Felix Wenzel: "Transition in management mastered very well"

Felix Wenzel draws a positive balance for the year 2021: "We have mastered the transition in the management of the holding company very well," sums up the Managing Partner of a. hartrodt's Hamburg-based management holding. On January 1, 2021, he had taken over all responsibilities from his father, Andreas Wenzel. The handover was successfully completed at the end of the first six months of the year. Everything took place in a "natural, human process" for Felix Wenzel: "We approached this in a structured manner in the difficult year, which we were able to close very respectably." At his side is Jan van Tienhoven as Managing Partner of the holding company.

Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and Australia strengthened

The next generation also took over the regional management. Sebastian Endt succeeded Willem van der Schalk as Regional Managing Director for Eastern Europe on January 1, 2021. "We successfully separated the region from the German organization to Prague (in the Czech Republic)," says Wenzel. He adds that the appointment of Kristian Sabitzki as Regional Managing Director for Southeast Asia on October 1, 2021, also represents a "tremendous push" out of Malaysia. In Australia, a. hartrodt strengthened its position through the acquisition of the OTS Group.

Consistent customer focus and digital transformation

In 2022, a. hartrodt Germany will continue its consistent customer orientation. "For example, we will restructure our export sea freight – moving away from trade lanes to a customer-specific approach," announces Wenzel. In the future, he says, each customer will receive a holistic, multi-product service locally. In parallel, a. hartrodt will once again increase the speed of digitization. Since April 1, 2021, Hartmut Willebrand has been accelerating the digital transformation in the company as (Group) Chief Information Officer. "For fast data exchange and significantly more transparency, we are advancing our structures and information technology worldwide in 2022," says Wenzel. The objective is paperless work and increasingly streamlined processes.

Wenzel is looking forward to 2022 "because we made fundamental progress in 2021". Thanks to improved liquidity, the company is "in a solid position" and intends to continue investing in customer orientation and digitization.