Germany Friedrich Wilhelm Lübbert extends and rejuvenates its management
Good succession strategy for a safe future
The trading company Friedrich Wilhelm Lübbert from Bremerhaven has been a successful player in the import and export arena for over eighty years, supplying customers in Germany and abroad with raw materials from all over the world. In January this year the management of the traditional business establishment was expanded and rejuvenated with the appointment of Birte Holtermann and Sven Braasch to steer the company on a safe path into the future.
T
he name Lübbert has an excellent reputation in the international fish industry. For more than 80 years the traditional import company has been active on international markets and has often played a pioneering role in the opening up of new markets and the development of new resources. The company’s employees in Bremerhaven currently handle about 35,000 tonnes per year, worth just under 60 million EUR. These quantities mean that Lübbert ranks among the biggest trading companies in Germany. But in the opinion of the CEO Hans-Joachim Holtermann it is not just these bare figures that distinguish the company: “My employees are the real
heart of the company”, he says without pathos, naming what in his opinion is the decisive success
factor. Lübbert’s work-intensive programme of procurement, development, consulting and cus-
The Lübbert management team around Hans-Joachim Holtermann was expanded and rejuvenated at the beginning of January with the appointment of Birte Holtermann and Sven Braasch to steer the company on a safe path into the future.
32 Eurofish Magazine 6 / 2009
Hans-Joachim Holtermann and his team from the buying and sales departments. From left to right: Michael Schultz, Sven Braasch, Manfred Baitz, Bernd Bauch, Harald Hormes, Gunnar Wolf, Hans-Joachim Holtermann, Karl-Hermann Brümmer, Bernd Klöser, Stephan Lipski, Michael Seidel, Wilfried Lührs, Lars Wella.
tomer care is only possible with a team of committed specialists. There are currently 25 employees at Lübbert’s. Some of them have been with the company for several decades and run their business areas independently and autonomously. “We have always succeeded in building up long-term working relationships with highly qualified employees”, explains Stephan Lipski who is specialised in pelagic fishes, one of the Bremerhaven company’s strengths. “Because we operate in a lot of product segments we have developed a broad, tightly networked base of specialist know ledge within the company. That gives us a market overview which benefits our customers, because we perhaps pick up developments faster than other companies and can react to them accordingly”, is his conviction. www.eurofishmagazine.com