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NEWS | Round-up


VIEWPOINT Look who’s coming to


my Christmas dinner TKC CEO Roy Saunders is already dusting off the tinsel and decorations as he finalises his guest list for this year’s celebrity Christmas dinner


WELL I DON’T know about everyone else, but this year has absolutely flown by for me and TKC, to the point where Christmas is nearly upon us after what feels like just three months since the last one. Once we’ve locked the doors for our shutdown, my attention will be turning to Christmas dinner, where I’ll be in the kitchen as usual Chez Saunders. So let me share with you my thoughts on a few guests I’d like to invite along: • Siya Kolisi: I might have mentioned before that I’m a huge rugby fan and to have this man at the table would be amazing. The first black captain of South Africa – and winning the World Cup, he is doubtless going to inspire at least one generation.


I never thought the iconic scenes of Nelson Mandela


I’ll force feed Boris Brussels sprouts if he doesn’t convince me that the end is in sight


presenting the trophy to Francois Pienaar in 1995 could be topped, but I think it has now. I can even forgive him for beating England, but only just. • Debbie Harry: Someone who’s perhaps slightly closer in age to me and can still hold a tune to entertain us. Her recent autobiography was pretty frank and that’s how I like it. I hope she’ll reply quickly and not leave me hanging on the telephone. • Simon Cowell: No spring chicken but, having caught a glimpse of him on Celebrity X Factor, his teeth have certainly been refreshed. His latest shade of white might be one we could consider for kitchen doors, and if Debbie Harry goes all shy on us – unlikely, according to her book


– then he’d surely have a few music contacts he could whistle up. • Boris Johnson: I’m sorry, but I have to. He just has to sort the B word so we can finally move on, start restoring consumer confidence and bring stability to the exchange rate. I’ll force feed him Brussels sprouts if he doesn’t convince me that the end is in sight. And if he thinks I’m trouble, then wait until Mrs Saunders starts on him. • Tyson Fury: What a year he’s had and he seems to be the definition of the word ‘character’. From addiction to mental health problems, he’s bounced back better than probably even he thought possible. We can talk boxing, singing, wrestling and mixed martial arts. And I might just have to talk to him about haircuts.


Turns out that his barber is the partner of one of our girls at TKC. • Greta Thunberg: At just 16, you’d think she’d be good company for my children, but I have a feeling she’d not be too impressed. Climate change and environmental issues have been at the forefront of society this year and this young lady will have lots to say. Anyone who can silence hecklers in America is all right by me.


Whoever is sat at your table, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year.


6


Miele plans ‘urgent action’ with biggest ever ‘growth and innovation offensive’


PREMIUM GERMAN appliance maker Miele has announced that it is reacting to the changing marketplace and has acknowledged the “urgent need for action” with a new management structure and measures to improve efficiency. It points to the strong growth in the significance of digital channels and mobile devices, the “increasingly aggressive behaviour of Asian corporations” and the fact that “economic prospects in important markers are greatly subdued… triggered by familiar geopolitical conflicts and risks to which no end is in sight”.


The plan will see the Gütersloh-based family-owned company, which has a turnover of around €4.16 billion (£3.59bn) and 20,200 employees (FY 2018/19), create a new management structure to “strengthen entrepreneurial mind-set”, but it will mean the loss of 1,070 jobs by the end of 2021, with 650 more to go by the end of 2025. Miele said that it would implement a “greater focus on new business fields and on increased speed and flexibility in developing new products and services. At the same time, the company will realign in the fields of administration and sales with a view to greater growth, optimise its processes in all areas and hence achieve greater latitude in terms of costs and prices”.


In line with Miele’s Design2Excellence (D2E) programme outlined a year ago, the operating business is to be bundled into eight business units.


The new structure will see management of individual units given full decision-making powers with respect to their value-creation chains. These are answerable to the executive board with respect to turnover, costs


and profitability. This gives greater


power to managers and makes for shorter lines of command and decision-making. With


respect to commercial products and in the field of medical technology, it is also planned for the respective business unit to assume responsibility for worldwide sales and service at foreign sales subsidiaries.


A ‘New Growth Factory’ unit has also been created to identify new fields of business to help the company move beyond its core manufacturing areas.


Miele will also restructure its sales units worldwide to exploit the potential of new markets and cash in on regional synergies. China, the USA and Canada will in future report directly to the executive board. And finally, digital marketing, e-commerce and digital analytics will be merged into one unit at the group’s new Digital Hub for Marketing and Sales in Amsterdam. Miele said that it will need to make


savings of €190 million (£164m) a year, which will be achieved predominantly by reductions in material costs and personnel, avoiding “parallel structures” and pooling resources in sales, service, logistics, IT and financial operations.


Around 240 jobs could be shed in Germany by the end of 2021, mainly in Gütersloh, with a further 830 outside Germany. A further 650 jobs will go at its Gütersloh washing machine plant by the end of 2025.


But it plans to create a further 470 jobs to help strengthen its digital expertise and exploit new business fields.


Miele’s two executive directors and co-proprietors,


Dr Markus Miele and Dr


Reinhard Zinkann, said: “Implementing the proposed changes will be a tour de force that will only be possible with the support and the backing of the workforce… We are all making an essential contribution to sustainably securing Miele‘s standing as the sound, strong and independent family-owned company it is today.”


kbbreview · December 2019


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