsidiary of the Port of Grenaa Group.
Sydhavnen A/S, whose purpose is to develop and promote Grenaa Sydhavn as a recreational and sustainable area. The company's overall mission is to create an engaging tension between historic harbor life and a developing environment around business, innovation, events, and culture. The Sydhavnen area stretches from Ndr. Kajgade in the north to the Kattegat Center in the south.
