Generation change at ERCO in Lüdenscheid – Alexander Christian Schmidt takes over the CEO role

Lüdenscheid, 22 January 2026 - On 1st February this year, Alexander Christian Schmidt will start as the new CEO at ERCO and take over as Chairman of the Management Board. Mr. Schmidt has many years of successful management experience in various industries. With impressive professional qualifications, great management experience and foresight, he convinced the circle of shareholders and the advisory board and is very much looking forward to a timely start in his new role, in which he will be supported by the three managing directors Olivier Gabriel (CCO), Wolfgang Nickles (CFO) and Marcus Schramm (CTO).

Alexander C. Schmidt is a business economist and began his professional career in Vienna in the early 1990s parallel to his studies at Berthold & Stempel, now Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Austria. He then held various management positions in the Procter & Gamble Group in the areas of marketing and sales with a strong focus on the Braun brand. This was followed by five very successful years in the Dyson Group as the sole managing director responsible for the German subsidiary and the so-called DACH region including Austria and Switzerland from the German base. From 2017 to 2025, Mr. Schmidt led the Kneipp Group, a globally active company from Würzburg, on a successful growth path as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

The ERCO owner families have been carefully preparing the generational change that has now taken place – Tim Henrik Maack and Mark Oliver Schreiter are stepping down from the Management Board, moving to the Advisory Board of ERCO GmbH and will remain closely associated with the ERCO Group.

In a personal dialogue, Maack and Schreiter commented on the step as follows: "After an intensive search, we have found the right person for the task. As a family, it was particularly important to us to win someone for ERCO who shares our values, with a global view and a passion for the brand, technology and design. We are convinced that Mr. Schmidt, together with the entire ERCO team, will successfully lead the company into the next phase of growth in the digital transformation."

ERCO is known worldwide as a specialist in architectural lighting for indoor and outdoor spaces. For ERCO, light is the fourth dimension of architecture. In contrast to many other lighting companies, everything from electronics and photometric technology to surface finishing is developed and produced on site in Lüdenscheid, Germany. With its own subsidiaries from Australia, Asia-Pacific, many in Europe and the USA, customers worldwide are served to the same ambitious standards. Tim Henrik Maack and Mark Oliver Schreiter: "The high level of lighting and electronic expertise in architectural lighting, the quality of our products and ERCO's great future growth potential make us look ahead with great confidence – we look forward to working with the new team."