Vetus den Ouden reorganises

By Bob Greenwood/IBI Magazine

Peter Groenenboom, who joined Dutch marine equipment company Vetus den Ouden last month as technical director is the latest in an ongoing series of senior appointments following the reorganisation of the NFL100 million annual turnover group. Beschier Kik, who was himself appointed managing director of the Schiedam-based company a year ago following its acquisition of 75 per cent of its equity by investment banking group Alpinvest (now NIB), has created new departments whose heads now have shorter lines of communication with him.

Groenenboom, who has spent 21 years in research and development in the marine industry (the latter 12 at engine mountings company Rubber Design) has overall responsibility for the company's technical department.

As technical director Groenenboom has overall charge of research and development for diesel, hydraulics, electronics and boat equipment products. He describes his brief as "to find new products, have them developed and 'unify' them." In this he takes over the role previously conducted by company founder and former owner Willem den Ouden. Den Ouden still holds a quarter share of the company but its expected to sell this in time.

Having once manufactured and assembled much of its product range in-house, Vetus now subcontracts all of this activity, with almost of the 2,500 products in its catalogue manufactured to its own specifications. A result is that the establishment is now much leaner than before, employing just 140 people, 90 of them at its head office and the remainder in main distribution subsidiaries in the US, UK, Germany, Spain and at Botal (Netherlands).
Within the new structure, the company is now well placed to "pursue big plans to expand", says Groenenboom.

(14 November 2001)