The insolvency has been dealt with and a financially viable investor has taken over the Schletter Group. What will change for your customers?
Tom Graf: Nothing as far as our day-to-day business and our strategy is concerned. But we are now taking off with a company that is free of debt – the new Schletter Group. That means that our finances are back on a solid footing and we can make new investments.
Why did things go wrong for Schletter?
We still had a mountain of debt left over from the period of restructuring to deal with. And even though we were able to get the operational side back on a decent footing and to clear some of our debts by ourselves, it was a heavy burden. Growths takes money and there was never enough. All the better that we were able to rehabilitate the company through the insolvency proceedings. The banks worked closely with us and have also supported us during the process. Now we are off to a fresh start.
What is going to change both in the company and in the Schletter Group?
We will have to let go some more staff at our Kirchdorf location by the end of this year. We are still a little over-staffed in administration. The necessary staff reductions will be handled in a fair way. Trust me: Letting people go is not easy for us.
How many staff will remain in Kirchdorf/Haag?
A total of 150 for both administration and production. Please note that production will continue there.
Where to from here?
We are back. And now we are strong enough to get back into the market with all due confidence. We are investing in product development and our quiver is far from empty. We want to expand internationally and also develop new and interesting markets. We recently opened a subsidiary in Taiwan and sales offices in Vietnam and the Philippines. In Nigeria, that is to say West Africa, we have entered into a sales partnership.
Why was that, do you think?
People continue to put great trust in the Schletter brand: In Germany, we have not lost a single customer. Even wholesalers continued to buy from us during the insolvency proceedings. That was incredibly helpful for us. We were always very open and honest when it came to communicate our difficulties and have kept our customers up to speed. That has earned us a lot of trust.
The management is still a part of and continues to lead the new company. How important is that as a signal?
We now have a great and solid company, backed by a strong financier that is in it for the long haul. As the management, we partake of the risk because we are convinced that this is the right way. We have faith in our philosophy. (HS)
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