Usbeck back at helm of Peakwork to ‘maintain place in Champions League of tech firms’

Usbeck back at helm of Peakwork to ‘maintain place in Champions League of tech firms’

Founder of Dusseldorf firm returns as CEO with immediate effect

Ralf Usbeck, the founder of German travel technology firm Peakwork, has taken back control amid a senior management clear-out.

Usbeck returns to the chief executive job as current chief Jan Gerlach leaves, along with chief operating officer, Michael Schmidt, and chief product and technology officer, Joao Gonzaga.

In October 2017, Usbeck retired from the day-to-day business to focus on a more strategic role driving the future direction of Dusseldorf-based Peakwork as chairman of the supervisory board.

He said: “We have grown strongly in recent years and have successfully pushed ahead with our international expansion.

“However, our time to market, such as the speed with which we develop software solutions, has suffered, as has our proximity to customers.

“We must and will change this in order to continue playing in the ‘Champions League’ of travel technology companies. This is what I will focus on in the coming months.”

Usbeck thanked the former management for the work it has done over the past two and a half years:

“Under the leadership of Jan Gerlach, Joao Gonzaga and Michael Schmidt, we have grown from an IT company operating a variety of individual solutions into a major technology producer and significantly driven our expansion into Asia,” he said.

Peakwork said over the coming months, Usbeck will initially manage the business without an executive board but middle management responsibility will be expanded.

“We have many bright minds in our management team, who will be given more opportunity to fully develop their creativity. This is exactly what we need now,” added Usbeck.