Award-winning German bedroom manufacturer Wiemann and its UK and Ireland sales agency Litmus Furniture have just been celebrating their 20th anniversary together, with a first-ever get-together of both the UK and German teams.
Litmus founder Peter Hewitt first put his toe in the water with Wiemann back in 2003. “Twenty years on, and it’s exciting and gratifying to acknowledge and celebrate the business has grown 20 times over since we started,” says Peter’s son Simon, who took over at the helm of Litmus back in 2018, having joined in 2014. Today, the UK market is Wiemann’s largest export market and second only to Germany in sales.
To celebrate the anniversary, Litmus Furniture’s entire sales team visited Wiemann’s HQ near Osnabruck in northern Germany, where business was mixed with pleasure with tours around the state-of-art factory and extensive showrooms, displaying Wiemann’s entire collection of bedroom furniture, including all the about-to-be-launched 2024 models.
“The last time the team visited the factory was back in 2016 and it’s changed quite a lot in the intervening period with significant investments in new machinery and technology to improve efficiency, quality, sustainability and costs,” says Wiemann export manager Kai Schwenke.
Simon Hewitt adds: “We also held our annual sales meeting while we were there so the whole team got involved in our range planning for the UK market for 2024. We’ll be launching five brand new ranges and updates to at least five popular ranges, including a lovely new finish, Nordic oak.
Wiemann’s senior management, including owner Markus Wiemann, CEO, Thomas Hulsmann, group sales director, and Stefan Urbschat, new MD and CEO, joined Wiemann UK export team and their Litmus visitors for a celebratory night out and the trip finished with some visits to German retail
customers’ stores to see how things differ from the UK approach and to pick up any tips that can be put to good use back in the UK.
“It’s fantastic to get to see the factory in action, meet our German colleagues, be involved in the business strategy for 2024 and celebrate this impressive milestone,” says Neil Smith, Litmus Furniture’s sales representative for East Anglia and the Home counties. “It’s a real bonus to represent such a good business and products.”
