Big crowd in Rotenburg: The popular spring show of BORCO HÖHNS took place on 5th March 2023 in the usual indoor format. “Due to the strict Corona requirements, we moved our spring show to May last year,” says Carsten Götz, Sales and Managing Director at BORCO HÖHNS. “We had a great spring show in 2022 with bright sunshine, but for our business customers and partners, spring is more important for their annual planning,” says Götz. “That is why we returned to the popular concept of an indoor event in March this year. With great success, we think. At the end of the day, we counted around 1500 visitors from all over Germany and other European countries.”

For the team of BORCO HÖHNS no effort for the preparations is too high. Before the event, the production halls are cleared and prepared for the trade fair. “Everyone in the team knows what needs to be done. Workbenches and larger machines are dismantled and covered with curtains. In the aisles that are created in this way, we set up vehicles and information stands that have something to offer every visitor,” says Götz, describing the preparations.

130 vehicles from all sectors

For the Spring Show 2023, over 130 vehicles were exhibited, reflecting the complete spectrum of BORCO HÖHNS. Selection models from current production were on display, as well as customer vehicles that were customized and made to order. “We were able to draw on a wide selection of vehicles that our customers proudly provided us with,” says Götz, describing the vehicle exhibition. “Among them are some highlights that we have produced in recent years, which we were now able to present to the public.” All sectors were represented among the individual vehicles. On display were the latest refrigeration technologies, the most modern lighting concepts or a system for digital price labeling. A new development from BORCO HÖHNS is the anti-fogging counter glazing, which ensures that the view of the display in the refrigerated counter remains unobstructed. “For a look behind the scenes, we took the visitors on a factory tour and gave them an insight into our innovations such as 3D printing or modern wood processing,” says Götz.

“myBORCO” – exclusive portal for all BORCO customers

The term “myBORCO” stands for the new portal of BORCO HÖHNS, which was recently launched. At the information stand, anyone interested learned how telemetry data or the GPS location of vehicles can be retrieved via the new platform. Vehicle data and documents can be managed via the portal. Consumables for everyday sales can be purchased on a digital marketplace. By registering via “myBORCO,” the customer enjoys cost benefits when purchasing and receives fuel discounts at a connected service station network. Via the myBORCO fuel card, 14-day billing with a seamless monthly cost record is carried out automatically.

A bright supporting program provided good entertainment

A supporting program with music provided the entertainment. For the smaller visitors, there was a children’s corner with a climbing frame and ball pool. In a rollover simulator, visitors could test whether they could keep their nerve in extreme situations. Using 3D/VR glasses, visitors explored a sales vehicle including the exhibition hall in the virtual world. In the catering area, people ate to their heart’s content, and delicious sweets, pastries or sausage specialties could be purchased on the market line.

Strong partners for financing

More than 70 sales vehicles and trailers were directly available (used and demonstration vehicles). The BORCO team informed the visitors about the latest financing models of its strong partners, such as PS-Leasing, and advised its customers about the extensive financing concepts that can be helpful when purchasing a sales vehicle. Information on this can also be found online on our topic pages on financing models (BORCO subscription, leasing, short and long-term rentals, test year).

Throughout the day, those at home were also able to follow the event via BORCO HÖHNS’ social media channels. Guests also eagerly used these media and positive comments on social media were not long in coming. They also prove that the BORCO HÖHNS Spring Show 2023 was once again a complete success.

Selected quotes from our visitors

Kevin Langhammer, Fischfeinkost Langhammer:
“Always great to see you at the BORCO HÖHNS trade show! It was worthwhile to stop by. Great conversations, possibly set a new course for further business expansion!

Putenspezialitäten Andreas Krazin with his wife Silvia:
“We were there. It was very good. Very nice show. Super nice people, good food. Ambience was super. Looking forward to the next time. Always gladly again.”

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Rotenburg (Wümme), March 2023

Rotenburg (Wümme) – Andreas Elsäßer (50), managing partner of BORCO HÖHNS, is handing over the management of the industry and innovation leader for vehicles and solutions for mobile sales to sales manager Carsten Götz (51), technical manager Klaus Meyer (51) and commercial manager Gerrit Volger (42) with effect from the fourth quarter of 2022. Meyer and Volger have been appointed managing directors of the medium-sized family-owned company, which has been awarded the title “Company with a Future (Unternehmen mit Zukunft)”, with effect from 1 October 2022.

Klaus Meyer was trained as a technical draughtsman at BORCO HÖHNS from autumn 1988. As deputy team leader of the technical office, he moved to a local competitor in 2015. Since 2020, Meyer has been technical manager at BORCO HÖHNS with his skills and abilities in the areas of chassis design, electrics, hydraulics as well as furniture construction. “At BORCO HÖHNS, we have experience and skills to produce complex customised special vehicles reliably and sustainably like hardly any other company,” says Meyer. He is married and the father of three children.

Gerrit Volger, commercial manager and authorised signatory at BORCO HÖHNS since April 2020: “Two and a half years ago, I made a conscious decision to join a medium-sized manufacturing company – and here in Rotenburg at BORCO HÖHNS, I have found a highly committed workforce with good prospects”. Volger previously worked for over a decade at the listed HanseYachts AG in Greifswald, where he was in charge of group controlling and corporate development before joining BORCO HÖHNS. Volger is married and has two children.

Carsten Götz joined BORCO HÖHNS in 1992 as a trained industrial clerk in the sales department. After the turn of the millennium, Götz began to develop BORCO HÖHNS’ export business, took over as head of sales at a subsidiary ten years ago and has been in charge of sales at BORCO HÖHNS since 2015. Götz, who was appointed authorised signatory in 2020, assures all existing and future customers that the customer is the focus at BORCO HÖHNS. Together, we develop concepts with which our customers can perfectly showcase themselves and, above all, their products.” Götz is married and the father of two children.

“We have thoroughly prepared this succession in the circle of shareholders over the past two years,” explains Elsäßer. “In order to further cultivate and develop our corporate culture, it was natural for us to build this succession from within the company. The three of them know the importance of our corporate culture as a competitive advantage critical to success.” Elsäßer announced that he would continue to actively support the team as a sparring partner: “Although I will no longer be working in the company, I will continue to be actively involved in the company as a shareholder.

About BORCO HÖHNS

Founded in 1954 as a factory for agricultural and car trailers, BORCO HÖHNS is today the undisputed market and innovation leader in mobile sales in Germany. At the headquarters in Rotenburg an der Wümme, the mobile sales vehicles and trailers are completely designed and manufactured in the company’s own vehicle plant. BORCO HÖHNS employs a good 240 people, and the company recently generated annual sales of almost 40 million euros. The equity ratio is over 50 percent. Extensive quality controls and extensive testing ensure maximum functionality, reliability and value. Each of the approximately 400 BORCO HÖHNS vehicles that can be produced annually is therefore an investment that pays off: Whether a low-cost entry-level vehicle or a high-quality individual model. More than 10,000 BORCO HÖHNS customers – from traditional family businesses to young food truckers – trust in the quality and innovative strength of the industry leader.

Photos: Thorsten Finner

Rotenburg (Wümme), 22 September 2022

The management of BORCO HÖHNS, industry and innovation leader for vehicles and solutions for mobile sales, informed Dr Bernd Althusmann, the CDU’s top candidate for the Lower Saxony state parliament and the state’s Minister for Economics, Labour, Transport and Digitalisation, about the family-owned company’s current future investments in the environment, social issues and good corporate governance. The Member of the State Parliament for the constituency of Rotenburg (Wümme), Eike Holsten, accompanied Althusmann.

“We are taking our energy supply into our own hands, investing almost two million euros again in the current business year in order to produce our own energy in the future and to continue to conserve resources,” the managing director of BORCO HÖHNS, Andreas Elsäßer, explained to the guests. “We currently calculate that this investment will pay for itself within three years”:

The central building block of the energy turnaround at the “Company with a Future 2021” is the stationary high-tech energy storage system ESAVE from the Lower Saxony sister company STODIA. With ESAVE, BORCO HÖHNS ensures an above-average battery storage solution on a leasing basis with an outstanding service life and operational reliability as well as high safety and availability through diagnosis and service.

The 3,000 square metre (sqm) photovoltaic system will initially make BORCO HÖHNS two-thirds independent of external power supply, despite its high electricity consumption of almost 700,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) per year. This investment is seen as the first step towards being able to generate electricity self-sufficiently in the future. Further investments in more fuel-efficient gas burners for the paint shop and the insulation of the factory halls are also intended to significantly reduce gas consumption. In the past business year, BORCO HÖHNS had already invested almost two million euros in a new, energy-saving wood processing centre and in the industry’s first digitalised, fully automated and energy-saving area warehouse. This will enable the company to produce much more efficiently and with less resource consumption than before.

Althusmann was “very, very impressed” by the implementation strength of the entire workforce: “We are all currently experiencing a break with previous certainties at first hand. In view of the competitive and cost pressures caused by dwindling resources, a country of medium-sized companies must also actively tackle the necessary transformation.” BORCO HÖHNS is a role model for daring to break new ground.

Even before the company holidays in 2022, the management of BORCO HÖHNS had signed an innovative company agreement with the responsible IG Metall trade union in Bremen on a pilot test in a medium-sized production company that is unique in Germany: From 1 September 2022, the 4.5-day week will be introduced at BORCO HÖHNS in Rotenburg (Wümme) in a first step.

With full wage compensation, there will be no production on Fridays in odd-numbered weeks; in even-numbered weeks, work will continue for five hours on Fridays as before. Mondays to Thursdays will generally be worked 8.5 hours instead of eight during the twelve-month pilot project. The company agreement applies in principle to the total of 240 employees of BORCO HÖHNS, exceptions for operationally necessary tasks in sales or customer service are regulated in the company agreement.

“BORCO HÖHNS has convinced us all along the line today,” commented the Rotenburg member of the state parliament Holsten on the one and a half hour visit. “We need entrepreneurs who rise to the challenge of bringing forward the best possible ideas and technologies.”

About BORCO HÖHNS

Founded in 1954 as a factory for agricultural and car trailers, BORCO HÖHNS is today the undisputed market and innovation leader in mobile sales in Germany. At the headquarters in Rotenburg an der Wümme, the mobile sales vehicles and trailers are completely designed and manufactured in the company’s own vehicle plant. BORCO HÖHNS employs a good 240 people, and the company recently generated annual sales of almost 40 million euros. The equity ratio is over 50 percent. Extensive quality controls and extensive testing ensure maximum functionality, reliability and value. Each of the approximately 400 BORCO HÖHNS vehicles that can be produced annually is therefore an investment that pays off: Whether a low-cost entry-level vehicle or a high-quality individual model. More than 10,000 BORCO HÖHNS customers – from traditional family businesses to young food truckers – trust in the quality and innovative strength of the industry leader.

Photos: Thorsten Finner

Rotenburg (Wümme), 22 August 2022