A major transition is about to take place at FOOKE, a company with a proud family tradition. From January 1, 2024, Hendrik Fooke (pictured right) will join the Executive Board of the FOOKE GmbH as its new member and form, alongside his father, Johannes Fooke, the company's executive team. Johannes Fooke himself inherited the management from his father Heinrich Fooke back in 1994. "I am very happy and proud that my son decided to step into our family business. I look forward to leading the company together with Hendrik over the next few years and handing it over, step by step", says Johannes Fooke.
Hendrik Fooke, who has been working for the Borken-based mechanical engineering company since 2017, has held various positions in different areas over the course of his career. While gaining insights into other businesses, with a particular focus on international experience, to specifically prepare him for the company management role.
Within his bachelor’s and master’s degree in industrial engineering in Aachen, Hendrik spent two semesters in the San Francisco and Shanghai, FOOKE's most important sales markets alongside Europe. Before joining the family business in 2017, he gained further valuable corporate experience at renowned companies in mechanical engineering and automotive industries.
During this time, FOOKE was about to change its ERP system, which offered the perfect opportunity for a deep dive into the family business. The company was looking for an integrated system that would connect all departments from customer acquisition to design, production, and service. Hendrik led the project until its successful go-live in 2021, with additional challenges posed by the pandemic.
During those years, in his new role as Global Sales Manager, he was responsible for sales, marketing, worldwide subsidiaries and partners. Despite the exceptional circumstances, FOOKE was able to record a strong order intake in 2022 and 2023, significantly exceeding the forecasts for 2023 and reaching an overall higher performance than prior to the crisis.
From the beginning of 2024, Hendrik will manage the company's assets together with his father Johannes Fooke.
Our corporate philosophy is based on sustainable relationships with customers and partners. Our top priority is to value people and employees. With this attitude, we not only want to be seen as an attractive employer, but also maintain long-term partnerships across generations to create joint synergies and added value.
Our history - Tradition and innovation in perfect harmony.
Since its foundation 120 years ago by Heinrich Fooke, the company has always incorporated a continuous enthusiasm for technology and progress into its corporate culture. This philosophy has been passed down from generation to generation. The new Managing Director shares this passion: “My heart beats for technology - when I watch our machines milling, it fills me with pride. We have a great team and loyal employees. It's a pleasure to work with this team every day to drive our processes and technical solutions forward and remain a technology leader.”
The family business FOOKE stands out for its unlimited inventiveness. In addition to portal milling machines, which represent FOOKE's core business, the company has been extremely successful in the field of FSW (friction stir welding) for several years and more recently also in additive manufacturing. The latter is extremely interesting for FOOKE and represents a perfect complement to the existing product portfolio. Hybrid applications, which still require subsequent milling, are also being considered.