"Financially prepared for organic and external growth"

Jan van Tienhoven sums up 2022 as "an unexpectedly successful year" for a. hartrodt. The Russian aggressive war in Ukraine that began on February 24, 2022, left the three Managing Directors of the Management Holding – Andreas Schroen, Jan van Tienhoven and Felix Wenzel – "not optimistic about the fiscal year", Andreas Schroen recalls. In view of falling financial markets and interest rate hikes by central banks against rising inflation, the Chief Financial Officer had "assumed that the damper would be on us in the second half of 2022". More difficult times are now ahead in 2023.

a. hartrodt is optimally positioned in 45 countries

"How China's changed Covid strategy will affect global trade cannot be estimated," says Jan van Tienhoven. In view of the economic downturn, Andreas Schroen notes that customers are "putting on the brakes" and that transport volumes are declining in some cases. But the manager knows: "The volume of the flow of goods is not decreasing. In the future, more will be transported around the globe." With companies in 45 countries, a. hartrodt is optimally positioned for this.

Expansion course with a focus on customer added value

In 2023, a. hartrodt will continue to expand worldwide. According to Andreas Schroen, the family-owned company is "financially prepared for organic and external growth". The plans relate to all regions and cover the entire product range, says Jan van Tienhoven. The focus is on added value for the customer, therefore a. hartrodt is also driving forward digitization with successfully launched projects. For faster and more efficient transport processing, the supply chain platform CargoWise One will continue to be rolled out internationally. In addition, various business management projects are underway to further increase customer satisfaction.

At the same time, a. hartrodt has its employees in mind. "We are not a numbers company," Jan van Tienhoven emphasizes. He is pleased that despite the difficult situation on the labor market, the company is succeeding in retaining skilled workers and attracting new ones: "We also need to grow our staff in 2023."