Most people know the Stiebel Eltron brand from the water heater in their bathroom, because the company from Holzminden is the world market leader in this area.

For two years now, however, heat pump heaters have accounted for the largest share of sales, and because Stiebel Eltron has been developing this technology for almost 50 years, the company sees itself as the technical market leader in this area.

Since German politicians have been propagating the heat pump as a way out of dependence on fossil fuels, the business has gained even more momentum.

"Together we will create the conditions for 500,000 new heat pumps to be installed every year from 2024," promises Stiebel Eltron Managing Director Kai Schiefelbein, looking back at a meeting between the industry and politicians.

Susanne Preuss

Business correspondent in Hamburg.

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Above all, Stiebel Eltron needs additional workers.

Since the beginning of the year alone, 500 additional employees have been hired at the headquarters, so that the number of employees in Holzminden has risen to 2,500.

The company employs a total of 4000 people.

"And we are desperately looking for more staff," a company spokesman told the FAZ. "We need another 400 employees in Germany and 200 abroad." Staff are needed not only for production, but above all for sales and customer service, and that right across the board Country.

An investment program of over 600 million euros should enable the planned growth.

New locations are not planned, but the expansion of existing locations with additional production facilities and additional robotics is.

In addition, more investments are being made in digitization and logistics.

The planned investments correspond to around 60 percent of current annual sales - and the sales volume of the entire company in 2019. Stiebel Eltron had already increased sales to 700 million euros in 2020, last year it was 830 million euros and this year billions in sales are within reach Proximity - unless there are unexpected problems, such as missing parts.

Stiebel Eltron is expected to produce 80,000 heat pumps this year, 60 percent more than in the previous year.

In Germany and Europe, Stiebel Eltron is one of the largest suppliers of electricity-based heating systems, which, depending on the type of electricity, do not require any fossil fuels.