Welcome succession

The next generation takes over the management of Ahlberg Metalltechnik and Legler Objekt & Konzept

Mario Ahlberg and Heike Legler have created two very successful companies, Ahlberg Metalltechnik GmbH and Legler Objekt & Konzept GmbH. They are both stepping back to let the next generation take the helm – and approaching the succession process with the same vigilance and care that they invested into building their businesses.

When approaching Adlershof from Johannisthal by S-Bahn, you can’t miss Ahlberg Metalltechnik GmbH. With its turquoise facade, the large manufacturing hall and the modern office building look brand-new. However, they have been there for eight years, when Mario Ahlberg merged his entrepreneurial life’s work here at Technology Park Adlershof. Almost at the same time, Heike Legler and her Legler Objekt & Konzept GmbH moved into Europa-Center – Am Studio 1. Across several bright, open spaces, she and her team create concepts and office designs for the modern world of work.

The two companies couldn’t be less alike. On the one hand, there’s the colourful, almost playful, but clear and stylish space where Legler and her team go through iterations of a collaborative design process, which is in high demand with clients from research and industry. On the other hand, you have a cutting-edge industrial company with its punching and pressing systems and CNC machining centres, manufacturing for the who’s who of the German car industry, and with a growing engineering division that is developing, simulating, constructing, and automating for companies from medical technology, aerospace, and mechanical engineering. When things get complicated and complex tools, devices, or special machines are what’s required, that’s when the team of Fabian Ahlberg, the young technical manager, is fully in its element.

And now that we put Fabian Ahlberg on one side, and Alexandra Jarecki on the other side of the equation, we start seeing the parallels between these different Adlershof worlds. Both are designated to continue the life’s work of Mario Ahlberg and Heike Legler. While the Ahlbergs are father and son, Legler and Jarecki are kindred of choice; the latter successor has been with the company since its inception, knows the clients, processes, and sales – and still has to turn everything on its head. “Although we’ve been working together a long time, I had to ask her what exactly it is a managing director does,” says Jarecki. Legler couldn't explain it to her right away either but had to remember the variety of her tasks first. It was an exciting process, she says, this very structured approach to succession, and the gradual placing of more responsibility into Jarecki’s hands. In the course of the conversation, it becomes apparent that they simply get along very well, respect each other on a professional level – and that Legler is quite simply happy about one thing in particular: Things will go on. She and her son will continue to be shareholders but give Jarecki room for making her own decisions. “If she wants, she can take a stake in the business,” says the acting boss. They have agreed to approach the handover process on a case-by-case basis. Not a rigid schedule but a smooth transition. In a way, this already started years ago. But now, after an open conversation a year ago, it has become more concrete.

Companies are in constant change anyway. Legler's clients are looking for new ideas and spatial concepts for the future of work. Attractive spaces that lure employees out of their home offices as well as facilitate and foster teamwork and interdisciplinary interaction. This change has been gaining momentum since the pandemic – and Jarecki wants to shape it, both entrepreneurially and professionally. This is where she and Fabian Ahlberg meet. He, too, will have to lead the family business through a changing market and seize the opportunities it offers. With the switch to electric engines, the number of components per vehicle will fall sharply. At the same time, manufacturers and suppliers must restructure their factories and set up new processes worldwide. “As a provider of tailored engineering solutions that we manufacture in-house, this offers great chances,” of that, he is sure. This confidence is based on plenty of orders for plant conversions that have already been received. At the same time, he is pushing diversification forward and tapping into new markets. Until now, two-thirds of sales come from the automobile industry. However, this is due to changes through a wider spectrum of industries and the expansion of the engineering division. While his father takes care of the regular customers and keeps an eye on finances, the son is responsible for looking for new markets. He also makes good use of the networks in Adlershof to do so.

Mario Ahlberg is pleased that his dream of entrepreneurship is being continued by his son. By gradually buying up other established Berlin-based businesses, he turned the company into what it is today: 170 employees, 17 apprentices, modern equipment, and a current revenue goal of 30 million euros. “My wife and family often had to take the back seat,” he says. That is another reason why a successful succession is so important to him. He aims to preserve what has been created and to lead it into the future with a spirit of innovation. To do so, Fabian Ahlberg has given up his promising career at Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart. He had gone from trainee to production manager. The know-how he acquired on the way is now funnelled into the engineering, quality management, and automation of the family business. The designated successor is determined to continue his father’s work and to make it fit for the future using his expertise. This, too, is something he has in common with Alexandra Jarecki.

Peter Trechow for Adlershof Journal

• Ahlberg Metalltechnik – System provider for the automotive and supplier industry
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