Wirtschaftsforum: Mr. Wagner, how did the story of KAHL begin?

Jochen Wagner: The company was founded in 1970 by Otto Kahl and his wife Monika. He worked in chair design, including at Thonet, and noticed the office furniture manufacturer Schärf, who was looking for dealers. Thus, the Kahls established the business with their own budget and tireless work. In the now 51 years of its existence, KAHL has grown continuously. In 2001, the founders handed the business over to three of their children. They are now also approaching retirement, so my fellow managing director Frank Winkler and I are shaping the next generation transition. Even though our last names are not Kahl, we consider ourselves part of the company family.

Wirtschaftsforum: What position does the company hold in the market?

Jochen Wagner: In our segment, we are among the top nationwide. Our annual turnover is around 20 million EUR. At our headquarters in Mannheim, we currently employ about 50 employees, with the tendency still rising.

Wirtschaftsforum: What does your product portfolio look like?

Jochen Wagner: We started with classic office furniture, but on the product side, we have long offered everything needed to transform from a refined shell to a finished comfortable workplace. However, we are increasingly shifting from trading to consulting. We want to engage the customer at a very early stage and enter into dialogue to determine which design makes sense, for example, whether a concept like New Work is suitable at all. The highest value creation is in consulting, although trading still accounts for the largest share of our turnover.

Wirtschaftsforum: What has changed in your business during the Corona period?

Jochen Wagner: Compared to many of our industry peers, the pandemic hit us quite mildly. Fortunately, we were very solidly positioned economically in 2020, had loyal customers, and have managed without a single minute of short-time work and without a euro in subsidies. What really helped us was that we already had everything we needed during this time: Back in 2018, we had already begun to focus more on the theme of New Work, as many customers had needs in this area. To make this theme tangible, we turned our own house into a New Work experience world. It's called New Work Dock. For New Work, you need not only space but especially IT infrastructure. By the fall of 2019, we had done our homework. All our employees could work mobile and remotely and were partially migrated to the cloud. So we were well prepared and did not have to reinvest in this area. 2020 turned out to be the second-best year in our company's history. The market itself has remained constant in volume. However, the imprint is different because the needs have changed.

Wirtschaftsforum: Is New Work a trend among your customers?

Jochen Wagner: Most of our customers are initially very insecure. They lack a compass and are looking for a helping hand through these challenging times. For many traditionally structured customers, we may create complete work structures from scratch and accompany the transformation from an early stage to final implementation. And ultimately, it shows that an excellent answer to the challenges of the Corona pandemic is called New Work.

Wirtschaftsforum: What qualities make KAHL particularly convincing?

Jochen Wagner: Not least due to our New Work Dock, where customers can also work. New Work and digitization sometimes generate fears. Therefore, it is important to take the employees along on this journey. For this, we have the right partners and are ourselves a central contact point for our customers. Our customers can feel and experience here with us that we consistently live what we convincingly represent. Therefore, I would say we primarily convince by honesty.

Wirtschaftsforum: What role does sustainability play for you?

Jochen Wagner: Sustainability is already immensely important and will become even more so. Customers desire it, but primarily we ourselves place great value on it. Therefore, we source as much as possible from regional or domestic partners. This is not only a clear promise of quality but also beneficial for the ecological footprint. Transporting furnishings halfway around the world when they can be manufactured here in top quality makes no sense to us.

Wirtschaftsforum: What are your plans for 2022?

Jochen Wagner: We want to show even more clearly how a smartly organized hybrid work model can ideally combine home office and office. In cooperation with the Mannheimer startup nuwo, for example, we have developed a contemporary concept that outfits employees at home on a leasing basis. It works very simply, following the principle of the job bike model already established in many companies.