Following more than 43 years at this location, my retirement now begins – a new phase of life with many new adventures on the horizon.

One of these will be going to exhibitions and museums with my grandchildren to stimulate their curiosity about our world and its history. My role as a grandfather is very inspiring for me. I've always liked mixed age groups, both privately and at work, because we can all learn from each other. I really love jogging and cycling, and also handicrafts. My favourite pastime is to make furniture from recyclable materials – it gives them a second life.

I've experienced a lot of changes in the course of my professional life: I started in production and then I took care of raw materials procurement. At WEPA we do everything we can to become more environmentally conscious, and our raw materials have been delivered by ship for over seven years. Lorries are now only used for 5 km. Just in 2021 there were 72 transports by cargo ship instead of around 2,880 lorries, which is genuinely a more environmentally friendly alternative.