BERNER stays on course and invests millions

The company defended its turnover of €1.1 billion and continued to push ahead with its plans for the future by investing millions in key business areas such as logistics, omnichannel and IT. Despite the generally weak economy, the B2B specialist has succeeded in increasing its market share in several European countries.

"Like all the players in our industry, we are also feeling the headwinds," says Christian Dahmen, CFO of the BERNER Group. "Thanks to our forward-looking company policy, we were able to take effective measures at an early stage to keep our results stable. We remain profitable and are financially in a position to invest countercyclically in our operating business and in important strategic projects. This gives us a competitive advantage when the upturn comes."

Logistics offensive and resilient supply chains

Among other things, BERNER is investing heavily in its European delivery network. In Spain, for example, the conveyor technology in the goods dispatch area has been optimized and a new packaging line with ergonomic workstations has been installed. In Portugal, the logistics area will be doubled in one fell swoop. With these decisions, the company is setting the course for further sales growth in the region, which was once again one of the top performers in the past financial year with an increase of almost 8%. In addition, the largest modernization program in a quarter of a century has begun at the headquarter in Künzelsau. At the same time, international partnerships have been established in new procurement markets. "In addition to achieving cost savings of up to 15%, our priority is to build a resilient supply chain," emphasizes Peter Schmidt, CEO of BERNER Omnichannel Trading Holding, who is responsible for the core business. "We want to protect our supply chain as best as possible against global risks, especially for vulnerable products." 

Robust positioning and close to the customer

"With our broad product range, we are robustly positioned and, thanks to our first-class sales team, always close to the needs of our customers, because trust is personal to us," says Peter Schmidt. "Despite the generally extremely challenging conditions, we have therefore succeeded in beating the market and increasing our market share not only in Spain and Portugal, but also in Poland and the Baltic subsidiaries, for example." The company also remains on track for success in key account management. Business with major customers grew particularly strongly in Germany (+5 percentage points) and Hungary (+8 percentage points).

Owner praises employees' performance and pins hopes on new government

"I’m very proud of what the team has achieved in the last financial year," says owner Christian Berner, who has been running the family business in its second generation since 2012. "Conversely, our employees were able to see once again that we are a reliable employer even in turbulent times. We did not lay off anyone due to the economic situation, nor did we send anyone on short-time work or compulsory leave." The sole owner has high expectations of the new German government: "The previous federal government’s policies have cost Germany growth. Friedrich Merz understands economics. And he knows how important small and medium-sized enterprises are. It is crucial that the coalition now acts quickly, courageously and decisively to get the engine running properly again. Overall, there is a cautious sense of optimism in the air."

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