Lights.Co.Uk
40,000 lights and lamps, more than 350 highly-motivated and competent employees, 15,000 m² of office and warehouse space and over 10 years experience in selling lighting products - these figures illustrate the success story of Europe’s leading online specialist for lights and lamps.
In 1999, the founder and managing director, Thomas Rebmann, began to sell selected high-quality lights via eBay after having finished his training to become an electrical engineer. Resources were limited in those days. He had to improvise and exploit the available resources to the full – an approach which still makes Lampenwelt dynamic today.
What initially began as a source of extra income became a huge success. The company understood the customers' needs and offered a unique range of products. "At this time, at the end of the 1990s, online trading was still in its infancy.
However, with optimal service, a high level of motivation and a lot of endurance, we succeeded in winning over the trust of customers and suppliers", recollects Thomas Rebmann.
From GbR to GmbH & Co. KG
In 2002, the company launched its own Internet platform with an extensive range of products. The ever-increasing number of buyers already included both private and business customers.
After a particularly large order, Thomas Rebmann and his brother Andreas decided to set up the company Rebmann Lichtsysteme GbR in 2004. In the same year they purchased the domain www.lampenwelt.de. The investments in a new shop software and an ERP system, as well as the intensive work involved in creating a customer-orientated product range, led, in 2007, to the restructuring of the company into Lampenwelt GmbH & Co. KG.
Awards
Due to the rapid growth of the company, Lampenwelt moved to the town of Schlitz in 2009. In 2010 the company moved from the former forester’s house into a newly-built administrative office where the company is still located.
The distinctive, modern building, with an entrance area that is lit-up at night, offers a wonderful view over the castle town of Schlitz during the day. The building was built to the latest office standards so that the employees can work efficiently but also feel comfortable in their surroundings.
In 2012, the company was awarded the „Großer Preis des Mittelstandes“ for being one of the most successful medium-sized businesses in Germany.
In May 2015, in the course of a change to the shareholder structure, Lampenwelt GmbH & Co. KG became Lampenwelt GmbH. The existing managing directors were joined by the new managing director and shareholder Walter Neumüller. Christian Becker, also a new shareholder in the company, joins Lampenwelt’s business management team. The new Lampenwelt GmbH adheres to the pre-existing and proven strategy of “providing every customer with their dream light as well as competent and expert advice”. It is this policy which has led to the past growth of Lampenwelt which is set to continue over the next years. Testimony to this is the recent decision to open our first English-language shop in May 2015 in order to gain a foothold in the highly competitive UK market.
After the investment of Project A and 3i in Lampenwelt, in April of 2018 Lampenwelt appointed Dr Oliver Merz as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Managing Director, alongside company founder and CEO, Thomas Rebmann. Previous to his time at Lampenwelt, Dr Merz was the CFO of the German broadcasting company ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE, as well as a member of the Executive Board of ProSiebenSat.1 TV Deutschland GmbH. There he was responsible for Finance & Controlling, as well as Strategy & Operations and Business Intelligence & Data Analytics.