HEINZ-DIETER TROCKENBROCH ANDSEBASTIAN TROCKENBROCH

at Emons since 2010 and 2016

They’re a granddad and grandson, who live together in the Westerwald and have been part of the Emons warehouse team for several years: Sebastian started an apprenticeship here, following in the footsteps of his granddad Heinz-Dieter, who had already been part of the Emons family since 2010. However, the two don’t always see eye to eye: Heinz-Dieter was born in Cologne and supports local club 1. FC Köln, whereas Sebastian supports Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, so there’s always bound to be disagreements; but not in the warehouse, where the two make a great team...

If you love team sports, then Emons is the place to be, right?

Heinz-Dieter: Yeah, football is king here. We have a company team that meets once a month to have a kickabout in a gym.

Sebastian: And every year there’s a tournament between all the branches in Germany, and our Cologne team is not too shabby.

What makes Emons so different to other logistics companies?

Heinz-Dieter: Things are very uncomplicated and unbureaucratic here. For example, the planning of shifts, for early, late and night shifts, is very flexible. Of course, it’s not a free-for-all at Emons either, but we’re often asked which shift we would like to have. But it’s, above all, the atmosphere here at Emons that deserves a special mention; because even though the company has grown a lot, it’s still a family-run business where people know each other and use first names.

A family business in the truest sense of the word...

Heinz-Dieter: Exactly, I've been with the company a little longer. I'm actually a trained concrete worker, but I had to stop doing that for health reasons; so I did a six-month retraining course in the warehouse and then in 2010, I came to Emons thanks to the forwarding manager at the time, who I knew quite well. Six years later, Sebastian also joined the team after doing an internship.

Sebastian: When I was in my tenth year at school, I did my annual internship in the warehouse at Emons. I would come here once a week and work the early shift and I immediately accepted when my boss offered me the apprenticeship at the Christmas party. I enjoy this so much more than going to school.

Your apprenticeship will soon be over; any unforgettable memories?

Sebastian: I’ll never forget the day I got stuck in a meadow with my forklift. It had been raining a lot, so the ground was quite boggy. I drove onto the meadow and immediately got stuck. In the end, they had to get a crane to come and pull out the forklift. But that's the great thing here at Emons; you can make a mistake without getting your head ripped off. What counts is that you learn from your mistakes.