The story

Inadvertently, the financial crisis at the end of 2008 gave Laila and Anders plenty of time, there weren't many buyers in the market. Over lunch in November 2008, they had a chance brainstorm. Many Danish families had bought a holiday home abroad in the early 2000s. Many still had the dream but hadn't bought yet. What were the experiences of both types of families?

Facts and ideas were flying around, and suddenly it was as if someone had lit a lamp between them: Why not get more families together and create holiday homes for the families to share, and also take care of all the hassle that comes with owning homes abroad?

The foundation for 21-5 was laid and that was the beginning of 21-5.

The very first day, that they came up with the 21-5 formula, they wanted to make it easier for Danish families to fulfill their dream of owning holiday homes abroad, and thereby create more happiness in their family lives.

Many believe that the concept originated abroad and has been around for many years. But it hasn’t. The idea was born on a November day in 2008 at the bottom of a carport in Denmark, north of Copenhagen.

We opened the first owner association at the end of 2010. Continuous adjustments were made to both the set-up and the sales material, and in June 2012 the first owner association was formed. It was fully subscribed with 21 families in the spring of 2013.

The next owner association was formed and fully subscribed at the end of 2013, and in 2014 two owner associations with 21 families were fully subscribed. By the end of 2014, 21-5 had outgrown the small office in the carport, so we looked for another location.

Even with the most thorough preparation and the best of intentions, things rarely go as expected. No one was prepared for what happened in the spring of 2020. The world shut down and everyone in 21-5 was sent home. Some were able to work from home, others couldn't do their jobs at all.

The shutdown was long and hard - we missed each other a lot during that time.

Many processes in 21-5 were adjusted and changed. We got much better at managing many tasks remotely, we just had to. All teams had to think outtside the box, a lot of good things came out of that process. In fact, the whole of 21-5 has changed for the better because we were forced to.

21-5 was originally founded during the financial crisis, so the ability to adapt is deep in our DNA. 21-5 came out of the pandemic stronger than ever – because giving up is never an option in 21-5.

As more and more families became interested in our concept, we grew beyond the borders of Denmark, and the first Swedish 21-5 group was founded in the fall of 2020. In 2021, more owner associationS were founded than ever before. Many families wanted something to look forward to after the pandemic.

As the demand grew, more and more passionate team members joined us, but we still worked mostly from home. When we returned to the office, after the pandemic had subsided, we didn’t have enough office space. We looked for a new environment and moved to a new and larger office, which is where we are today.