MAJOR SUCCESS FOR KLÖCKNER & CO: SWISS TEAM TAKES SECOND PLACE AT INTERNATIONAL SKILLS COMPETITION
- Some 1,000 participants from 54 countries
- Switzerland as best-performing European nation
- Klöckner & Co subsidiary promotes vocational training for young professionals
Duisburg, Germany, July 2013 – With nine gold, three silver and five bronze medals as well as 18 certificates, the Swiss national team took second place at this year’s WorldSkills Competitions in Leipzig. The team from South Korea was the overall winner. With its second-place ranking, Switzerland was by far the best-performing European nation. The Klöckner & Co subsidiary Debrunner Acifer, part of the Debrunner Koenig Group, is the general sponsor of the Swiss national team.
Patrik Forster, Member of the Group Management at Debrunner Koenig, was pleased with the result: “The team has clearly advanced even further since the 2011 WorldSkills Competition in London. This is evidence of the extraordinarily high quality of vocational training in Switzerland.”
The Klöckner & Co subsidiary has sponsored the Swiss team since 2005 and has thus made it possible for young professionals to take part in national and international skills competitions. The company’s involvement thus also supports
the training of apprentices at companies and the work of professional associations at the same time. In addition to monetary contributions, the Klöckner & Co subsidiary provides the Swiss team with safety clothing and high-quality tools.
“Vocational training has been important at Debrunner Acifer for decades. Only those companies that support and motivate the next generation will continue to be successful in the future,” says Forster with regard to the reasons behind the involvement in Switzerland. Accordingly, many open positions at the Klöckner & Co subsidiary are filled by qualified former apprentices.
But Debrunner Acifer does not only think about the talent within its own company. “As the general sponsor of the Swiss national team, we are also indirectly supporting young professionals from our customers,” Forster says. “This support is very much appreciated all around.”
About the WorldSkills Competitions:
In 1946, two Spaniards had a vision: José Antonio Elola Olaso and Francisco Albert-Vidal dreamt of having an international competition for occupations – a competition in which the world could measure its professional quality. In 1947, the first Spanish competitions for apprentices proved to be a huge success. Neighboring Portugal joined the competitions in 1950. By 1953, many more countries had joined: Morocco, France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Switzerland all sent their teams to the “International Skills Competitions.”
Since 1999, the competition has been called WorldSkills. Initially held every year, the competitions have taken place every two years since 1973. Today, up to 65 countries and regions participate in the major event. The competition is open to young professionals up to the age of 22. All participants must first qualify at national skills competitions.
Some 1,000 young professionals from 54 countries took part in this year’s WorldSkills Competition in Leipzig, Germany. The vocational training event in the Saxon metropolis was thus the largest of its kind since the competition began over 65 years ago. In 2015 the skills competition will be held in São Paulo, Brazil.
Further results from Leipzig as well as information on the history of WorldSkills can be found online at http://www.worldskillsleipzig2013.com/en/ and on the WordSkills International website.
About Debrunner Acifer:
Debrunner Acifer is a company of the Debrunner Koenig Group with its headquarters in St. Gallen and is a wholly owned subsidiary of global steel and metal distributor Klöckner & Co. In addition to numerous regional storage and sales locations, the long-established Swiss group also has extensive prefabricating capacities and a broad range of over 160,000 products.
With these offerings, Debrunner Acifer is a capable B2B trade partner for reinforcements and auxiliary equipment, steel and metals, water systems and civil engineering, building equipment and appliances, sheet metal and roofing, fastening systems, tools, machines, protective equipment, heating and air-conditioning systems.
Further information on Debrunner Acifer and the Debrunner Koenig Group can be found on the Debrunner Acifer website and at http://www.dkh.ch/.
About Klöckner & Co:
Klöckner & Co is the largest producer-independent distributor of steel and metal products and one of the leading steel service center companies in the European and American markets combined. The core business of Klöckner & Co is the warehousing and distribution of steel and non-ferrous metals as well as the operation of steel service centers. Based on the Group's distribution and service network, more than 160,000 customers are supplied through around 240 locations in 15 countries. Currently Klöckner & Co employs around 10,000 employees. The Group had sales of around €7.4 billion in fiscal 2012.
The shares of Klöckner & Co SE are admitted to trading on the regulated market segment (Regulierter Markt) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse) with further post-admission obligations (Prime Standard).
Klöckner & Co shares are listed in the MDAX®-Index of Deutsche Börse.
ISIN: DE000KC01000; WKN: KC0100; Common Code: 025808576.
Contact:
Christian Pokropp – Press Spokesperson
Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
Telephone: +49 (0) 203-307-2050
Fax: +49 (0) 203-307-5025
Email: christian.pokropp@kloeckner.com
