ERHARDT, which this year celebrates its 140th anniversary (1882-2022) held its Annual Convention at the Royal Abra Maritime Club, in Bizkaia, on June 9 and 10, under the motto NEXTGEN TEAM.
During the convention, the different business lines showcased the new initiatives, future projects and investments that were launched during the first half of 2022.
The unique cross-cutting projects in the areas of digitalisation, work-life balance and equal opportunities that the group’s corporate services are promoting were also presented.
Highlights
The 2022 Convention, which was attended by more than 140 people, was opened by our President Eugenio Erhardt, who outlined the most important events of the last financial year, which ended with better growth than initially estimated.
He went on to say that “the pandemic has accelerated the so-called digital transformation, resulting in increased demand to develop digital products, underwrite risk and purchase raw materials”.
He also said that “at a time when global supply chains have become unpredictable and are under great stress, logistics has become a major strategic factor for companies”.
He pointed out that our efforts, commitment and creativity “have allowed us to move forward and make significant investments” in developing people, transforming the group, renewing our traditional business offer and creating new activities.
He concluded by saying that Erhardt “operates in a diversified market, in high-growth sectors, with customers that are increasingly digital, more global and more committed to the environment, and that these new variables are being incorporated into our range of services”.
Intergenerational Dialogue
The Convention came to an end with an intergenerational colloquium in which some of the “living legends” who have worked at Erhardt over the last fifty years took part, along with some of the young newcomers to the group.
Under the title “Gen+Next”, the colloquium was moderated by Eugenio Erhardt Barrenechea and was attended by representatives of “Gen”, such as Gerardo Tiedemann, Ralf Endress and Pablo Engelmann, each of whom has had an extraordinary life and professional career of more than 40 years at Erhardt in the maritime and logistics services and steel&trading divisions.
The “Next” generation, which is made up of people who have recently joined Erhardt, was represented by Ana García, from Serikat, Manuel López, from Ertransit and Manuel Fernández, from MatErh.
It was an “intense” event which, in the words of its chairman, Eugenio Erhardt, “demonstrated the dynamism of the group and the commitment of the teams, who have worked and shone in the midst of such complicated and uncertain times”.
Meanwhile, the Erhardt Projects Team attending the Convention had the chance to see the internationalisation of the Unit in Middle East – APAC – recognised, a historic event for ERHARDT, reinforcing its commitment to the current reality of digital services, through its NETERH Platform, as part of its Boutique & Unique strategy.