In the course of the double materiality analysis for this report, we identified the following categories of stakeholders: capital market and financial market players, customers, business partners, our own workforce and workers in the value chain as well as the public and society. We have comprehensively audited the impacts of our business activities on stakeholders as part of the materiality analysis. These impacts and our main risks and opportunities have not influenced our business model, value chain or decision-making processes. However, the insights gained were incorporated into the diversity strategy (DE&I strategy), the revision of the list of actions in the sustainability strategy, the sustainable procurement strategy and the Bechtle Circular IT concept.
Customers, investors and financial market players
Shareholders
Dialogue form: The Annual General Meeting is mandatory under stock corporation law and is the largest event at which we enter into dialogue with Bechtle shareholders. The entire Executive Board and the entire Supervisory Board are represented there. We also offer two formats for private investors at the entity’s headquarters each year: the Shareholders’ Day and “Bechtle meets” in cooperation with finfluencers.
Analysts, investors and banks
Dialogue form: Currently, 16 banks report on Bechtle in studies and up-to-date short-form analyses. The analysts at the banks provide ratings for the entity and its shares. They are usually “buy”, “hold” or “sell”. The analysts thus serve as multipliers with regard to the capital market. Bechtle is in contact with all firms, which is usually supplemented through personal discussions, visits by analysts to the entity’s headquarters and various conferences and roadshows. At a total of 22 roadshows and investor conferences in 2025, we informed institutional investors about the economic situation, corporate strategy and future prospects of our entity in individual and group discussions. Talks and discussions with analysts and investors also repeatedly give rise to suggestions for critically examining or rethinking our corporate strategy. The Chairman of the Executive Board is either directly involved in the discussions or is informed about them.
Corporate customers
Dialogue form: In addition to personal support from our account managers, we liaise with our customers at customer trade fairs and events. We conduct a customer satisfaction survey every two years in order to find out more about the challenges our customers face and to be able to react in good time to any dissatisfaction with Bechtle as a service provider and current needs. The project management informs all Managing Directors, Executive Vice Presidents and the full Executive Board of the results. Both the direct dialogue in individual meetings and the survey provide important information about the sustainability of our business model and the future viability of our strategy.
Business partners, in particular manufacturers and distributors
Dialogue form: We maintain close relationships with all major international distributors and vendors in the IT industry from whom we source products. We cooperate with our most important vendors in terms of revenue in the form of Vendor Integrated Product Managers (VIPM). The VIPMs work at Bechtle and represent both our interests and the interests of the vendor.
As a trader, our suppliers are an essential component of our business model and our strategy. Interaction with them is very important to us because we have to react quickly to regulatory requirements, market changes or new technologies in both directions – both in terms of supply and demand. Our products are directly dependent on the strength of the portfolio and the willingness of our manufacturers to cooperate; this relates to the degree of innovation, costs, quality standards, services, delivery times and insights into the supply chain. Thanks to our large network of partners and many years of good cooperation, our business model has proven to be flexible enough to react to potential supply bottlenecks or other problems with vendors. We are also networked externally with the ITC sector via the industry association Bitkom and advance important policy-related and technological topics via working groups, for example. The results of the dialogue with one of our most important suppliers were incorporated into the DE&I strategy adopted in 2024, among other things. If the Executive Board does not participate in the interaction itself, it is informed of important findings.
Bechtle’s own workforce and workers in the value chain
Bechtle’s own workforce
Dialogue form: The most important tool for the integration of interests of our own workforce is their own satisfaction survey, which was introduced group-wide in September 2020 and which is carried out every two years. This tool provides an insight into satisfaction, the working atmosphere and existing problems. The questions are designed in such a way that we also obtain a picture of the mood in individual departments or individual companies. The last survey was conducted in September 2024. Own workforce, managers and the full Executive Board are informed about the results. Among others, the results are incorporated into the HR strategy adopted by the Executive Board in the 2025 fiscal year, which defines five focus topics (excellent employer, own workforce recruitment, collaboration, digitalisation and internationalisation).
Workers in the value chain
Dialogue form: Our position within the value chain makes it difficult for us to communicate directly with the workers in the value chain as we generally have no information about production sites, raw material extraction or contact details. In order to take the views of these people into account in sustainability risk analyses or supply chain monitoring, for example, we have evaluated research by NGOs as part of our materiality analysis. These include reports from Electronics Watch, with whom we also work directly on a customer project, Human Rights Watch, Weed and the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. The results have also been incorporated into the sustainable procurement strategy and in the revision of the sustainability strategy. The Executive Board is informed of relevant findings.
Society and the public (media and potential applicants, local communities and NGOs, politicians and researchers)
Dialogue form: We inform the media, potential applicants and interested members of the public via our press work and communication channels. In return, we receive feedback via social media in the form of comments, direct messages and emails via the press mailbox. We analyse them and include them in our further considerations. We inform the relevant specialist departments, companies or managing directors about the feedback and, in the case of critical issues, the Executive Board. We also engage in dialogue with the local public from the media, politics, civil society, education and research at events, meetings, workshops and trade fairs. The Bechtle IT system house in Hamburg-Kiel is working on a customer project with the NGO Electronics Watch and is sharing its findings on labour along the value chain and affected communities with Corporate Sustainability Management. With regard to the communities affected, the findings have been incorporated into the sustainable procurement strategy and the revision of the sustainability strategy.
As part of the presentation of the materiality analysis (see chapter Management of impacts, risks and opportunities), we describe how we have identified and involved the stakeholders and how we have considered the organisation, purpose and results.