Lantal Textiles claims victory in the KMU SWISS Award

(CONNECT) At its conference held in Brugg in the canton of Aargau, KMU SWISS has crowned Lantal Textiles AG as the winner of this year’s KMU SWISS Award. The award, which was being presented for the third time, is rewarded on an annual basis and recognizes a Swiss company that “secures the success of the business for the following generations with courage and commitment”, as the association for Swiss SMEs writes in a profile of the award on its website.

According to a press release issued by KMU SWISS, the expert jury drew up a longlist of nominated companies in advance, applying criteria such as innovation, sustainability, foresight and courage in the process. After visiting all of these companies, the jury decided on its winner, which reportedly managed to “fully convince” them.

Today, the company based in Langenthal in the canton of Bern specializes in the production of carpets and fabrics for the interiors of aircraft, trains and buses. It was originally founded in 1886 as a manufacturer of linen used in the production of Emmental cheese. In 1954, Lantal entered the aviation sector, when it secured its first contract with the Dutch airline KLM. Lantal today reportedly supplies its products to Air China, China Airlines, Air India and the Lufthansa Group, which also includes Swiss, the national airline of Switzerland. CEO Dr. Urs Rickenbacher and his nephew Luzius Rickenbacher accepted the award on stage in front of a crowd of nearly 400 people at the business symposium.

The spring conference of KMU SWISS was held under the motto “Creativity/Business Culture – The Basis for Sustainable Success”. Among the speakers at the event were Chantalle Moerker, an author and expert in the personal development of executives as an inner leadership coach, and Alpiq CEO Antje Kanngiesser, who, as the press release explains, is overseeing a “rigorous cultural change” and places value on transparent communications. ce/mm