1st prize for Bühler Motor in the ALPHAZIRKEL Family Entrepreneurship Award

ALPHAZIRKEL presents Family Entrepreneurship Award for the first time

Nuremberg, 25.05.2016 – ALPHAZIRKEL presented its newly created Family Entrepreneurship Award for the first time at the gala celebrations marking its 10th anniversary on 7 April. The Award is given by ALPHAZIRKEL to family firms that have developed and reinvented themselves through the generations in a way that serves as a model to others. The Bühler Motor Group was awarded first place from among the 14 finalists. Mark and Christof Furtwängler, representing the company's family owners, accepted the trophy, which was donated by Philipp Haindl, Managing Director of the Serafin group of companies. The art work, a rhinoceros, was manufactured by the Nymphenburg Royal Porcelain Manufactory and bears the name "Clara".

"For over 160 years, Bühler has embodied an unparalleled ability to adapt to changing markets on the one hand and to new technologies on the other. Founded in 1855 as a manufacturer of wall clocks, Bühler Motor has now become an international supplier of high-tech solutions. Today, the family firm, which has ten sites on three continents, offers tailor-made products in the Automotive and Healthcare sectors plus general industrial applications", said Andreas E. Mach, founder and spokesperson of ALPHAZIRKEL in his presentation speech.

"We were surprised that the Bühler Motor Group was even nominated for the award. We are delighted and proud to have actually won it, and it will spur us on even further", commented Mark Furtwängler, a member of the 5th generation of the family, who has been active in the firm since 2014.

With this award, ALPHAZIRKEL recognizes, in particular, the attitude of company owners and their families when it comes to dealing responsibly with their heritage and the discipline that family entrepreneurs embody in their companies and also in their families. It pays tribute to the willingness to install a manager from the outside if necessary and to separate capital and management from each other; the exemplary function of family entrepreneurs but also their readiness to let others take the reins and content themselves with a moderating, supervisory role; and the ability to modify the company and its products constantly in order to keep pace with changing markets and technologies.