History

In October 1979, Johan van der Zand starts his own garage in his parent’s shed. He purchases damaged cars and repairs them on his premises, while his wife, Dinie, takes care of the administration. Even today, as head of administration, she plays an important role in the company. It doesn’t take long before the company outgrows the shed, and a decision is made to build a new warehouse in the orchard behind Johan’s parent’s house. The entire family rolls up their sleeves, and after four months the new workshop is officially opened by Buren’s burgomaster on 26 August 1981.

Since Johan now has more room, he decides to expand his recovery operations and buys a Volvo F88 on which he himself mounts an army crane. To begin with, Johan works primarily in the region. But later his operations expand to cover all of Europe and beyond. The workshop, where Opel is the main brand, expands quickly thanks to the tremendous service provided to customers. That service quickly becomes renowned in Buren and far beyond.

Very quickly, various new employees are hired, and a spray shop is added. But since Johan’s interests lie closer to lorries, he decides to invest more in these activities. He purchases an old DAF as the first recovery vehicle, which is quickly followed by the Volvo F88 and then the first Scania T. In 1990, Johan acquires BCA Bergings Centrale Amsterdam, which results in enormous growth for his company, especially in the mid-1990s. For this reason, the workshop is sold in 1993, and efforts are made primarily to set up an international network of recovery companies. By 1995, the fleet has expanded to some 15 vehicles. The quick growth continues, because together with their employees, Johan and his wife ‘go for it’ from early in the morning until late at night.

A solid reputation and ‘blind’ trust are built up in and with the insurance sector. The motto ‘impossible doesn’t exist’ defines the company, and it’s still referred to by Johan and his team.

By now, the company has matured into one with enormous capacity and a good reputation in the Netherlands and abroad. Johan’s wife, Dinie, together with her team, runs the administration, Johan is in charge of planning, while their daughter Marieke (PR and administration) and their son-in-law, Hubert (on the road), have since joined the company.

INSURANCE EUROPE SERVICE

A new service introduced by Johan entailed transporting recovered stolen vehicles back to the Netherlands on behalf of various insurance companies and then storing, preparing and selling them. Vehicles are picked up abroad with our own material, cleaned and sold to the highest bidder, which generates tremendous proceeds on vehicles on which a loss is generally made.

In 2003 a new, modern office building is built across the road where there is ample space. The object of this new building is to prepare for the future, and the company now has a gleaming, two-storey building at a perfect location. These industrial premises have 1200 m where ‘special’ vehicles intended for trade fairs and exhibitions are stored or prototypes are completely protected, secured and monitored by cameras. Upon request, the vehicles are transported in a ‘closed’ manner in specially built vehicles. If necessary, these vehicles can be transported in conditioned containers. The industrial estate, where our company is located, is a short distance from the A15 and A2 motorways. The total area of the company is some 16,000 m, with another 2500 m available for future expansion.

General planning is the responsibility of four fulltime employees. Messages and reports are sent in day and night on our general number (+31 344 650 400). The entire planning is an open system, permitting customers (insurers) direct access to our company’s modern computer network. This way they can follow the entire status of an accident file on-line.

Developments are constantly being realised. In the modern workshop, the recovery vehicles are built in our shop by our own team of mechanics. Each year, roughly three recovery vehicles are adapted or built up. In 2005, the storage and workshop areas were expanded by an addition 2500 m, a large portion of which is currently being let to various tax authorities for storage, where sales and auctions of seized goods also take place. In one of the halls, archive storage has been created where the entire administration for a customer can be stored in a specially secured room.

All in all, a constantly progressive view to the future, with the aim of providing total service and being completely open vis-à-vis the customer. Our company is ready for the future.

For more information about our company, including our entire history, please visit our shop, where you’ll also find an extensive book on our corporate history with terrific photographs from years past.