Short biography Gerd Kerkhoff, born 1958, is considered one of the best known experts for the topics of purchasing and procurement in Germany. The family man is heading the Düsseldorf-based consultancy Kerkhoff Consulting with a staff of over 200 people in eight locations worldwide. With his consultants, Kerkhoff already supported such companies as Henry Lambertz, Debitel, Klöckner, ThyssenKrupp, Nobilia or SieMatic in their purchasing and procurement processes.
Since the age of 27, Kerkhoff has been self-employed. After having completed his studies in business administration in Essen, jointly with Hubert Tempelmann, his friend from university, he took over the management of the coffee roasting house of the Tempelmann family in Dorsten. Until his withdrawal as owner and managing director for sales and purchasing in the year 1999, Kerkhoff had built up the coffee roasting house to the second-largest producer for dealer brands in Germany. In the year of his withdrawal, Kerkhoff founded his consultancy.
In terms of purchasing, procurement and supply chain management, Gerd Kerkhoff is one of the most important contacts for the media, for companies, and also for politicians; incidentally, he repeatedly accompanied Chancellor Angela Merkel and the former Federal Minister of Economics, Michael Glos, on delegation trips abroad. Moreover, as a true-blue entrepreneur in the sector of small and medium-sized companies, he is extremely well connected in the network of family-owned businesses in the small and medium sized sector.
Awards and press comments
Hidden Champion des Beratungsmarktes (Hidden Champion of the Consultancy Market), Prof. Dr. Dietmar Fink and Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für Management und Beratung (WGMB – Scientific Company for Management and Consulting), May 2009
Unternehmensberater CMC/BDU (Management Consultant CMC/Federal Association of German Management Consultants)
"The Düsseldorf-based consultant is in high esteem especially among management boards and managing directors of major medium-sized companies … Kerkhoff's trademark is his clear, direct language." CAPITAL
"Gerd Kerkhoff is considered one of the most important purchasing experts in Germany." FAZ Hochschulanzeiger (university gazette)
"The Düsseldorf-based businessman is considered one of the leading procurement consultants." Impulse
"The purchasing consultant from Düsseldorf" Westdeutsche Zeitung
"Gerd Kerkhoff knows all about purchasing and its terms and conditions." Lebensmittelzeitung |
