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Feb 2025
17m 30s

Where does the Mittelstand stand?

Bbc World Service
About this episode

Could Germany benefit from drastic Javier Milei-style reforms?

One business owner in Berlin thinks so, and many others want a reduction in the amount of bureaucracy bosses are responsible for.

As a federal election takes place in Germany, members of the Mittelstand, Germany’s famous small and medium-sized businesses known as the “backbone” of the country's economy, tell Business Daily what a new government could do for them.

Theo Leggett travels to a science and research park on the outskirts of Berlin where the boss of an underwater robot company and other tech businesses are based. There's a lot of innovation happening in the buildings, but confidence in politics is low.

And Anouk Millet looks at the Hamburg businesses trying to modernise and forge a path towards an uncertain future.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: businessdaily@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Theo Leggett Producer: Hannah Bewley Reporter: Anouk Millet

(Image: Fabian Bannasch, CEO of Evologics,holding a robotic "penguin". Credit: BBC)

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