Welcome to 2022

It’s hard to believe – time races by, the days fly past, the months just vanish, and there goes another year. 12 months lived at breakneck pace. Anyone who thought 2020 was a weird and, at times, bonkers year would never have thought that 2021 would be much the same. A year full of emotions, uncertainty and compromises. A year dominated by concerns about the path of the pandemic, whether new mutations might keep taking us back to square one. Our society has been divided down the middle by discussions about jabs: single jabs, double jabs or even double jabs plus booster. It’s almost as if all those years of drawing closer to one another have been undone. We’ve all withdrawn into our most intimate circles: little microcosms have become places of refuge while also testing our patience to breaking point. But whichever way you look at it, one thing has counted in the end: the voice of reason. In all the decisions made in the last 12 months, we’ve kept returning to the question of what is reasonable in the situations we’ve found ourselves in. Economic and business concerns have been subordinated to good sense. We’ve done this to be a role model and, above all, to protect our employees and, consequently, our customers and suppliers from the consequences of an irrational decision. We see it as our responsibility to deal responsibly with our most important asset. The health and life of each individual. We see it as our responsibility to lead our team and the families which stand behind it safely and securely through this pandemic and will continue to do so consistently, however long it may last.

From an economic point of view, 2021 was a terrific year for us: the best in our 28-year company history. Not satisfied with merely implementing the Audi collection and setting up a completely new team, we also consistently developed and expanded our existing customer base. Here, too, we continued to enhance our standing, even in the darkest days of the pandemic. The run-up to Christmas particularly showed how broadly positioned we are. Campaign followed campaign, and shipments chased each other out of the door. We mastered these tough weeks brilliantly too and are incredibly proud of what we have achieved as a team.

Not only that, but our investments, especially in new technologies and the consistent expansion of our digital landscape in 2020, have also borne fruit. Especially in the last weeks and months we’ve been lucky enough to welcome an incredible array of new faces to our team, and this year has been no exception when it comes to the consistent development of our business. We’ve continued to invest in our fully automated warehousing system and will double it in mid-2022 as well as adding a further system. All this is only possible with the support of our fabulous, loyal staff. We never lose sight of this basic fact and are incredibly grateful to you for the trust you have placed in us. And yet, that trust, which has been hard earned and which we must work even harder to maintain, is not our only precious asset. We must also continue to build on the trust of our customers and suppliers with all the respect that is due to them and remain faithful to our values of open and honest cooperation. Core values that are always at the heart of everything we do and which we live out every single day. Even in these hectic times, we have always maintained an open dialogue and pressed ahead with open and honest communication. And we will continue to do so at all times.

It’s always a source of utter fascination to see what we can do in 365 days. Rethinking, doing things differently, “just” trying things out, perhaps only to discard them again. But that’s what makes us special. Our constant hunger for innovation, our relentless quest for better ways to do things.

An exciting year is ahead of us in 2022, and we think – no, we know – that we will be well prepared as we head into the coming weeks and months.