The uvex brand and the international strategy

 

Rainer Winter gained his first commercial experience as a 20-year-old in his parents' company. At that time, the first safety spectacles were still being manufactured by hand at the “Philipp M. Winter Optische Industrieanstalt” in Fürth's Salzstraße. This was the nucleus of today's uvex group.

 “It was unimaginable for our father to simply join his father's company without being able to make his own mark,” say Gabriele Grau and Michael Winter, who has been managing the uvex group in the third generation since 1999. “He wanted to earn his own spurs. That's why he went to the USA in 1955 to study and do an internship abroad.” He brought back a crucial insight from his one-year stay: A consumer product needs a concise brand and consistent brand management to be successful. One of his first achievements as Managing Director was therefore the development of the brand name “uvex”, short for the quality feature “Ultra Violet EXcluded”. A milestone in the company's history and the beginning of an extraordinary success story.

His stay in the USA made Rainer Winter aware of the potential for growth on the global market, and so he began to drive forward the diversification and internationalization of the uvex group in the 1970s.

Rainer Winter brought both courage and foresight to the international expansion course, and he always relied on his personally formulated corporate vision of “protecting people”. And with great success. Today, the company now has 49 subsidiaries in 23 countries around the world, selling products to protect people at work, in sport and leisure.

Social responsibility and corporate success

 

Rainer Winter was not only an exceptionally successful entrepreneur, he also had a big heart for children and set up the Rainer Winter Foundation in 1980.  Its mission is to help sick, needy and disabled children and young people quickly and unbureaucratically. The foundation's work focuses on Rainer Winter's home town of Fürth and the Nuremberg metropolitan region. The foundation is particularly supported by the entrepreneur's family, employees and partners of the uvex group.

Despite health setbacks, Rainer Winter repeatedly visited the Fürth headquarters and, as a shareholder and “background moderator” of the uvex group, accompanied important company decisions. With foresight and in agreement with his family, Rainer Winter set the course for a long-term company succession at an early stage. His son Michael Winter, his father's successor as Managing Partner since 1999, is now responsible for €666 million in sales (FY 2023/24) and around 3100 employees worldwide. Gabriele Grau assumes responsibility as a shareholder and is Chairwoman of the Rainer Winter Foundation. This will continue the life's work and social commitment of the deceased.

“We are bidding farewell to an outstanding personality who was an experienced and reliable advisor to us until the end,” says Michael Winter. “He always had an open ear for the concerns and needs of our employees, and his team spirit, down-to-earth attitude and sense of humor helped him to create a corporate culture of values and mutual trust. We thank him from the bottom of our hearts for this legacy.”