executive travel - zurich.

This article was first published in Executive Travel Magazine

Zurich: Old Style, New Edge

Tom Armitage - Zurich

Once the preserve of bankers and insurers, Zurich is shaking off its staid image to emerge as a stylish European centre. The Riviera-like lake and hip fringes of Switzerland’s largest city are attracting a more diverse and international population. Technology, biotech and industrial companies are setting up shop in the area. And the city still ranks number one in global quality of life surveys. It’s time to see what makes Zurich tick.


Stand on Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse, the city’s famous shopping mile, and there is little indication of the changes going on in other parts of town: the city’s well healed residents and the visiting jet setters continue to fit right in here. From luxury jewelers to shops selling furs, all their material needs are catered for. Discrete brass nameplates revealing the locations of private banks and asset managers suggest that their financial requirements are also well looked after.

Head away from the medieval town centre, home to Swiss banking giants Credit Suisse and UBS, and the city starts to defy its reputation for stuffiness. Owing something to the urban regeneration of German capital Berlin, Zurich’s industrial districts, situated further up the Limmat river, are undergoing a major revival: deserted warehouse buildings have been turned into shops, apartments and offices, creating a vibrant counterpoint to the city’s traditional heart.

The changes have helped reinforce Zurich’s reputation as an international city and attract new industries to what was a predominantly banking and finance centre. Internet giant Google Inc has just opened an engineering centre in Zurich, which is also home to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Europe’s leading technical university. “Industry in Zurich has changed: banking is no longer a self-centered universe of secretive organizations,” says Martin Naville, chief executive of the Swiss American Chamber of Commerce (www.amcham.ch). “Swiss banks are now global players and on top of this you have the Googles of this world as well as companies like GM Europe, Dow Europe and Timberland all of which have headquarters nearby.”

For such a small place, Zurich has more than its fair share of big business. “Zurich punches way above its league in terms of its size and importance,” says Naville, a former Boston Consulting Group executive and one-time JP Morgan employee. “We are a city of 350,000 people and we consistently come top in many things. It really is quite amazing.”

With so many foreign companies, and a high ratio of foreigners among the population – currently 28 percent – it comes as no surprise that doing business in Zurich is a relatively straightforward affair. English is almost universally spoken in major companies. Business practices are largely similar, says Naville, but dress tends to be a little more casual with Swiss men often favoring jackets and slacks. The Swiss defend their work-life balance more resolutely than the North Americans but they do tend to start work earlier: 7.30 a.m. is standard in some offices. And punctuality is a virtue in Switzerland – so turn up everywhere two minutes early or risk offending your host.

Margaret Oertig-Davidson, owner of Contexts (www.contexts.ch), an intercultural communications consultancy, says there is higher degree of formality to Swiss business meetings. “The Swiss do not immediately try to break the ice,” she says. “They are formal and they expect that it will take time for a relationship to grow. They don’t need to feel that they have hit it off immediately.” This attitude can jar with the more open U.S.-style but it doesn’t mean the Swiss are not open to doing business. When it comes down to detailed negotiations, Oertig-Davidson notes one major difference between the Swiss and North American approaches: while the American mentality is to ‘win’ the deal, the Swiss tend to seek a consensual agreement in which everyone stands to benefit.

“The Swiss are very good at the so-called Harvard method of integrative bargaining which goes beyond ‘winning’ and ‘losing’,” she said. “And that’s for a very good reason: Switzerland’s business world is like a gentlemen’s club and your negotiating partners will never forget you.” Another important distinction lies in the way that Swiss companies are organized: while in some cultures managers play an important role in motivating and guiding the workforce, Swiss employees tend to be more autonomous and willing to take individual responsibility for their job. This also means that once something has been agreed upon it invariably gets done, without the need for managers to chase up. “Doing business in Zurich I was surprised that when a Swiss person said they would do something they really meant it,” said Paul Selwold, a telecoms project manager from Minneapolis, MN, who first came to Zurich in 2000. “People found it unnecessary for me to follow up and confirm what was agreed on in the meeting – they felt their word was valid.”

The ease with which North Americans slip into Swiss culture can be seen in the numbers of Americans holding leading roles at Swiss companies. “Switzerland is probably the most American country in Europe,” says Naville. Two of the city’s biggest financial services companies are headed by Americans: Credit Suisse by Chief Executive Brady Dougan and insurer Zurich Financial Services by Jim Schiro. In fact, many of Switzerland’s other major employers are managed by foreigners, be they American, British, French or German, a state of affairs that some neighboring countries would find difficult to accept.

Nestled in a shallow valley at the end of a crystal clear lake, it is not hard to see why Zurich continues to exert such a pull over foreign executives and their families. The city consistently ranks at or near the top of quality of living surveys. As well as the city’s remarkable infrastructure, Zurich offers top-class international schools and health facilities.

For the business traveler, Zurich offers plenty of diversions if you have a couple of hours to spare between meetings. You might drop into the Fraumünster Abbey on the left shore of the Limmat river and admire the Marc Chagall stained glass windows or take a stroll down the Bahnhofstrasse to Bürkliplatz where on a clear day you can look east across the extent of Lake Zurich to the mountains beyond. In winter, a bag of roasted chestnuts from the city’s ubiquitous green ‘Marroni’ stands are a must, as is a coffee or hot chocolate in one of Zurich’s famous chocolatiers (Try Schober in the Niederdorf area or Sprüngli on Paradeplatz). In the summer months, the city makes the most of its abundance of water, with open-air lidos and well-maintained parkland filling up with sun-worshipping Swiss. A particular favorite is Seebad Enge (also a sauna in winter), which turns into a bar at night. Alternatively, pick one of the city’s many open-air cafes and bars, such as Terrasse at Bellevue, which give another taste of the increasingly international flavor that Zurich has adopted in recent years.

“The city is emancipating,” says Naville. “In its free time, it is clearly aiming to become more Mediterranean in its approach to life.”

WHERE TO EAT:

LaSalle, Schiffbaustrasse 4, 8005 Zurich
(t) +41 (0)44 258 7071
www.lasalle-restaurant.ch/
An elegant, modern bar and restaurant built within a glass and steel cube and marooned within a vast industrial building. Located just outside of the city centre, the ‘Schiffbau’ complex is part of the regeneration of the ‘Züriwest’ warehouse area.

Hiltl, Sihlstrasse, 8001 Zurich
(t) +41 400 0000
www.hiltl.ch/
Recently redesigned, the Hiltl restaurant has been serving a meat-free menu to Zurich diners for over a hundred years. Billed as Europe’s first vegetarian restaurant, it has a daily vegetarian, Indian-themed buffet that has proven a hit.

parkhuus, corner of Beethovenstr. and Dreikönigstr., 8001 Zurich
(t) +41 43 883 1075
www.zurich.park.hyatt.com/
Part of the modern glass and steel Park Hyatt hotel, this up-market restaurant is a popular lunch and dinner spot for local financiers. Check out the glass-fronted, two-story Wine Room, a 3,000-bottle wine library available for private dining.

Kronenhalle, Rämistrasse 4, 8001 Zurich
(t) +41 44 251 6669
www.kronenhalle.com/
Dine on the city’s veal and mushroom specialty Züri Geschnetzeltes at this old-school restaurant. Original impressionist paintings adorn the downstairs rooms, the meeting place for Zurich’s rich and famous, while upstairs is perfect for a hushed business lunch.

WHERE TO STAY:

The Dolder Grand, Kurhausstrasse 65, 8032 Zurich
(t) +41 44 456 6000
www.doldergrand.ch/
Perched on top of the Züriberg, the five-star Dolder Grand hotel has recently emerged from a four-year Norman Foster facelift. The by-word for luxury, the once stuffy hotel has been restyled to appeal to a younger, more cosmopolitan crowd.

Widder, Rennweg 7, 8001 Zurich
(t) +41 44 224 2526
www.widder.ch/
Centrally located, the Widder is formed from eight historic townhouses, merged to provide an interesting mix of old and new features. Close to the Bahnhofstrasse shopping strip and Zurich’s banking headquarters.

Park Hyatt, Beethovenstrasse 21, 8002 Zurich
(t) +41 43 883 1234
www.zurich.park.hyatt.com/
Round the corner from the city’s Paradeplatz shopping and finance district, the Park Hyatt is a bold, modernist hotel in a city otherwise known for its traditional architecture. Great bars and restaurants mean this hotel is popular with non-guests too.

GETTING AROUND:

Zurich’s airport is considered one of Europe’s most pleasant hubs: clean, efficient and functional, arriving there is a fitting introduction to a stay in Switzerland. Taxis to the city centre cost around 50 Swiss francs and take 20 minutes. However, the train, departing from a station under the airport, is cheaper, quicker and more convenient. Zurich airport is served by trains to and from Zurich city as well as services to and from Geneva, Berne, Basel, Luzern and St. Gallen.

Zurich’s town centre is compact and parking is scarce so there is no need to rent a car. Most attractions are within walking distance of one another. The public transport network is simply excellent: ask at the VBZ booths for multi-day or multi-use ticket options. Tickets are valid for trams, trolley-buses, cable cars and lake steamers.

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