System Lift turnover up 23% in 2008
24 February 2009
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At its annual conference System Lift AG, the German rental organisation, announced a 23% rise in turnover to €190 million in 2008. Sales resulting from leasing out work platforms accounted for €102 million of the turnover, an increase of 24 % in comparison with 2007.
System Lift's members invested over €36 million in 2008 increasing the number of work platforms to 6668. The total workforce grew 5% to 430.
The conference, held in Schlosshotel Friedewald near Bad Hersfeld in Germany,was attended by 80 people, chairman of the System Lift AG Board, Leopold Mayrhofer, said, "I am delighted about the excellent results and very proud of the companies we have a partnership with and the people who work for them."
Looking to the future, Mr Mayrhofer does not expect to repeat 2008's result, as in other countries the recession is already making itself felt and will reach Germany during the next year too. "But we are well positioned for the future. With our range of services, we will be able to survive in a more competitive environment too," he said.
The theme of the conference was "Well-organised minorities are stronger than badly-organised majorities." System Lift's strategy is to reinforce co-operation and exploit any synergy between its members. This includes, for example, creating clear rules for leasing to other members. These conditions and internal leasing prices have already been revised.
The next few months will focus on training the sales force in basic and ongoing skills and on enhancing Internet selling. Backing this up, a guest lecturer at the conference dealt with web-marketing.
At the conference, tribute was paid to seven System Lift partners who have shown extraordinary commitment to the co-operation in 2008. Thomas Hoffmann from Waghäusel was commended for his work as chairman of the advisory board and on strategy and Hans Peter Spielhoff from Wuppertal for his work as vice chairman and on strategy. Dirk Mühlhahn from Burbach was applauded for heading the product committee and for strategy, as well as Rainer Rosenblatt from Jena, Sven Gottwald from Rüsselsheim and Wolfgang Züls from Ravensburg for their efforts on the advisory board.
Since the beginning of 2009, three new partners have joined System Lift AG: Mobilift from Cologne, Autokrane Schares from Bocholt and Arbeitsbühne Ziegler Lifting from Aschaffenburg. As a result, the co-operation has a total of 60 partners and 70 leasing points in its network.
