They were looking for short delivery routes.
They found short chains of command.

Jakob Thaler GmbH successfully produces machines and accessories for laying underground cables. In Bad Bramstedt, the company has found a new home on a 13,200 m² premises – and ideal prerequisites for strong further growth within its niche.

What colour is "Made in Germany"? At Jakob Thaler GmbH, the colour is bright blue – RAL 5015 to be exact. The company paints its cable winches, cable carts and rewinding units in this shade. With a tensile force of up to 20 tonnes, the machines help to lay underground cables – from hair-thin micro-cables all the way to thick fibre-optic bundles. "What we produce is still a niche product," explains Managing Director Brigitte Loose.

But within the niche, the company has established itself very successfully. Business is booming, especially due to the ongoing expansion of fibre-optic networks. It’s not just German energy companies or civil engineering companies that use the products. Clients in the USA, Saudi Arabia and Finland also value the high quality and reliable service. Jakob Thaler GmbH generates more than half of its revenue internationally.

When the former production site in Elmshorn, with 3,000 m², was reaching its limit, the company looked for a new commercial premises. "Our most important criteria were a good price, lots of room for growth and above all very good transport connections," explains Brigitte Loose. Particularly the proximity to Hamburg Harbour and Airport were essential for her. Spare parts are regularly shipped to Dubai, Kuwait or Houston; complete machines are even flown into the most remote corners of Alaska.

NORDGATE offered the company an available 13,200 m² space in the new commercial area North in Bad Bramstedt. After initial contact with the responsible building authority, the whole process went very quickly. Ground was broken in just under a year, and the hand-over of keys took place after another year. "In other regions, every municipality fends for itself. At NORDGATE, a contact person knows about all the available real estate and directs everything to the right channels," says Brigitte Loose. For Jakob Thaler GmbH, relocation to Bad Bramstedt also meant returning to its own roots. The predecessor company was founded in 1964 just a few kilometres away. Today, Hunenkamp 6-12 houses a large production hall, a paint shop, a high-bay warehouse, a fibre optic cable test circuit as well as administrative and training rooms. Immediately after the relocation, the company secured an additional expansion space of 2,000 m² for which another warehouse is planned.

At NORDGATE, the team at Jakob Thaler GmbH felt they were in good hands from the very beginning: Managing Director Brigitte Loose says "The support we received could not have been more personal. From the planning phase to the building application, we were able to figure everything out through short chains of command without lots of writing back and forth. It was really an all-inclusive package!" The former building authority manager Udo Reinbacher even biked past the commercial premises every day on the way to work. "He almost knew more about the progress of construction work than we did!"

Even though business is going very well, Jakob Thaler GmbH doesn’t plan to sit comfortably in its successful niche. Industrialisation 4.0 and digitalisation are major challenges even for business based on tradesmanship. But Brigitte Loose, who cycles to work every morning from the neighbouring municipality, takes a relaxed view of the future. "In the NORDGATE region, we are perfectly positioned for the next 20 years at least!"