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"Departure into a new era"
Harald Hotop appointed Managing director of Sauerland-based fittings specialist Kludi
Harald Hotop has been appointed Managing director of Kludi, the fittings specialist from the Sauerland region, with effect from the 1st of November 2023. The 48-years-old is moving from Cologne-based Megabad GmbH, where he has been Managing Director since 2019, to the fittings manufacturer headquartered in Menden. He will form the management team there together with Frank Holtmann-Wibberich and Can Yildirim, who has also been appointed Managing Director as of 1 November 2023.
With his many years of experience both in the sanitary industry and in specialist wholesaling, Harald Hotop is the ideal addition to the management team to continue to drive forward the transformation of Kludi together with Frank Holtmann-Wibberich and Can Yildirim," emphasises Abdallah Massaad, Group CEO of RAK Ceramics, to which Kludi has belonged since 2022. With his profound knowledge of the market and the industry, Harald Hotop is ideally placed to establish Kludi as a reliable and predictable market partner in the long term. "This is the basis for embarking on a new era with Kludi and jointly developing the company into a leading premium brand in the sanitary industry," says Abdallah Massaad.
Dedicated growth strategy
The systematic further development of Kludi and the planned expansion of its market position are in line with the growth strategy of the RAK Ceramics Group. It is aimed at strengthening the company's presence in its core markets and concentrating on core products. Kludi plays an important role in this, as it gives RAK Ceramics the opportunity to drive forward its expansion into European markets and strengthen its own position in projects across the entire sanitaryware and fittings business.
Great potential
After initial professional positions in international consulting companies, Harald Hotop worked in various functions for Ideal Standard before joining the management of Megabad. "I am very much looking forward to the exciting and responsible task of successfully advancing the initiated transformation of the company and the Kludi brand together with all employees," explains Harald Hotop. "If we all work together, I see very great potential for Kludi to become one of the most important and innovative players in the bathroom industry in Europe in the medium term with the support of our shareholder.”
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Kludi – The Sauerland-based fittings specialist
Kludi - the fittings specialist from the Sauerland region of Germany
Kludi GmbH & Co. KG - founded in 1926 in the Sauerland region - stands for almost 100 years of experience in the development and manufacture of high-quality fittings for bathrooms and kitchens. This tradition as a fittings specialist has given rise to the claim that Kludi products combine excellent manufacturing quality "Made in Germany", maximum functionality, innovative technologies and first-class design in a unique way. Time and again, Kludi has given important impetus to developments in the bathroom and kitchen with pioneering solutions. Around 170 inventions and 100 patents can be attributed to the medium-sized company with its headquarters in Menden. It is no coincidence that Kludi has received many awards for this, most recently the "German Innovation Award", the "Red Dot Design Award" and as one of the "TOP 100 Innovators" in the German SME sector.
Kludi fittings are not only used in countless private houses and flats, but also in many prestigious projects such as the L'Oréal "Horizon J1" German headquarters in Düsseldorf, the elegant Kayumanis Private Villa & Spa Hotel in Yangshuo, the five-star "Sheraton Grand Krakow" hotel in Krakow, the "Karolinenhof" residential complex in Regensburg or the trendy "Urban Loft" boutique hotel in the heart of Cologne.
The Kludi family has around 900 employees in sales and production companies in eleven countries in Europe and Asia. In addition to the fully integrated main plant in Menden, Kludi manufactures its fittings in Hornstein/Austria and Diósd/Hungary as well as in the United Arab Emirates. From there, they are exported to over 100 countries. Kludi has been part of the RAK Ceramics Group since 2022. You can find out more about Kludi - the fittings specialist from the Sauerland region - at www.kludi.com.