Buy your trophies, medals and awards from one of the most efficient and award-winning companies in the awards industry. Our company is known since 1998 in the German-speaking area under the brand "Helm Pokale" for its good quality, top service, high delivery speed at a very good price-performance ratio. With our clear focus on the trophies, medals and awards industry, we offer you optimal service through expertise, specially adapted processes and systems.

Firmenbiografie

written by our managing director Christian Helm

Established in 1998 as an additional line of business in my parents´ bike store, Helm Trophy has grown rapidly over the past 20 years. In the beginning, the trophies were offered in a tiny space of about two square meters and finished with engravings. But after only a few months, the space was no longer sufficient. Several moves, the first own company website and even an (almost) completely automated process control system followed. In the meantime, it´s no longer just about selling trophies. As a former professional cyclist, I know the emotions associated with trophies. I know that the clubs put a lot of heart and soul into organizing their events and thus have high expectations of us, our products and on-time delivery. Based on these personal experiences, I made Helm Trophy customer-centric early on. This allowed us to grow and change the trophy industry. You can read more about the journey so far and the further goals here:

In 1998, my parents ran a small bicycle store in Butzbach. The store was running well, but especially in winter there was a lack of customers. Only a few bikes were repaired or a few sold. That´s why my parents had always been looking for a second leg to stand on. It was pure coincidence, so to speak, that a store for promotional items and trophies opposite the store closed down for reasons of age. At first, one of the employees continued to run the business, but at some point he needed money, came across the street to my parents store and asked if we wouldn´t like to take over the business. My parents declined at first, but thought about the idea for a long time. At some point we decided to set up the business ourselves. We bought a hand engraving machine, set up a small two-meter separee in the store and started engraving and selling trophies. I was involved from the beginning and did my apprenticeship as a retail salesman in parallel. We were also experimenting in the beginning. We produced mugs, puzzles, mouse pads and more. We didn´t have a focus on trophies then. We knew how retail worked, but offering these products was new territory for us. In addition, we had to learn how to deal with new technology. At that time, we searched for trophies in the catalogs of the major suppliers, noted down the catalog numbers by hand and sent our orders by fax. All in all, it was a stressful time - somehow typical for start-ups.


In November 2001, I officially took over the company. And we created the first online store at the same time. The idea came from my father, who said, "Come on, let´s do it!". At that time, we managed it with a modular system and quickly reached our limits. But we also thought, "The main thing is to start!". But I also quickly looked around for alternatives and started programming myself. At the beginning of 2006, I ended my cycling career to focus more on my company. The goal was to grow. And I noticed that customers want their goods delivered even faster. Nowadays that's normal, standard, so to speak. At the time, this was something completely new, so I decided to set up a warehouse. Before that, we ordered the goods on an order-by-order basis from the wholesaler and then engraved them accordingly. In 2006, we offered some products "for rush" for the first time. We had some trophies in stock and were able to engrave and ship them very quickly. However, we already noticed then that the business with the trophies was gradually displacing the bicycle store. The 300 square meters, where before countless bicycles stood, were at some point simply not enough. My girlfriend at the time and now wife Verena was finally the one who persuaded me to move. In 2009 we moved our location to Eiterfeld Arzell (Hessen). Our supplier at the time was also nearby, which made communication much easier. Shortly thereafter, Verena started working full time at the company. We didn't say it at the time, but it was clear to both of us that the company belonged to both of us. We complement each other. She, with her office management background, inspires me and gives me ideas. True to the motto: There is a solution for everything. I think that's a great attitude. And it helps us make good decisions for the company and its employees. One such decision was to revamp our website after moving to Eiterfeld Arzell. We were even honored for this in 2011 with the Website Award from the Awards and Personalization Association (ARA). The ARA is the largest association worldwide in the trophy industry. In 2013, further awards followed as "Best Large Retailer of the Year" and in 2014 and again in 2018 for the best website.


We have always had the vision to build something big. In 2014 we developed the idea to change our business once again. At that time, we still sourced most of our trophies from a wholesaler, engraved them and then shipped them to our customers. However, this also meant that customers were always tied to our wholesalers and had little flexibility in what they wanted. So in 2014 we registered Helm Pokale as a German brand and started to build a new production facility in Friedewald, our current location. On 2000 square meters we can fulfill almost every wish of our customers. And that within one day. Also thanks to our company secret: the painting process. We developed this in 2017 and since then have been offering trophies not only in the standard color gold, but also in bronze, silver or every conceivable variation. We have also invested a lot in know-how and machinery. Nevertheless, a large part of the production is still done by hand.


With us, the customer is the focus. From ordering goods, through production and shipping to a complaint. I know from my own experience how much work and time, for example, clubs put into the organization of events. It is therefore important to me that our customers do not have to worry about the most important part of an event, the award. Helm Trophy stands for quality and reliability. I think I took this philosophy with me from my time as an athlete. A particularly formative moment was the Hessen Championship in 2002, when I finished second and stood on the podium, beaming with the medal around my neck. It was at the award ceremony that I really realized what I had achieved: I was runner-up in my age group. It was an indescribably wonderful feeling to stand on the podium and I would have preferred not to get off the bike at all. But when we were about to leave the podium, the silver medal was taken away from me again. The reason: There was only one set of medals for all age groups. I should get my personal medal later. I had no choice and had to give back the medal that had just been handed to me on the podium. Again, it is hard to describe what I felt at that moment. Anger, disappointment, incomprehension, sadness. Everything somehow. Because I had to return the award for my performance. And with it all the emotions and memories of that competition. For me, it was clear at that time that something like that should not happen at any award ceremony. And I have often had to think back to that moment in our company's history. A good example was a European championship in taekwondo. The organizers had ordered the last figure trophies available in Europe at that time. Fortunately, we had still managed to finish and ship the items. But due to an unfortunate mistake of the transport company, the trophies ended up in Spain. We then pulled out all the stops to somehow get our hands on the trophies. A courier drove to Spain, loaded the trophies and then set off directly for the European Championships. He was even still on the highway in a full traffic jam. The traffic was not moving forward and nothing backward and time was running out at that moment. Only half an hour before the award ceremony our courier arrived. Fortunately still in time, because for us it was clear: It should not have been that the organizers can not present trophies at the end of such an important championship.


The Corona pandemic has also Helm Trophy faced a completely new challenge. Fortunately, we have not had to lay off any employees so far. I have used the time to educate myself with entrepreneurial coaching. Since then, I duze the employees, listen more carefully and take much more account of the private problems of our employees. Verena and I have also worked on the company idea and developed it further. It is clear to us that we will expand Helm Trophy internationally. We are already sending some packages to Australia or Canada. These are still outliers, but we would like to increasingly ship packages overseas as well. We realize that there is a demand for our high quality and durable trophies and we want to become the leading vendor for awards - for competitions and member honors. We realize that only trophies can capture the emotion of a victory or volunteerism well so that it never fades. On the one hand, an award can be used to express recognition. It doesn't matter if it's to honor a victory or many years of volunteer work. A trophy is the optimal form of recognition. If the trophy is presented at an award ceremony in front of a large audience or at an annual general meeting in front of the entire team, it generates great emotion. Above all joy. And it is precisely these memories that are captured and stored, so to speak, with the trophy. With other presents, for example a towel, this works less well because the objects are used and not treated with care like trophies. Consequently, the memories never fade - on the contrary, the trophies are usually displayed in a showcase or carefully stored in keepsake boxes. And every time they are taken out again, the memories come back and the moments of the victory or the event are there again. That is why the trophy should be of high quality and robust. It must not break. At the beginning of 2022, we once again fundamentally overhauled our website. Since then, the online store has been accessible in eight languages; configuration is now even easier - whether for one or a hundred trophies. And our customers now save valuable time in the ordering process. In the future, we want to set up more warehouses. First in Europe, later all over the world. As you can see, the almost 25-year history of Helm Trophy is far from over.

Biography Christian Helm

Born in Eisenach, I tried out many sports in my early childhood. In the end, I was drawn to cycling, just like my father was back then. For a while, I competed in national and international races, among others, but decided to end my professional career. Instead, I concentrated fully on the sale and customization of trophies. In the meantime, however, family is the most important thing to me. With my wife Verena and four children, I can switch off. A lesson that I have become more aware of thanks to an entrepreneurship training. If you want to know more about me and my life, you are welcome to read the full biography. 

I was born on August 12, 1982 in Eisenach (Thüringen). I have been doing sports since my early childhood. It all started at the age of about 4, when I learned to swim in the water polo club. Unfortunately, I don't remember how I got into this hobby, but I obviously enjoyed it. Before the German reunification my parents moved to Butzbach (Hessen). Here I looked for a new passion and found it at the German Life Saving Association DLRG. I really got into it. It has always been like that. Either I do something completely or not at all. I then completed my training as a lifeguard pretty quickly and passed the lifeguarding badges in bronze and silver. However, swimming never really fulfilled me, which is why I tried out other sports such as table tennis or karting. Through my father, Jürgen Helm, I then came to cycling. He was an amateur professional in the GDR and took part in all the major championships at home and abroad. I can still remember very well how I sat on our home trainer at the age of 7 or 8 and pedaled. That left its mark on me. Just like my father himself. He was never the classic role model for me, but he was always there to help and advise. For a while he was also my coach. It was great to have him by my side at various championships and international races, like the Paris Roubaix. So we could experience many beautiful moments together.


Along the way, I completed my apprenticeship as a retail salesman in my parents' business and graduated with top marks. In 1998, we also started to establish a new trophy retail business in my father's bicycle store. The idea for Helm Pokale was born. For me it was clear from the beginning that I wanted to build up the distribution big. It was also the perfect combination to pursue my sport. On the side, I trained every day, was in the gym early or went on my running rounds and was on the exercise bike in the evenings. In my professional days, I trained up to six hours a day. The hard training paid off: In 2000, I became club champion of RV Sossenheim 1895 e.V. The club is still considered the hotbed of young talent for professional sports. In 2003, shortly before the start of my professional career, Heiko Salzwedel became my coach. According to media reports, he is considered the "most successful cycling coach in the world". He was an analytical thinker, cared a lot about his protégés, but also demanded a lot. Efficiency and teamwork were very important to him. Despite his efforts and hard training, it was not enough for me to reach the top.

In early 2006, I ended my cycling career to focus more on my business. I also found a new passion in scuba diving. I also got involved in the scuba diving club on a voluntary basis. I think I inherited that from my father. He, too, was active in countless clubs and boards. I didn't want to imitate him, but I enjoyed organizing the trips of the diving club, for example. In the meantime, I am mostly just there to advise and support. Because the most important thing in my life is my family. In the past it was cycling, then at some point the company. I think my wife Verena had to show a lot of understanding here. We met at the driving school in 2000 and fell in love pretty quickly. She helped me a lot in setting up the trophy retail business. In the end, however, the relationship failed due to a lack of experience in balancing work and private life. In 2002, we separated. Six years later, when we were much more mature, we tried again. I think that because Verena already knew how much business and sports meant to me, we had a much closer bond. In 2010 we said "I will" to each other. In that year our first daughter Helmine was born. In the meantime we have four children: Helmine, Hugo, Henriette and Harro. Since the four of them have been born, I have become more and more of a family man. The four of them were also a reason why I continued to do voluntary work. Not only in sports clubs, but also, for example, as deputy chairman of the daycare center's sponsoring association for two years, or, also for two years, as a parent's advisory board at our children's elementary school, as well as in the volunteer fire department. In the latter, I started a bambini group and completed the basic firefighter training course for it. Since then, I have been an active member of the volunteer fire department. I have also learned to let go a little through the four. Before, my wife and I would talk about work over dinner or while watching a movie; now we make more time for family. Breakfast and dinner, for example, are family time.


When the Corona pandemic paralyzed all of Europe in 2020, it made me think a lot. For me and my company, the impact of the pandemic and the lockdown was uncertain. Nevertheless, I saw the time as an opportunity and at the time I read the book „Der Weg zum erfolgreichen Unternehmer: wie Sie und Ihr Unternehmen neue Dynamik gewinnen“ ("The road to becoming a successful entrepreneur: how you and your business can gain new momentum") by Stefan Merath to move my business forward. In the last few years, I felt like I was driving with the handbrake on; like the business wasn't moving forward. At some point, I had stopped setting big goals for myself and hadn't really done anything from the heart. I wanted to change that. For a year now, I've been getting coaching. I would say myself that it has also made me a better leader. I am more self-reflective and more responsive to the feelings and emotions of others. I have also developed the company idea further and considered who we really want to and can help. Among other things, this led to the idea of writing association guides and giving them to our customers. I simply want to give something back. From the knowledge that I have gathered in clubs and volunteer positions or the emotions that I associate with sports. Successes and failures. I have also learned to set myself bigger professional goals again. I want to expand Helm Trophy even further and make it known throughout Europe, maybe even worldwide. And above all, I want to spend more time with my family. 

On January 31, 2013, we were honored by the (Awards and Recognition Association) at its International Awards Gala in Las Vegas.
In the category "ARA Large Retailer of the Year 2012-2013" (best Large Retailer of the Year 2012-2013), we were named the winner of the Contest.

The ARA (Awards and Recognition Association), which organized the competition for its members, is the largest Association worldwide in the trophy industry.

---

The Awards and Personalization Association [formerly: ARA (Awards and Recognition Association)], which organized the contest for its members, is the world's largest association in the largest association worldwide in the trophy industry. Information about the Awards and Personalization Association can be found at. www.awardspersonalization.org