BERNER Group donates three raised beds and a herb snail to Waldenburg's Kleeblatt kindergarten
Made by diversity: An initiative of German family businesses
Family businesses come together to promote tolerance and a cosmopolitan outlook
Künzelsau/Cologne, 26 March 2019. The Berner Group is one of 50 family companies that are declaring their commitment to tolerance and a more cosmopolitan outlook under the slogan “Made in Germany – Made by diversity.” The joint communication campaign, to be launched in March 2019, will involve advertisements in selected print media and on billboards in 15 German cities.
Taking social responsibility seriously
Taking a stand against xenophobia and encouraging greater tolerance – that is the aim of the scheme that the Berner Group is joining. It centres around an advertisement with the slogan “Made in Germany – Made by diversity.” Beneath the slogan the text describes the attitude of the participating companies: what matters is not where people come from – the important thing is to live and work together in peace and tolerance. All the participants support this position and declare their opposition to xenophobia.
“International collaboration and the peaceful coexistence of different cultures are among the Berner Group’s key principles; they are fundamental to values-based commercial success,” says Christian Berner, CEO of the Berner Group. “We operate throughout Europe and through this campaign we are taking a stand against xenophobia and declaring our commitment to integrative ways of working.”
The idea was the brainchild of Timm Mittelsten Scheid, a Vorwerk shareholder and member of the Vorwerk family of entrepreneurs. “The issue is one that is close to my heart. When society is engaged in these debates, I believe that businesses should take a stand,” he explains. “I am therefore delighted that family businesses have responded to the idea with such enthusiasm.”
Publication routes
Publication of the advertisement will commence on 26 March 2019. It will appear in selected daily newspapers (including Handelsblatt, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and WELT, in publications of the Funke Media Group and further publications (including Bunte, Focus and Cicero). It will also be posted on various billboards in Germany’s ten biggest cities and in other urban centres, among them Hannover, Lübeck, Bielefeld and Mannheim.
Supporters of the German family businesses’ initiative
The following companies have joined the scheme: B. Braun, Baerlocher, Bahlsen, Berner Group, Beumer Group, Boehringer Ingelheim, BPW Bergische Achsen KG, Brose, Claas, Deichmann, Dräger, emz, fritz-kola, Funke Mediengruppe, Giesecke+Devrient, Gira, Hansa-Flex, Henkel, Hipp, Horsch, Hubert Burda Media, Jägermeister, Kienbaum, Klett, Kostal, Krone, Lemken, Lindner, Marquard & Bahls, Messer Group, Metzler, Murtfeldt, Nolte Küchen, ODDO BHF, Oetker-Gruppe, Otto Group, Röchling, Sartorius, Sennheiser, SMS group, Stihl, Ströer,
Südvers, Trigema, Vaillant, Vorwerk, Werksviertel Mitte, Wörwag, Würth.
The Berner Group
The Berner Group is a family-run European commercial enterprise. Our vision is: “We keep the world together and moving.” This means we are the central B2B trading partner for all materials in the maintenance, repair, and production segments for our customers in the building, mobility, and industry sectors. With more than four channels we create an integrated omni-channel purchasing experi-ence for our customers. In the steel and C materials as well as chemicals segments we are also an innovative manufacturer. We are represented in over 25 countries for our customers with more than 200,000 items and 8,200 employees.