Be my Guest…Wim Fabricius
Kito Crosby is celebrating the 260th anniversary of Gunnebo Industries this year and organised an open day for employees, family and friends at its site in Gunnebo, Sweden, where Lars Fredriksson, inventor of the GrabiQ was guest of honour. Here to tell us more is Wim Fabricius, President and Managing Director of Europe, Middle East and Africa (MENA), Kito Crosby.
“All our employees were invited to come and visit the site to see our processes and just have a fun day, celebrating the legacy of the company and in some cases the generations of forefathers that laid ground in founding the plant in Gunnebo in Sweden,” said Fabricius.
“It’s difficult to really connect all the way back to the beginning being 260 years ago.
And not all names and government structures were in place at that time for us to fully track down. But there are certainly people that work for us today who are the grandchildren of their late, late grandfathers who worked for the company in those early days.”
Another highlight of the company’s history is 'Mr. GrabiQ' Lars Fredriksson, inventor of the revolutionary GrabiQ system.
“Lars is still involved in the business, although he has been retired for quite some time now. But indeed, he invented the GrabiQ which was launched in the year 2000 and it's still, one of the key innovations that was done under Gunnebo Industries today and is still the leading brand for lifting when it comes to chains and chain fitting solutions,” said Fabricius.
“And Lars was there to celebrate with us at the open day where many team members were keen to listen and learn from him and get his thoughts on the Gunnebo brand and products, and how we can improve safety in the world holistically.”
Talking about where he hopes the brand will be in the next 10 years, Fabricius said: “We care a lot about sustainability and the future and how our brands can contribute to a safer world, be it the materials, and the products that we make, but also leaving behind a world which is safer for our children and grandchildren. It’s at the forefront of everything we do.
“Kito Crosby has evolved from what it was, five to 10 years ago. We have been able to bring together all these great brands that project quality and safety into the market under one roof and that is the highlight of 2024 for us.
“In 2025, we're obviously going to be working very closely with our latest acquisition, eepos and ultimately that brings more value to all our customers, channel partners, end users.
“We as a company will be celebrating Christmas in many different ways. So in EMEA we have about 1000 team members, and employee owners. In principle, every site and location will have their own traditions and local way of celebrating certain events. For example Sweden versus Italy versus the UK and Germany all celebrate Christmas very differently. But we will organise a couple of events at the bigger sites, and we are going to have some skiing, and wintery sort of fun events. So, we have a whole host of things we're doing to make sure everybody is ready to start their Christmas holiday with family and friends.”
Click HERE to watch the video on LEEA YouTube channel.
