BERNER Group donates three raised beds and a herb snail to Waldenburg's Kleeblatt kindergarten
Award for social commitment: Berner Group receives honorary award from the city of Cologne
Thinking sustainably and acting responsibly – this is what the Berner Group stands for. Since 2017, the B2B wholesale trader has regularly supported social projects at its locations throughout Europe with funds, product donations and manpower. The city of Cologne has now awarded the family business the honorary award “KölnEngagiert 2020” for this outstanding social commitment.
The honorary award “KölnEngagiert” was awarded for the 20th time this year. In addition to the Berner Group as the only company, three individuals, three associations and a school received the award. An independent jury, consisting among others of the Mayor of Cologne, Henriette Reker, and the other deputy mayors, selected those honored from more than 130 suggestions. The official award ceremony took place last Sunday in the historic town hall of the Rhine metropolis.
For Christian Berner, CEO of the Berner Group, and Varinia Pauli, Project Head, it was a special honor to receive the award personally from Deputy Mayor Hans-Werner Bartsch before signing the guest book of the city of Cologne: “I am very honored to be standing here as a representative of our many employees. It has always been part of our culture to pitch in and help out. Especially in Germany, we have many family businesses in which helping has become part of the DNA,” emphasized Christian Berner. “Our employees are the driving force behind the social projects. They know where help is needed and they roll up their sleeves in a joint effort. This is how we in the Berner Group live the values of the company,” added Varinia Pauli.
Since 2017, the Berner Group has supported 32 social projects alone at its location in Cologne with a donation of over €110,000 as well as an additional 4,200 Berner products and the manpower of 331 volunteers who have invested nearly 3,850 hours in building, painting, cleaning or educational activities. A wide range of initiatives are being promoted to support people in difficult stages of life. The decisive factor is that the projects supported should have a long-term, sustainable effect. Whether kindergartens, schools, self-help programs or charitable organizations – the Berner Group gets involved when und where it is needed. And this will also remain the case in the future.
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 experience 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 23 countries for our customers with more than 200,000 items and 8,200 employees.