Peters Family Business: Third Generation Takes Over Management Responsibilities

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Value orientation, experience, responsibility, innovation: These four terms are written on the coloured stickers that Brigitte and Ralf Schwartz as well as Britta and Benjamin Alfes are pinning on the blue Peters barrel. After this, the employees stick their labels on the barrel, showing words like team spirit, courage, motivation, communication, appreciation and flexibility - being the raw materials for successfully shaping the future of the family business together.

Within a staff meeting, the Management of the family-owned company founded 53 years ago informed the staff of the coatings manufacturer based in Lower Rhine Area, and took them along into the future. The third generation, Britta and Benjamin Alfes, have been appointed to the Management team with immediate effect, thus completing the team together with Brigitte and Ralf Schwartz. On 31 December 2025, the second generation Brigitte and Ralf Schwartz will retire from the active business of the Peters Group. From 1 January 2026 onwards, the granddaughter of the company founder Werner Peters who passed away in 2017 at the age of 85, and her husband Benjamin Alfes will be sole managing directors.

The two 33-year-olds have been involved in the company for a good six years and spent a year in Shanghai in 2019, where they helped to shape the newly founded local subsidiary. Britta Alfes studied International Business in Maastricht and, together with her husband Benjamin Alfes, has been part of the Peters team at the Peters headquarters since 2017. Benjamin Alfes studied Industrial Engineering at the Technical University of Aachen and, like his wife, graduated from the Luise-von-Duesberg-Gymnasium in Kempen in 2009.

Ralf and Brigitte Schwartz have been at the helm of the company for around 40 years and, with a motivated workforce, have made Peters into one of the world's leading full-range suppliers of coating materials for electronics.

The employees at the Peters headquarters in Kempen were receiving the family's decision with applause. "We have given a lot of thought to the strategic development of our company and the responsible transfer of responsibilities," emphasised Ralf Schwartz,  spokesman for the Management.

Brigitte Schwartz points out that the transition process will be carried out involving the staff. "Securing your jobs and our business relationships are our top priority," says Werner Peters' daughter. "For a transformation into the future world, we need innovation in organisational structures, processes, services and products," Benjamin Alfes explains. Britta Alfes adds: "By acting sustainably in every workplace, we want to take responsibility for this generation and the next.

Both are prepared to contribute to the successful continuation of Peters and its growth. The parents are visibly proud of this.