Daniel Hager celebrates family businesses with UTU in Helsinki

CEO Daniel Hager was invited to speak at the 100-year birthday celebration for the company UTU in Helsinki on the subject of challenges for a business in the electrical industry.  More specifically his focus was on challenges for a family business in the electrical industry.

He spoke of three types of challenges: environmental, technological and within the family; at the same time including the opportunities that they provide in our constantly changing world.

Environment: the challenge here has many facets. From social to greenhouse emissions, from finding & retaining the right talents, mastering political uncertainties, the increasing numbers of regulations, the appearance of new competitors, new business models, to the appearance of new applications such as energy storage & electric mobility. For a self-financed business, wishing to retain independence choices are many and difficult to be made.

Technology: data, communication and evolutions inside the electrical world are also to be considered. We are at the intersection of the energy transition, electric mobility and the smart home; they have a game changing potential.

Family: CEO Daniel Hager is part of the third generation of Hager’s, UTU, like Hager Group is a family-run company now into its fourth sustainable generation. To remain independent and family-run it is important to understand the family’s needs, help them understand the business and at the right time to be able to pass the baton on to the next generation. The challenge is to gather and unite family members with differing interests and competencies together behind an entrepreneurial project: bearing in mind that only 30% of family businesses make it to the second generation, 13% to the third and less than 5% to the third generation.

Hager Group, founded in 1955, has been in partnership with UTU for many of its 100-year story. Working together since 1982, there are over 37 years of shared opportunities, know-how and expertise. Wishing the company a happy centenary birthday, Daniel commented that, “…being strong for 100 years like our partner UTU is something very rare and proves that the challenges of the past be they technological, environmental or within the family have been mastered. UTU is an example to me and to all of us at Hager Group.”