2023 summary from the CEO
A year of celebration, reflection and achievements
As 2024 begins, we feel grateful and proud to summarise a remarkable 2023. The celebration of our 50th anniversary has had a large impact on our activities and prompted reflections on past achievements, as well as on how we want to shape the future. It has been a pleasure to commemorate 50 years of dedication to improving people’s quality of life, and a fantastic experience to celebrate this with our teams around the world.
This spirit also influenced our participation at Rehacare in September, which provided the perfect setting to showcase the successful company we have become. We got the opportunity to promote our latest and greatest innovations and display the full width of today's unique product range.
It has also been a very successful business year, where we can report a 13% organic growth across the group! This is one of the best results yet in our long history, and a great testament to what we can achieve as a team. I want to extend a big thanks to our customers and partners for their continued confidence - and to our dedicated employees for making it all possible.
Here are some of the highlights we would like to share from 2023.
Product launches
We brought many exciting innovations to market during the year, including several products in our R82 paediatric range as well as patient handling equipment from Molift and HoverTech. We introduced new mobility solutions from our product brand Ki, and also offered a pre-launch of the wheelchair Etac Xact during Rehacare. We finished off by announcing a new partnership with Kalogon that will further enhance our Star cushion line. We hope our latest launches will be well received and look forward to presenting more news during 2024.
Etac Xact
Anniversary donations
One of the ways we celebrated our anniversary was by giving back to the community. As such, we made five donations of SEK 50 000 each - marking 50 years - to recognise others who work to promote participation and inclusion. The organisations were representative of Etac's diverse user groups, and by choosing recipients close to our local offices around the world, we could give back to the communities where we work.
The Rollettes Experience
Empowering women with disabilities through sisterhood and dance.
Children's Frame football
Connecting children with reduced mobility through sports.
Age UK W&H
Promoting health and independence for people in later life.
Paralife
Creating job opportunities for young adults while supporting parasports.
Family Camp by IOE
Recreation and fun for kids with special needs and their families.
Sustainability progress
We have continued to raise the bar in our sustainability work, and made some significant investments in renewable energy by installing solar panels in our site in Allentown, USA and one of our Swedish factories. A new Chief Sustainability Officer has been appointed who is now working to expand the team with two more experts, and we are currently finalizing our updated strategy with more ambitious targets for the future.
We have also conducted a worldwide survey to our employees and can conclude there is an overwhelming interest for sustainability, with 84% stating they are motivated or highly motivated in this area.
We are thrilled to see such enthusiasm from our teams and convinced this will help us to reach our long-term sustainability goals.
Celebrating 50 years of creating possibilities
Last but not least, the year has been filled with celebration, fun and team-building activities across the board. We have enjoyed local festivities with both co-workers and customers around the world and welcomed the public to our Swedish factory. Our teams have also inspired each other to contribute to their communities and initiated everything from blood drives to volunteer work.
All in all, 2023 has been a fantastic journey and the experience has united our teams across borders and brands. 50 years of dedication to improving people’s quality of life is truly worth celebrating, and we should all feel proud of what we have accomplished. Together - we create possibilities!
Thank you!
We'd like to thank our customers, partners and team members for being part of our journey and making 2023 one of our best years yet.
We look forward to creating new possibilities together in 2024.
- Michael Wirzberger, CEO
