Education: University of Technology, chemical technology
Age: 43
How has your career developed?
I began as an assistant production manager at Unilever. After that I worked for DHV as a process engineer, project leader, project manager and account manager. At around the age of 40, I joined Cumae as a senior project manager.
At that time my ambition was to move up in the company and be promoted to departmental manager. But as it turned out Cumae was taken over by Iv-Groep at the end of 2007. Things developed quickly following the takeover and I was soon appointed to the board of directors.
How do you explain your rapid career advancement?
It's down to hard work. At the outset I didn't know exactly what I wanted and what I could achieve. But I always knew that I was good at leading, managing, networking and doing business, because I'm that kind of person. It gives me a lot of satisfaction to have a team that performs well and people who work more productively. A solid knowledge of engineering is essential as well. This is and always will be the foundation of this kind of work, as you can see throughout lv-Groep.
What challenges do you see for yourself in the future?
In my present position of deputy director I share responsibility for the further expansion of Iv-Industrie and Iv-Bouw. However, management is a constantly challenging task. Bringing the right people together is one of the challenges of management. Another is injecting your own enthusiasm into a group. The ability to capitalise on strategic insight is essential.
How do you see Iv-Industrie in the coming years?
Iv-Industrie serves a broad market by offering various specialisations. They include Process, Piping & Mechanical, Electrical, Instrumentation & Automation, Buildings, Structures, Energy & Water and Project Management. Our focus is on the pharmaceutical, food, chemical, industrial, energy generation & supply and transport & logistics sectors. We intend to intensify the cooperation between our branches in the years ahead so as to bring about substantial growth. I'm convinced that we've got a rosy future because of the efforts of Iv-Industrie in conjunction with the expertise contributed by the other Iv-Groep divisions.
"At the outset I didn't know exactly what I wanted to achieve."
