-> Group Turnover now Stable at €571 Million
Essen. Closures of museums; cancellations of trade fairs and events; reduced public transport services; rapidly falling passenger numbers; declining industrial production: these are just a few of the factors that are having a massive impact on the development of the facility services sector in the wake of the Corona crisis and are consequently also presenting the KÖTTER Group with unprecedented challenges. Nevertheless, the family-owned company was able to keep the group's turnover stable during the past, extremely difficult financial year, now at €571 million.
“I am both proud and grateful that our family business has been able to stay on course during the worst economic crisis since the Federal Republic of Germany was founded,” said Friedrich P. Kötter. An important factor for this is the close partnership with customers and employees.
At the same time, the slight increase in turnover of 1.1% should not “distort our view of the harsh reality” or even “lead to false expectations”. “Because the economic crisis has also left its mark on us, will probably drag on longer than everyone had hoped before the second lockdown, and its final effects are far from foreseeable,” the Board of Directors stressed. “Especially the suspension of the insolvency filing requirement paints a distorted picture of the actual liquidity and financial situation of many companies in the current recession - and thus obscures the real macroeconomic situation.”
The Development of the Individual Sectors in the Past Year:
- KÖTTER Security: The Security division was able to hold its own in the Corona crisis. It supported its clients in dealing with the pandemic, among other things, with temporary services such as temperature measurements at the gates and reception desks of companies or access controls to supermarkets and branches of credit institutions. In addition, the tried-and-tested KÖTTER SYMTO operator model provided customers with long-term planning security. On the other hand, there was a considerable decline in contracts, e.g. for services for museums and in public transport, but also in air passenger controls. The latter are also the reason for the decline in the number of employees throughout the Group to 17,600 due to the cessation of services provided at Düsseldorf Airport.
- KÖTTER Cleaning: The Cleaning division achieved above-average growth in new customer business. This once again affirms our successful implementation of smart and quality-oriented customer solutions. Another driving force was the “Hygiene & Safety Concept (HSC)”, which combines various elements to form a 360° hygiene and cleaning concept. This all-round solution in terms of prevention has been used by customers who are particularly concerned about the health and safety of their employees and therefore place great emphasis on cleaning and hygiene. During the pandemic, the specialists contributed to disinfection in logistics, production and administration, among other areas. By comprehensively procuring all necessary consumables and disinfectants at an early stage, the service provider always remained a reliable partner, even in the face of rapidly increasing customer demand.
- KÖTTER Personal Service: The division remained on course and once again demonstrated its strong performance in trade and logistics in particular during the Corona crisis. Especially during the first lockdown, the service provider supported the smooth handling of the rapidly increasing demand for everyday goods by providing additional staff in warehouses, at supermarket checkouts, etc. At the same time, KÖTTER Personal Service expanded its position as a specialist for taking over delimitable business processes on the basis of contracts for work or services in other sectors such as industry, chemical & pharmaceutical, or IT.
The Reliable Partner in Turbulent Times / New “KÖTTER Pandemic Solutions”
With a view to future development, Friedrich P. Kötter explained: “Our Group will consistently continue its course geared towards strict economic sustainability and the highest quality. This involves monitoring the progress of the Corona crisis in as much detail as other external influencing factors. We are planning for different scenarios and will thereby remain the usual reliable partner for customers and employees even in turbulent times.”
In doing so, the family-owned company is consistently expanding its Smart Service Solutions. The latest solution: KÖTTER Pandemic Solutions. They aim to protect customers from health risks in the context of the Corona pandemic, to create the highest hygiene standards and thus prevent, for example, production stops in the industry. The concept includes, among other things, the conceptualisation, the (occasion/incidence-related or preventive) establishment and operation of our own corona test stations on the respective company premises, which KÖTTER is implementing together with the German partner 21Dx GmbH, as well as the deployment of mobile test teams. The package includes the following components:
- Testing: e.g. the performance of rapid antigen tests or PCR tests for the detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (Corona virus).
- Cleaning & Hygiene: among other things, disinfecting cleaning in all areas of the company.
- Security & Crowd Management: The Smart Security Solutions include security services such as access controls, entry control and queue management. In the process, the staff is supported by high-tech security technology solutions. This includes “temperature screening”, i.e. the contactless and continuous measurement of body temperature by means of thermal imaging cameras, even in large groups of people. Other components include “mask detection”, i.e. the use of AI-based video technology to check people for the correct protective clothing and compliance with social distancing rules, and “people counting”, i.e. the use of configurable people counting systems to manage the flow of people in sensitive areas such as entrances and exits.
- Optional provision of protective equipment and technical equipment: e.g. certified FFP2 and everyday masks as well as, among others, air purification systems for various rooms - from the office to the operating theatre.
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