Social sustainability

Every day, 250 different personalities and 30 different nationalities work on producing your dream bike. The people who build our personalised bikes are as diverse as the bikes themselves. This means that we have a wide range of experiences, perspectives and attitudes coming together. That is why we want to embrace our social responsibility and continue to integrate the concept of sustainability into all our work processes and areas of activity.

‘Passion and diversity’ – these two terms describe the DNA of VELO DE VILLE. When asked what he values most in his daily work, Managing Director Alain Thiemann replies: "Tolerance and respectful interaction with one another are extremely important and responsible for our positive atmosphere. Different perspectives, skills and subjective experiences lead to the product diversity and innovation that we offer you at VELO DE VILLE." Behind VELO DE VILLE is a team that does everything it can to focus on you as a customer and your individual wishes. We are aware that social responsibility is not a project that can be completed. That's why we are constantly working to improve and live social sustainability at VELO DE VILLE.

We promote diversity, equal opportunities and the full integration of every personality. In cooperation with the LWL, we employ approximately 10% of people with disabilities, who are an integral and essential part of the VELO DE VILLE team. Alain Thiemann explains that they contribute to the success of the company just as much as their other colleagues: ‘It's particularly nice to see employees teaching themselves sign language in their free time, for example. For an independent family business, these are the small, big joys in everyday life that make us very proud.’

This working atmosphere ensures that our employees not only feel comfortable and motivated at work, but also that some of them stay with us long after reaching retirement age. Through training in various areas of our company, we offer young people the opportunity to lay the foundation for their future. Especially in times of skilled labour shortages, we are delighted to be able to train our own bicycle mechatronics engineers. While we at VELO DE VILLE stand for gender equality, the bicycle industry itself is traditionally male-dominated. This is not a tradition we want to perpetuate. On the contrary, in recent years we have had more female than male trainees in our bicycle mechanic training programme. At VELO DE VILLE, the focus is on the people who manufacture customised bikes in our production facility in the Münsterland region. This shapes the entire working environment and ensures a positive atmosphere.

In order to improve and continue to offer our employees a good working environment in the future, an anonymous employee satisfaction survey was developed and conducted for the first time this year at VELO DE VILLE. Because only by gathering feedback can we improve and ensure that VELO DE VILLE remains a fair employer in the beautiful Münsterland region. The survey provided us with a lot of positive feedback as well as constructive comments on areas where we can improve as an employer.

The survey showed that overall, there is a high level of satisfaction among our employees, especially with regard to the working atmosphere and the activities within the company. We are very pleased that 90% of our employees feel a high level of well-being at work and that the majority of them are satisfied with the workspaces available. In addition, 94% of our employees reported that they rate teamwork in their own work area as good or even very good.

An important consideration for the future is ensuring a cross-departmental flow of information within the company. 57% of our employees see room for improvement by making the organisation of work more transparent. Due to the growth of VELO DE VILLE in recent years, internal communication regarding work processes and organisational structures will also grow in the future.

We are excited to see how the results of the satisfaction survey will develop in the coming years and look forward to tracking our progress. Our goal is for all 250 personalities to find their place in our company and for the satisfaction of our employees to continuously increase.