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Welcome, Georg! – Our new managing director Georg Grautoff introduces himself
11.03.2022
Since 1 February 2022, Georg Grautoff has been the new commercial managing director at Berg & Co. GmbH. By introducing the informal first name address he has already brought a new personal touch to the BERG corporate culture. He succeeds Klaus Wehmeyer, who decided to leave the company after 7 years at BERG to take on a new professional challenge.
In this interview, Georg Grautoff describes his motivation to continue the company, which is closely linked to his family’s history, now in its 4th generation. He also shares with us his first impressions and what tasks he would like to tackle first at BERG Spanntechnik.
What motivated you to return to East Westphalia and become managing director at BERG?
Since its foundation, Berg & Co. GmbH has always been managed by one of our family members. After my uncle Dietrich Kramer retired he left a gap. The growing number of descendants in my generation is largely unfamiliar with the industry. The increasingly fragmented ownership base made it difficult to give the company a clear direction. The corona-induced decline in business also required more dynamics in entrepreneurial decisions. In this situation, I offered the family to acquire all company shares from them and then join the management team myself.
Give us a little personal insight so that we can get to know you better: What does your professional career look like so far? Where do you come from and what has shaped you?
As a Bielefeld native, I have known BERG since I was a child. After studying engineering in Darmstadt, I worked for 10 years at Volkswagen in the die manufacturing and press shop, where I saw our clamping systems in action. Then I led the ailing Bielefeld company Fischer & Krecke into partnership with Bobst, and later I went to the head office in Lausanne. The last 8 years as managing director of the Mondi paper group’s factory in Raubling, southern Bavaria, were very formative. I experienced very successful years and we had a wonderful time as a young family. In the same way, my wife and children also supported me to make the big step into the own company. We are all very much looking forward to the future here in Bielefeld.
How did you experience the first weeks at BERG? What are the first topics you would like to tackle or are already tackling as the new managing director? What are your ideas and stimuli for the company?
I am very fortunate to be joining a company whose employees make up a great team – this is true both in human terms and professionally. The building, the equipment and the machines are also well maintained and efficient. Our partners, to whom I introduce the company, are full of praise. Added to this is the company’s solid financial strength, so that we can look to the future with great confidence. The good must always be nurtured and developed. So one of my first decisions was to invest in a new milling machine with which we will modernise our mechanical production. However, I would like to spend most of my time with all employees to get to know them and their ideas. I know that there is talent and creativity in all of them, and I would like to provide the conditions to further develop and implement these skills for our company BERG.