The world visits Sendenhorst

Companies of the Laumann Group visiting Sendenhorst: When Europe is celebrating soccer events, VEKA is no exception, but quite the opposite. On June 29, the VEKA European Championship took place for the third time in Sendenhorst, Germany. No less than 14 teams of employees from Spain, England, France, Poland and other German subsidiaries came to VEKA headquarters to compete for the coveted trophy. In perfect weather conditions, all the athletes and their numerous fans enjoyed a great tournament - and rounded off the day in style at a public viewing event.

"The VEKA family as guests in Sendenhorst - that's how you could sum up this weekend," said a delighted Elke Hartleif, the member of the VEKA Management Board responsible for Human Resources. The daughter of company founder Heinrich Laumann took the opportunity to personally honor the winning team: In an all-Polish final, VEKA Polska I beat the second Polish team by a clear 3:0, crowning an impressive tournament performance without conceding any goals.

Full commitment - even on the sidelines

The VEKA European Championship was characterized by a family atmosphere. There was an exciting supporting program for the numerous children among the spectators. The teams of the foreign VEKA subsidiaries and their fans had already arrived the day before. They were joined by teams from several German companies within the Laumann Group, including GEALAN, DBS, celotec, VEKA Umwelttechnik, Uniorg and Vinylit. The athletes and their fans got in the mood for the next day of the tournament with a barbecue.

Even in the preliminary matches, the teams showed their full commitment, supported by the numerous spectators on the sidelines. An opportunity to take a breath was then provided by the remarkable penalty shoot-out between the managing directors, which was won by Karl-Dietrich Wellsow (DBS - Digital Building Solutions). The tournament reached its highlight in the afternoon with the semi-finals and the final. The matches were officiated by an experienced team of referees, which included a real celebrity referee: Bernd Heynemann had already officiated at a real European Championship in 1996 and also refereed matches at the World Cup in France in 1998.

Enjoying and cheering together

After the award ceremony, the tournament program seamlessly transitioned into the joint party - with a performance that probably came as a surprise to many. VEKA CEO Andreas Hartleif himself picked up the strings of his guitar and played a rousing set with the party band "Covering Ground". During the day, the Sendenhorst fire department band had already provided a relaxed musical atmosphere.

At the end of the day, the focus was on the professional soccer players. After all, there was the round of 16 of the "other" European Championship. At the public viewing of the match between Germany and Denmark, all guests joined in the excitement and cheered on the German team, regardless of their nationality. Afterwards, everyone laughed and talked shop for a long time - and more than once expressed the wish to get together again as soon as possible for a big party "with the whole family".

"As an international company group we benefit from a mutual exchange of experience and many valuable synergies," emphasized Andreas Hartleif in his summary. "Our aim is to use events like these to enable colleagues from the various companies to get to know each other personally. This strengthens group spirit and cooperation at all levels, which ultimately benefits everyone." Not only the guests from the foreign subsidiaries, but also the families of the employees working in Sendenhorst were enthusiastic about the supporting program for the children with bouncy castle, face painting and water station and were delighted with the all-round successful, well-organized event.