Würth Professional Solutions (WPS) delivers a wide range of advanced solutions across key sectors, including construction, automotive, and manufacturing. With annual revenue exceeding $22 billion, over 80 years of global experience, and a network of more than 400 companies in 80 countries, the company’s growing footprint in the Middle East is a testament to its broader commitment to supporting the region’s ambitious growth.
The company launched its extended operations in the UAE on October 1 this year. We caught up with Angela Pernsteiner, a visionary creator, catalyst, and serial entrepreneur recognised for her dynamic leadership and innovative impact across diverse industries. She serves as the driving force and visionary founder of Würth Professional Solutions (WPS) and as an Executive Board Advisor to the Würth Group.
AM: What is your vision for Würth Professional Solutions? Although it’s a complex question, I’m sure you’ve given it considerable thought.
AP: Absolutely. To understand our vision, it’s important to first understand our heritage. The Würth Group has an extremely strong legacy of eight decades. Our greatest strength has always been our immense assortment. We offer over five million articles. However, for years, we didn’t fully leverage this comprehensive portfolio in the GCC market. We came to a pivotal realization that large contractors, facility management, operations and maintenance companies need comprehensive, end-to-end solutions. As a one-stop supply chain partner, Würth already provides everything they require through our integrated range of products and services we just hadn’t showcased ourselves that way.
Interestingly, the Würth Group’s structure closely reflects the large, diversified family businesses common in the GCC. Beyond our core assortment of fasteners, tools, anchors, and fixing systems, the Group also owns three hotels, a marketing agency, a bank, and insurance and leasing companies highlighting the scale and diversity of our global ecosystem. This inherent diversification enables us to engage clients through multiple dimensions, cultivating a rich and diverse portfolio built on a deep sense of understanding and alignment with their needs. A company with a niche product line can’t do that. By bundling 80 years of experience serving diverse clients across 80 countries, we created Würth Professional Solutions (WPS) for the Middle East. This marks a completely new venture for us.
For the first time, we have launched a single, unified platform. You can think of us as an “Industrial Amazon.” It’s a highly complex operation requiring specialized warehouses, engineers, and client engagement strategies. We see ourselves as chameleons adapting to and bringing out the specific strengths each client requires.
To bring this one-stop-shop industrial platform to life, we are making a substantial investment, including building a new Middle East hub in Dubai National Industries Park (NIP). The first milestone will be reached at the beginning of 2026, with a ceremonial event, and the hub will be fully operational by 2027.
Würth Professional Solution is structured into four key verticals to serve the market precisely. Construction, with a sub-focus on infrastructure, operations with a dedicated team in facility management, manufacturing, and multiples, our newest addition, focusing on large-scale vertical farming projects and robotics and AI. The vertical farming initiative leverages our highly efficient
LED technology. While other brands provide efficient light, our “light recipes” uniquely mimic the true solar cycle, with intensity that rises and falls like the sun, promoting a more natural growth. Given the less nutritious soil in the region and relatively affordable electricity, the potential here is enormous.
The primary requirement is efficient LEDs calibrated for different plants—basil, arugula, and tomatoes all need different light spectra. This adaptability is one example of what WPS is all about.
In Europe or the US, Würth is known as a screw and tool company that’s how we started in 1945 as a trader. But the Group quickly evolved into a producer, which is a critical differentiator. Owning our factories gives us unparalleled control over our supply chain. We have few third-party producers, allowing us to adjust quality for specific formulas, such as silicone or chemical anchors, and to run 24/7 shifts to meet sudden, massive client demand.
This is crucial in the GCC, where forecasting is entirely different from Europe. The market is characterized by a “stop-and-go” dynamic with ad hoc demand plans change suddenly, and huge quantities of fasteners, PPE, and construction materials are needed overnight. Our large network of companies and in-house production makes us incredibly flexible and adaptable.
A change in leadership
This new chapter coincides with a leadership transition. In January 2025, the new generation Benjamin Würth, the grandson of the founder, Reinhold Würth took over the helm. His leadership marks a decision to set a major cornerstone in the GCC with significant investments in infrastructure and talent, recognizing the region’s immense potential for growth and diversification.
“Our new brand slogan, ‘Decades of Mastery and Transformational Resilience,’ reflects who we are today. Our €80 million R&D center in Germany collaborates closely with universities through dedicated programs to develop the best technical solutions for our clients’ unique needs. Even competitors come to test their products in our state-of-the-art facilities, highlighting our reputation for excellence and German quality truly embodying ‘Decades of Mastery.’ But we also understand that a client in the GCC, facing sand, sun, and unique challenges, needs different solutions than one in Europe this is our ‘Transformational Resilience.’ Our strategy is built on a global portfolio of experience with deeply localized implementation. To become a truly local company, we immediately established large warehouses and facilities to support major construction projects while recruiting a highly diverse talent pool, including local professionals. This infrastructure is essential to deliver on our 360-degree solutions and product portfolio, and it forms a key part of our strategy.”
“As a global family business, we stand for stability, reliability, and progressive growth. The Würth Group shares many parallels with the UAE, where a single visionary leader created an outstanding impact from scratch through the exceptional courage to view struggles and challenges as infinite opportunities.”
— Angela Pernsteiner
We supply products through our vending machines or Smart Hubs guaranteeing 24/7 availability even in the most remote locations, such as tunnels or far-flung construction sites. This service was previously unavailable in the Gulf. On large projects, work rarely stops due to a missing major component; the real crises often arise from running out of small, essential items screws, gloves, tape, silicone, or adhesives. Such shortages halt progress on-site, forcing emergency purchases that inflate budgets or result in costly overstocking, leaving thousands of unused items after project completion. The GCC market presents a unique supply chain landscape. Project scopes are exceptionally ambitious and fluid, scaling up or pivoting with incredible speed, making long-term forecasting a challenge. The value of a resilient and adaptable supply chain partner, therefore, becomes paramount. A contractor might need to mobilize 10,000 workers in a week and require vast quantities of PPE from shoes and helmets to masks almost immediately.
This is the specific need Würth Professional Solutions is equipped to meet with our unique platform approach. We provide a foundation of stable quality and availability amidst these fluctuations. We secure operational continuity by ensuring the uninterrupted flow of all necessary materials, especially those critical C-parts that are overlooked until they are desperately needed. This is the philosophy behind our “one-touch supply chain.” We ensure a seamless process from our warehouse to the end user delivering the right products, in the right quantities, at the right time and location.
While standard procurement processes are essential for major expenditures, we excel at optimizing the procurement of C-parts, reducing associated costs to nearly zero and generating tangible, measurable savings for our clients. Serving leading players across all verticals, we act as a strategic partner throughout a project’s entire lifecycle from the initial building sketch to completion thanks to our ability to provide a comprehensive, one-stop solution.
AM: How large is your team in the UAE currently?
AP: We launched WPS with around 50 people and are growing rapidly. This marks just the first year of our offices in the region. Once our new warehouse, engineering hub, and operational showcase are fully established, our workforce will expand significantly. Our growth is happening simultaneously across the GCC, and we are already laying the groundwork in Saudi Arabia. This expansion is due to the successful concept designed to fulfill a highly diversified market.
A fundamental aspect of our identity is that we are a fully family-owned company, with no external shareholders, investors, or banks. This gives us the flexibility to invest wisely and offers our clients long-term security. This philosophy extends to our employees, many of whom have been with us for 20–30 years. This stability, maintained despite our global scale, is a core part of our founder’s legacy and sets us apart. There is a strong family presence in day-to-day operations we are not just signatures on a page.
AM: Looking ahead, what do you hope the company will be recognized as in the GCC in the next five years?
AP: In five years, Würth Professional Solutions will be the go-to partner for any industrial challenge across construction, manufacturing, and operations. We bring not just products, but eight decades of mastery in engineering, craftsmanship, and industrial applications. For our clients, we are trusted advisors with implementation expertise at hand.
In rapidly transforming markets like Saudi Arabia, the challenges contractors face are ones we have already solved decades ago in other countries. They are eager to partner with us to share this know-how.
Our family-owned structure allows us to co-invest in R&D for client-specific challenges—for example, developing a glue that must withstand 50-degree heat for years. If it addresses a relevant market problem, we can immediately decide to develop it, sharing the cost rather than passing it on to another client.
From a two-person operation to a $22 billion company, this combination of heritage, innovation, and financial strength provides a powerful foundation for the new generation. The GCC is hungry for know-how, growth, and quality and Würth Professional Solutions is perfectly positioned to deliver.
Smart Solutions
- Smart Hubs with RFID Gates: These gates revolutionize inventory control and security by automating the tracking of materials and assets entering or exiting a site. This provides real-time data on stock levels, prevents material loss, and ensures total transparency and control for large-scale projects.
- Smart Vending Machines: Providing 24/7 access to essential tools, fasteners, and materials right at the job site, these intelligent machines use advanced inventory software to automate reordering, track usage, and dramatically boost productivity by eliminating downtime.
- Innovative PV Façade Solutions: Designed for modern architecture, these solutions combine aesthetic excellence with superior performance.
- Smart Watches: Rugged wearables designed for rigorous operational sites that prioritize worker safety and well-being.
- Vertical Farming with Würth LED: Highly innovative, plant-optimised lighting solutions promote indoor vertical farming in the UAE, ensuring sustainable, high-yield food production with minimal environmental impact.
Enhanced Mobility:
Würth Rapid Response is a vehicle designed to revolutionize on-site operations by providing fully functional mobile workshops and business units. This solution is a testament to the brand’s long-standing partnership with Mercedes-Benz in Germany a strategic collaboration that now extends to the UAE in partnership with Gargash Enterprises.
