Solar panels, new harbor and a baby: this happened at Sailmaker De Vries Maritiem in 2019

2019 is almost complete... a good time to look back at the past year. We decided to ask our director Ruben Hoekstra a few questions about how he experienced the past year. From births and moving in together, to solar panels and a new port... we are happy to share our year with you!

Ruben, we look back on a special year. What were for you the 3 highlights for our sail making business?

This year has been incredibly busy, both in terms of orders and operations. We are proud to report that with 14 experienced and 2 new employees in the management team, we have achieved record sales and there is a great atmosphere.

In addition to this great result, we have made great strides in future-proofing our company. We have given our building and our harbor a thorough refit and made them more sustainable. We can now accommodate twice as many ships, the building is much more energy efficient, and it looks fantastic again.

As 3rd point I see the launch of our new website and corporate identity. You see that This is already paying off. Our customers know how to find us better and are better served with the information they seek. Moreover, requesting a request for a quotation is now just a few mouse clicks away, which is ideal.

Were any down moments?

Yes sure. With so many changes you can't escape it, not everything goes always well. The renovation, both inside and outside, had an enormous impact which we had underestimated. For the employees and myself, this was sometimes really too much. I I noticed that I was sometimes busy with too many things at once. It is then important to maintain focus. This eventually led to good results, and we learned a lot from it. learned a lot from it.

Can tell you a little more about that: what were important lessons that you learned?

Focus is very important, we have experienced that. We have a clear mission, vision and core values, we have made these more central last year and used them as a basis for prioritization. We regularly discuss: what is important and what can we put on the "parking lot" for a while.

What I've also learned (again) is that you have to give your people attention. And they they deserve! Sometimes more than you initially think of.

What unexpected things happened?

We have reaped more rewards from all our hard work than we expected! We have been actively improving for two years. We expected solid growth this year, and even exceeded that.

Just returning to that sustainability: what have you done?

We aim to be fully energy-neutral by 2021. To achieve this, we spent last year:

160 solar panels installed on the roof
The building is fully insulated and double glazed throughout
heat pump installed.

In addition we have renewed our fleet with more fuel-efficient cars, 2 of which are electric.

What have you done about Corporate Social Responsibility?

We encourage employees to think about sustainability. One of our core values is a Healthy Future. With this, we focus on a healthy living environment for us and our children. We want our employees to feel healthy and comfortable. Sailmakerij De Vries Maritiem must be a nice place to work. In addition we are now almost 200 years old. A Healthy Future also means that we focus on the financial health of our company. on the financial health of our company.

How has the staff experienced 2019? Are there any special things to report?

Our Dennis has given birth to a beautiful child. Rinke recently moved in with his girlfriend to their new home. Johan has had the trip of a lifetime, he and his family went to Canada for a month. And Sander and his girlfriend have set a date for their sailing trip around the world.

We regularly barbecued together and our annual favorite event 'The Dickens Festival' was a great success. Every year we stand there as if it 200 years ago. Our staff pulls this cart all by themselves, wonderful to see!

Have As a company, have you guys been out on the water to sail yet?

It was a hectic year, much busier than expected. Unfortunately, we didn't make it this year. Fortunately, many of us did go on nice rides privately and participated in races.

What Good resolutions do you have for 2020?

We want to focus more on reusing and recycling the products we work with work with.

In addition we want to make the best use of our new management system so that we can communicate communicate better with our customers. We want to show even better what beautiful sails we make. And we will continue to improve our products with new new techniques and by listening carefully to our customers' wishes.

What specifics for 2020 can you share?

For the past 30 years we have been loyal participants of Boot Düsseldorf. Unfortunately this is going to change. The profits are no longer in proportion to the costs and therefore we are adjusting our plans.

Imagine Imagine it's December 2020, one year later: what do you hope to share as a retrospective?

I hope that both the staff and I will look back on 2020 as happily as we did on 2019. And we want even more people to experience the quality of our products, so that more people go out on the water satisfied.