Not just advising, but building: how Peak repositioned ZID Bernapark from start-up hub to facilitator for SMEs on the ground

The ZID at Bernapark — on the site of the former Deisswil cardboard factory in Stettlen near Bern — had started as an early-stage start-up centre with coworking. The board of directors, led by delegate Caroline Forte, wanted to develop it into a relevant offering for SMEs. Peak was mandated in August 2024 with strategy, repositioning and marketing.

The realignment fell into a period of upheaval: the previous managing director left the company, there was staff turnover and operational bottlenecks. A strategy on paper would have changed little in that situation. The real challenge was to rebuild the ZID during ongoing operations — without the community, day-to-day business and external perception suffering from the transition.

Peak decided not to advise from a distance but to build alongside: we moved our own location into the ZID to work at the heart of things and took the existing team along on the way to the “new ZID”. From October to December 2024 we assumed interim operational leadership — beyond the original mandate — built up operations and handed them over in an orderly way. In terms of content, we developed the 2025–2027 strategy and a clear new value proposition: from start-up centre to facilitator for SMEs, with newly defined business areas, the “KMU Update” and “KMU Upgrade” programmes and new marketing assets. We organised events and tours, activated our networks and won AXA as a new partner, while existing partnerships were consolidated. Together with the Swiss Venture Club (SVC), which also moved into the ZID, we initiated offerings for the new positioning — realised today, for example, in the “KMU für KMU” event series. And we supported the succession in the management from the start: the new managing director was involved in sharpening vision and mission instead of receiving them fully formed. At the end of May 2025 we handed over a repositioned, self-sustaining ZID.