News
25 electrifying years
Dear Sir or Madam,
Today, on 07.07.2018, I would like to thank you, our customers, business partners, HF employees and friends, for placing your trust in us.
We would like to invite you to join us in briefly reflecting on the past.
Without you we would not be able to look back on such a large number of great, exciting and challenging projects now. Join us at the time of the establishment of HF-GmbH Elektroplanung and come with us up to the present day and enjoy a brief look at the future.
"Thank you!" from the entire HF team.
With the 25th anniversary of the establishment of HF-GmbH Elektroplanung on 7th July 2018, the HF team can look back on more than 1400 projects that have been successfully realised throughout Germany. Learn more about the history of the company below.
Constant power - the founding years: 1993-2003
The eponymous shareholders of HF-GmbH Elektroplanung, Roland Hofmann and Michael Frei got to know each other as work colleagues at ‘Hans Brand Ingenieurgesellschaft’ in Karlsruhe. When Mr Brand sold his company, the time was right to embark on a professional future together. A third partner was quickly found in architect Rainer Rupprecht, with whom both shareholders were involved in joint projects such as the renovation of the Konzerthaus
in Karlsruhe.
Thus, the three men founded HF-GmbH Elektroplanung on 07.07.1993 as subtenants in the offices of ‘Architekturbüro Rupprecht und Partner’ at Kaiserallee in Karlsruhe.
After five years, Rainer Rupprecht left HF-GmbH Elektroplanung and his role as a partner and the company set itself up as an office partnership with ‘Landschaftsarchitekturbüro Elke Ukas’ at Fasanenstraße in Karlsruhe.
The following building crisis led to a difficult time for the two entrepreneurs, Hofmann and Frei: There were not enough orders to pay them both enough so they decided that Mr Frei would look for a job and Mr Hofmann would handle the day-to-day business. When this double burden became too great for Michael Frei, the two friends parted ways in their careers.
Roland Hofmann managed the company alone from then on.
With the first larger projects, a part-time employee was hired for the CAD services. Within a very short period of time, the CAD employee's working hours were extended to full-time and the "small" HF team was able to gain its first regular customer, ISCAR Germany GmbH.
Things get more exciting - establishment at a high level: 2003-2008
In 2003, HF-GmbH Elektroplanung moved into the first premises it had ‘on its own’ in the "Alte Volksbank" at Badener Straße in Karlsruhe-Durlach.
The number and size of the projects was now growing rapidly. In order to support the company’s own employees, students, including Mr Till Kubin, the current project manager for Deutsche Bahn, were employed as temporary workers.
From then on, Roland Hofmann and his 1.5-member "team" realised up to twelve projects in the field of elderly care per year.
One of the main clients at that time made a clear demand after a short time: “grow or go” was the specific but, in hindsight, correct demand made by the customer. Roland Hofmann did not need to be told this twice and decided to grow.
The search for staff brought the friends Roland Hofmann and Michael Frei together again. It was lucky that Mr Michael Frei's current projects had been coming to an end and he was available as an employee. With Mr Frei, a reliable friend was now once again on board.
The construction industry is considered a "small community" and the two friends were able to successfully use the contacts they had built up over the past few years with architects, property developers, general contractors and building owners. Thus, the portfolio of the HF-GmbH grew and the HF team grew too.
Catapult launch - growth with big players: 2008-2016
The improvement of the economic situation and increasing numbers of orders led to HF-GmbH drawing electrical plans for an executing company for the general renovation of Karlsruhe railway station and the company thus established contact with the Deutsche Bahn project managers. On this basis, DB commissioned projects, such as the lighting in the station concourse, the travel centre and offices for Deutsche Bahn. A major customer, which is still important today, was gradually acquired. It is primarily the projects and orders placed by Deutsche
Bahn which got the company through the financial crisis triggered by the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in 2008.
Construction is a forward business and HF-GmbH Elektroplanung meanwhile enjoys an excellent reputation in the industry. This is how Europa-Park in Rust found out about the company. The cooperation with the leisure and adventure park began in 2008 with the construction of the new ballroom. This was followed by the Blue-fire (2008/09) mega rollercoaster with spectacular technology and numerous other projects in the event and entertainment sector.
Flat hierarchies ensure that the project teams are entrusted with a project from start to finish. The comprehensive and expert handling in particular guarantee the success of even such extensive and complex projects as the current “RULANTICA” water park project at Europa-Park Rust, for which Ms Any Aparecida Ferreira da Cruz is responsible from the very start to the opening and beyond.
The constant growth of the HF team meant that the offices were too small and it was therefore a happy coincidence that, just at this point in time, the widow of the former boss contacted us and offered us the offices of ‘Ingenieurgesellschaft Hans Brand’. Roland Hofmann took the opportunity and returned to Hopfenstraße, where the headquarters of HF-GmbH Elektroplanung is still located today.
Twice the power and true reliability through expansion (2016-2018)
HF-GmbH has become synonymous with expertise, reliability, safety and tailor-made solutions in the electrical planning of commercial, public and private construction projects.
The success of the projects and personal communication with people are the focus of the work of the entire HF team. The ability to listen and to always view a project as a whole with an informed opinion and comprehensive expertise is particularly valued by the many customers of HF-GmbH. This is a mission statement that the managing director entirely lives by and his employees have taken on board.
Regular communication with the customer to allow the customer to get their worries and questions off their chest is very important. The HF team is the epitome of calmness. The team’s expertise beyond the field of electrical engineering and planning is highly valued by its customers.
The HF team always considers the whole project across all trades. There is no trade without electricity: intelligent home technology, electric roller shutters, modern communication and entertainment electronics, heating control and regulation: electricity is the fuel of our modern world. "Cables and wires are the nerve pathways of modern buildings," says Roland Hofmann in an interview.
In order to be able to meet this requirement for nationwide projects, it was necessary to open a second office. Cologne is an ideal location in the middle of North Rhine-Westphalia with short distances to the north and to the headquarters in Karlsruhe.
It is a very special honour for HF-GmbH to be able to acquire a former employee to manage the Cologne branch. After a short time away at an international company, Matthias Toldrian has been contributing his extensive experience as branch manager at the HF office in Cologne to the growing company since 1st April 2016.
The company is also open to digitisation and structural change in the planning process and is a pioneer in this field. For example, it engaged with the megatrend of BIM (Building Information Modelling) at an early stage and, with Mr Marius Dudaicevs,
it acquired an experienced system planner for electronic facilities and systems and BIM coordinator as part of the Cologne HF team on 1st July 2016.
The industry has been booming for several years and the company has now grown to 18 employees. Due to the constant increase in personnel, HF-GmbH is able to offer six high-performance project teams, which are supported by an efficient back office.
In spring 2018, the first trainee will successfully complete her apprenticeship as an office management assistant. In summer 2019, the first trainee as a technical system planner with a specialisation in electrical engineering systems will also complete his training.
In September 2018, three apprentices in Karlsruhe and one in Cologne will join the HF team.
25 years of HF-GmbH Elektroplanung stand for reliable expertise and a customer-oriented company philosophy. The HF-team focuses on positive involvement and offers its opinion in a friendly and unbiased manner. The dedicated HF team continues to be "electrifyingly different" in terms of how it achieves success for its customers.
