The year in review and honouring our jubilarians

Dear Employees and Friends of CITO,

This year, in 2020, for the first time in almost 40 years, there will be no Christmas party at CITO. For me personally, this is a very sad moment; this celebration with our employees, their families and friends of our company has always been the highpoint and a fitting end to the business year. We have not foregone this event that we have grown fond of voluntarily. Not economic constraints that compelled us, but an insidious virus that forced us to make this decision. To protect the health of you all, in 2020, this is the only way left to me to acknowledge the year and appreciate its jubilarians.

You might find it somewhat strange for me to see anything worth appreciating in 2020, but each year has its highs and lows, even such an unpleasant year as 2020. The year actually started very well; the first three months were economically decidedly good for CITO. Yet there were already dark clouds on the horizon, which are considered to be the harbingers of a storm. In January, I met with friends from China for a joint visit in Belgium. Our friends wanted to buy masks there, but all the chemist’s had already sold out. I thought the Asians have become crazy. At that time, I still could not anticipate that my compatriots would buy up all stocks of toilet paper within a few weeks and we would start to make our own protective masks. Then the time arrived: For the first time in my life, I was forced to experience a kind of emergency. All shops were closed, we had to take protective measures for the health of our employees and wherever possible, our employees worked from home. Such massive interventions have, of course, not been without their economic consequences. Some export markets have collapsed completely and our domestic business also did not develop very positively. At CITO we therefore saw ourselves forced, for the first time since I have led the company, to register short-time working. Our government luckily supported us through this measure, nonetheless it entails financial losses for our employees. It is therefore also the obligation of responsible management to handle such a measure responsibly.

At this point, I would like to thank my management team of Thomas Gerner, Oliver Kellermann and René Seick emphatically. Management can, of course, only work successfully if it is backed by a team on which it can rely fully. Our entire workforce proved to be very flexible and was also willing to stay the difficult course with us. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all very sincerely; the true strength of a team becomes clear especially in times of crises.

Despite the difficult situation, we managed to supply our customers punctually and with the familiar high quality. Through our joint efforts and commitment, CITO proved itself a reliable partner, even in times of crisis. It would be great if I could consider the crisis to be over and we could all start 2021 together, free from worry. This is unfortunately not the case, because the unpredictable virus still has us all in its grip. The threat to health has come closer, especially in recent weeks. Therefore, my urgent request to all of you: “Continue to be cautious, protect yourselves and your loved ones.” We unfortunately also had to experience how real the threat is. A long-standing business partner has died from COVID in recent days.

Our company has proven to be stable, and the situation has also started looking up economically for the past several weeks. We naturally cannot expect to achieve the same results as 2019, but we will achieve a positive result even in this year. Since the beginning of November, we have been able to do without short-time working and we hope that this will remain the case.

As is the pleasant custom of ours, I would now like to express my appreciation for the jubilarians of 2020, on behalf of all our employees. Let us begin with the person who has stayed true to us for 25 years.

Thomas Lindner in our warehouse. An employee who can be assigned very flexibly and is willing to step in to help with in-house transport whenever the need arises. He is always cheerful, even at busy times when overtime is required. It has also been a pleasure for me to be able to observe his development over such a long period of time. The young man who started with us 25 years ago has now become a responsible father. 

Thomas Lindner
Thomas Lindner

Even though there is only one employee who is celebrating 25 years with us this year, we have a large number of employees who joined our company in 2010. A year that I, of course, remember particularly well. I acquired my majority shareholding of CITO in the year. So let us acknowledge the 10-year jubilarians in the order in which they joined CITO.

Doris Reutner, head of our financial accounting and master magician of the numbers and accounts. She tied her professional life to our company on 06 May 2010. I value her reliability in a very particular way. Together with her team, she provides the basis for our decisions. One characteristic is especially important in her position: trustworthiness. At this point I can very clearly state that, in her, I am very happy to have someone in this position whom I can trust more than 100 %. I hope she nonetheless has enough time to take care of her grandchildren.

Doris Reutner
Doris Reutner

Kellymarie Johnson joined our company on 28 June 2010. The daughter of our long-standing managing director of CITO UK Ltd. originally wanted to become a teacher. But she enjoyed working for CITO UK so much and has stayed with us to this day. She is a mother of two and nonetheless manages to reconcile career and family well. She heads our office in the UK and is valued equally by both the staff and our customers. She has developed into an important pillar of our business in the UK. I am pleased to have her on board in such turbulent times.

Kellymarie Johnson
Kellymarie Johnson

Michael Schuster joined us on 05 July 2010. He began as assistant to the production manager. His task was to introduce production planning software. After a short time, he then switched to our sales department where he took on increasing responsibilities. Today he is the first person to contact for our international representations. He is the head of our sales department and is highly valued by the members of his team. As a father of three children, it is surely not always easy to accommodate family, career and the associated travel.

Michael Schuster
Michael Schuster

Ihsan Zeybek has worked in our R&D department since 15 July 2010. The mechanical engineer always found solely working at the CAD computer too boring. He wanted to take care of every aspect of projects, from the initial idea through to complete implementation. Today he is head of the R&D department and a valued contact throughout our entire group. When he is not busy with development projects, the always cheerful father spends every free minute with his small daughter or in his coffee bar.

Ihsan Zeybek
Ihsan Zeybek

Lisa Böhm started with us on 01 September 2010 as a trainee industrial clerk. After completing her training successfully, she was taken on as a clerk in the accounts department. For me it is always a very special experience when the name of a former trainee or apprentice appears on the list of jubilarians. We luckily have a large number of them. Ms Böhm is currently on maternity leave and is spending plenty of time with her small daughter.

Lisa Böhm
Lisa Böhm

Matthias Buchholz joined us on 01 November 2010. He heads our purchasing team in a calm and even-tempered way. He is one of those in our company who holds the Franconian colours high. He loves his outings to the so-called “Hersbrucker Swiss” region and the associated good Franconian food, although you would not know that to look at him. He presumably works off the superfluous calories on his push bike. I have even heard rumours that the father also likes to cook himself occasionally.

Matthias Buchholz
Matthias Buchholz

Adam Heinrich became an employee in our warehouse department on 15 November 2010. He then later transferred into our work scheduling department; his commercial training most likely stood him well there. No matter how bad things get, Mr Heinrich always stays cheerful. He is always there when he’s needed; even when his workload increases or overtime is needed, nothing spoils his good humour.

Adam Heinrich
Adam Heinrich

I would like to thank all employees of the CITO GROUP very sincerely for their commitment and their loyalty in 2020, which has not been an easy year.

I wish you a peaceful Christmas holiday and above all a healthy 2021. I believe this wish for a New Year has never been so clear and real as it is now.

Best regards,

Jürgen Mariën
CEO