imperial - Panopa

News 1-08-2 englisch:News 2/05.2 30.04.2008 17:44 Uhr Seite 19
I M P E R I A L S O U T H A F R I C A
From a Filling Station to a
Global Player – How it all Began
Imperial Holdings Limited is characterised both by continuous growth and by continuity of management. In this
interview, Gerhard Riemann, Executive Director of Imperial Holdings and Chief Executive Officer of Imperial
Logistics International GmbH, gives an insight into the impressive development of the business.
Imperial Holdings Limited has only
been around for 50 years, yet has
since developed into an internation -
ally operating corporation with
around 44,000 employees. How has
this been possible in such a short
time?
Imperial Holdings has its roots in a
filling station in South Africa. A certain
Percy Abelkop first sold petrol there and
repaired cars. The enterprise continued
to grow over the course of time: He
began selling used vehicles and soon
afterwards new ones. New vehicles
nevertheless need to be financed and
insured. Percy therefore offered these
services, too. Always oriented to the
needs of customers, he thus constantly
expanded his business. So Imperial
Holdings arose from quite humble be -
ginn ings.
Can the corporation of today be compared
with the filling station of
yesterday?
Yes. It all belongs to Imperial Holdings as
before – although nowadays, of course,
in another dimension. Last year Imperial
Holdings sold around 200,000 vehicles
and is the largest automotive dealer in
South Africa. As in the past, this also
includes repair shops. We are also the
largest car rental operator in the Cape
and a major leasing agent for cars. Over
the course of the years, the vehicle financing
business led to the establishment of
the Imperial Bank, a property financer,
whilst a significant, international insur -
ance company developed alongside this.
The logistics and transport sector likewise
grew in parallel.
To what is the impressive development
attributable?
The main impetus came in the last 35
years, once Bill Lynch had joined the
company. Right from the start, his strate-
gic decision-making helped to contin u -
ally expand the business – first in South
Africa, then increasingly abroad. The
decentralised corporate structure, which
has always been a characteristic feature,
was nevertheless maintained.
How did Imperial Holdings find its
way to Germany in 1999?
Imperial Holdings had been very success -
ful in its fields of business in the 1990s.
Yet by then, the business had become so
big that opportunities for growth in
South Africa in certain fields were limit -
ed. Imperial Holdings therefore began to
look abroad for potential acquisitions.
We, as nestrans Logistik GmbH and part
of ThyssenKrupp AG, were a suitable
candidate. The company and the phil -
osophy of the management working here
fitted in with Imperial Holdings.
What kind of a philosophy was that?
The chemistry between the people was
right. We discovered that we saw and
dealt with a lot of things in the same way
– even though we didn't know each
other. That naturally creates trust. The
philosophy of a service provider close to
its customers was just as important for
us as it was in South Africa.
So you moved to Imperial Holdings,
too?
Yes, I changed to Imperial Holdings at
the express request of Bill Lynch. And as
the remaining management also all
moved and have remained to this day, we
were able to set forth the business seamlessly.
A successful change also depends
upon a motivated workforce who
have trust. How have the employees
responded to the change?
The complete management team made
the move. That was naturally an impor-
tant sign for the workforce: “Nothing has
changed at the top, so hopefully it's
business as normal.”
A decisive factor was the trust placed in
us by Imperial Holdings: Management
and staff were treated as experts, the lo -
cal knowledge and functioning structures
were used and retained. We were, and still
are, able to develop independently. This
has obviously provided an incentive and
motivated everyone. The same still
applies today because Imperial Holdings
continues to be a fully decentralised
organisation. With 44,000 em ployees and
a turnover of around 65 billion Rand, the
head office of the holding company in
Johannesburg still only em ploys some 30
staff. In view of this de centralised
approach, the progress we've made here
in Germany is therefore attributable, in
the main, to our own initiatives.
How do you see the future of
Imperial Holdings?
When I first got to know Bill Lynch, he
told me he wanted Imperial South Africa
to grow at a rate of at least 25 per cent
each year. After catching my breath, I
asked: “That's all very well to have such
a target, but what do you achieve in practice?”
He replied: “Always more, actually.”
And that's how it was, that's been the
development of Imperial Holdings. We
have a get-things-done philosophy, mean -
ing that we have ambitious growth targets
for the whole group – through operative
expansion and via acquisitions. The
main thrust here will be in our core
business. Here in Europe we want to
triple our turnover and profit over the
medium to long-term.
But one thing that will not change is the
corporate policy of decentralisation, also
one of the legacies of Bill Lynch. With
Hubert Brody as the new CEO, it is safe
to assume that Imperial Holdings will
continue down the path to success.
Imperial News 1/2008
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