Whitewater Group scales Finnish data centre operations through strategic HR partnership

Whitewater Group operates in the rapidly growing data centre market, where project timelines are tight and access to the right expertise is critical. The company launched its operations in Finland efficiently. Local employment, HR, and talent acquisition were handled by StaffPoint in line with Finnish requirements - allowing Whitewater to focus fully on its core business from day one.

A specialist in critical water technologies for the data centre market

Whitewater Group is an Irish engineering company specialising in modular engineering and offsite manufacturing of advanced water treatment and cooling systems for hyperscale data centres and other critical industries. The company delivers end-to-end water infrastructure - from design to operations - supporting some of the most demanding data centre environments across Europe.

The increasing number of data centre investments has created new opportunities in Finland, while also raising the requirements for strong local execution across multiple areas, including talent, HR, and related compliance.

“Finland is a critical pillar of our expansion in Europe. Its sophisticated data centre infrastructure and exceptional talent pool allow us to scale our operations effectively while meeting the rigorous demands of our hyperscaler clients without compromising on our high standards of excellence,” says Laura Kelly, Whitewater Group, Head of HR.

Entering a new market requires local expertise

Expanding into a new country involves more than launching operations. Each market has its own regulatory and operational landscape, where local expertise is essential.

For international companies entering Finland and employing people locally, this requires understanding collective agreements, applying local employment practices, and ensuring that employer obligations are handled correctly from the very beginning. This is an important factor in maintaining credibility within global supply chains.

With the right local support, these elements can be managed efficiently alongside HR and talent capabilities - helping ensure projects progress smoothly and on schedule.

“The key HR challenge in any new market is striking the right balance between attracting the right talent and ensuring full compliance with local frameworks. In Finland, that means understanding collective agreements and aligning quickly with established practices. Partnering with StaffPoint has made this process significantly easier, allowing us to establish a strong local foundation with confidence from the outset,” Kelly continues.

Smooth operations and a predictable framework

A locally managed employment model allows companies to align costs with actual activity, reduce compliance risk, and avoid building unnecessary infrastructure in the early stages. It also ensures that locally hired employees are managed in line with market practices, with salaries paid accurately and on time.

At the same time, it enables rapid operational readiness, allowing companies to start and scale their workforce in line with project needs without long-term fixed commitments.

By transferring employer responsibility to a local expert, companies reduce regulatory and operational risk while ensuring a consistent employee experience. In addition, access to local networks supports practical aspects of operations, helping teams perform effectively from day one.

A seamless market entry with an Employer of Record service

When Whitewater Group expanded into Finland, the priority was clear: to establish core operations effectively, while ensuring that employment, HR, and compliance were managed locally - without building in-house infrastructure.

To achieve this, Whitewater partnered with StaffPoint, gaining immediate access to local market expertise, HR capabilities, and talent acquisition support required to operate compliantly and at pace within the Finnish data centre environment.

Through an Employer of Record (EOR) model, StaffPoint acts as the legal employer in Finland, taking responsibility for employment, payroll, and compliance in line with Finnish legislation and collective agreements. At the same time, employees work fully under Whitewater’s direction as part of their operational projects.

In parallel, StaffPoint supported the recruitment of key specialists by combining international expertise with local talent networks. This enabled Whitewater to scale its team quickly while ensuring full alignment with local requirements.

As a result, Whitewater Group was able to move forward immediately - focusing on project execution with confidence that all employment-related responsibilities were handled correctly and reliably.

“At the same time, StaffPoint’s local capabilities and networks were leveraged more broadly to support operational readiness - ensuring teams, processes, and local practices were in place for effective execution,” says Nina Antink, Account Director at StaffPoint.

Looking ahead

As the data centre market continues to grow, competition for talent is becoming increasingly intense. Successful market entry requires local expertise, the right partnerships, and the ability to launch operations in a controlled and timely manner.

Laura Kelly concludes:

“As demand continues to grow, our ambition is to strengthen our footprint in Finland by investing in local talent and scalable delivery models. This will allow us to respond quickly to market needs while ensuring consistency, compliance, and quality across all our projects.”

Whitewater Group’s example demonstrates that a well-structured employment and HR operating model enables rapid market entry without heavy upfront investments - while ensuring full compliance with local requirements and predictable costs, without shifting focus away from core business.

Launching operations in a new market?

Whether you need local HR support, Employer of Record services, or help scaling your workforce in Finland’s growing data centre sector, our experts are here to help.

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