M. Verschoor celebrated half a century of business on the 25th and 26th of June in Sassenheim, Netherlands.

Within the company’s facility, a wall was decorated with world maps, which indicated the 123 countries where the company has sold cranes throughout its history.

A tow truck was placed in the centre of the room as the ‘protagonist’ of the celebrations.

“It all started with this tow truck, which worked as a little crane, lifting cars with a hook after accidents,” said Maarten Verschoor, the founder of the company. During a conversation with Cranes Today, he explained how his company grew over the last 50 years.

“I left school when I was 15 years old and started working because I come from a working class family. Honestly, I preferred developing practical skills than theoretical knowledge,” Verschoor says.

After working at a butcher’s shop for a while, he started repairing cars.

“I was the only one to repair automatic gearboxes in the area, working 20 hours per day for 12 years,” he said.

“There was an accident at the cross section in front of my fuel station in Sassenheim, but the rescue operation was taking over fifty minutes. So, on that occasion I started using the tow truck, which I bought from America and fixed it in fourteen nights.”

He assisted the police for almost 23 years, using the tow truck and a rescue scissor.

Verschoor explained the way he built the rescue scissor, “It was a hydraulic pen that I positioned on the dashboard to free people trapped in vehicles after accidents.

“I supplied this tool to fire fighters, giving them instructions how to use it during road crash rescue operations.”

Over the years he saw a lot of dead people and one day his mum asked him: “Do you like this job?” and he replied: “Of course it’s hard work, but it makes me feel good to help people.”

Recalling those years, Verschoor said: “I made a lot of sacrifices at the time, but I was able to put aside enough money to buy a crane.”

His next step was the purchase of an Austin Western crane mounted on an old army truck.

This crane was first put to use at a sugar factory, where it operated for a year and a half.

In 1970 he purchased the Grove TD100 and after that the business grew faster and he could afford to buy more cranes.

“I didn’t have much money, but I developed over the years the capability to push forward and to stay focused on my job,” said Verschoor. “With such approach we have been able to build up to 20 mobile cranes.”

In 1986, Maarten Junior joined the rental company at the age of 17 and helped to expand its fleet which currently stands at 52 mobile cranes and mobile tower cranes from 30t to 650t.

The new additions to M.Verschoor B.V’s fleet are the LR 1600-2, the LG1550 and the LTM 1500 from Liebherr; the CC3800 from Terex and the GMK6300 from Manitowoc.

UCM creation

In 1997 Maarten Junior started another company, UCM Holland B.V. (Used Cranes and Materials), developing a new concept to reuse all the spare parts, which are in good condition. At the moment UCM Holland is the biggest supplier in the world for Germanbuilt crane spare parts. Used crane parts from 165 cranes are being sold around the world.

“UCM centre is based in Almere, near Amsterdam, where we store all the dismantled parts at a 400sqm hall,” Maarten senior said. “We can deliver and repair them in 24 hours, customers appreciate that because they usually need to wait a long time.” Peter Verschoor, the younger son of Maarten, explained how they meet customers’ needs even when they come from countries with strict regulations.

“We like talking with customers to understand what they need,” he said. “We can research on the internet how to meet regulations and we also have a company that does shipment for us. What’s more, we have a lot of experience in matching spare parts, which belong to different companies and brands. Over the last 20 years we developed the ability to understand which parts can be fitted together and which can’t.”

Kesse Van Dujin, sales manager at UCM Holland, said: “The market for used parts is going very well because their value is lower than for new ones and a lot of parts can be recycled.

“In total we have 1000 customers and suppliers from all over the world. We also repair damaged cranes, for example we completely restored a smashed crane after a fatal accident in Italy and then, sold it in Nigeria.”

Van Dujin added that the most buoyant market segment in Holland is for mobile and tower cranes.

“At the moment the market is better for big cranes than small ones, because the wind turbines are becoming more popular, as everybody wants green power and environmentally-friendly machines.

We sold between 75 and 100 tower cranes outside Holland in almost four years.”

With regard to Brexit, Peter Verschoor said: “It’s not a problem for us because we sell all over the world.”

He added: “We have grown so much and we are happy with our results. I’m the next one from the family to work for the company. I will join in a couple of years, when I complete my Economics and Logistics degree, to assist with every function of the company.”

Maurice Kulk, sales assistant at UCM Holland, said: “I believe the key to this company’s success has been that they treat employees as members of their family.”

Business relations

Around 2000 business partners from all over the world attended the event, including some local authority officials.

Frank Osei-Wusu, chief executive at JTM Logistics Ghana, said: “I have been buying equipment from UCM since 2010, specifically Grove mobile crane, which we lease.

“We were looking on the internet and we found this brand. We can say that it was a good choice in terms of the quality of cranes and after-sales support.

Now we have decided to buy another all terrain crane, a 300t Grove, and we already have three other mobile cranes in our fleet from this company.”

Tommy O’Grady from Crane Hire and Transport said: “I started buying their equipment almost 30 years ago and this long relationship can testify that we trust this company. We have always had a good feedback because their cranes are reliable.

“We have in our fleet 16 cranes from this company, including mobile cranes and all terrain cranes from 30 to 250t, from several brands, such as Demag, Liebherr and Spierings. I definitely wish all the best for their 50th anniversary.”

Allstate Crane Rental owner and president Jamie W Linton said, “The first purchase was 20 years ago with a GMK 6250 Grove and I can say they are really efficient and work very well with customers. I recommend Martin all the time to the other companies.”

As a supplier Marc Dirkse, regional sales manager Netherlands at Terex, said: “We have just delivered the CC3800-1 after making the deal at Bauma.

“Another machine has also been supplied and this is the Challenger 3160, a three-axle all terrain crane of 55t. I have been dealing with Maarten senior since 1985 and both sides have always Maarten Verschoor and his wife during the marching band parade. been happy with each other.”