Vetico’s Supervisory Board (SB) has three members. The Chair, Miriam Dragstra, and Patrick Esselaar, who has been associated with our family business for nearly a decade, were joined in January by Thomas Heerkens. He joined exactly one year ago. Time to get acquainted with the man from Rotterdam.
Welcome, Thomas! Would you like to tell a little more about yourself?
“Of course! I’m 59 years old, married to Marlou, and have two daughters and a son. They’ve all flown the nest, but I enjoy it when they’re back home. In my free time, I enjoy being on the water. I like sailing and rowing. With my family and friends I enjoy going for a walk, attending a concert and traveling.”
How would you describe your career in broad terms?
“I studied industrial engineering in Eindhoven. During the course of my career I’ve worked as strategic advisor and later held various executive positions, including 17 years as CFO and CEO of Landal GreenParks.”
What are you doing now?
“I enjoy using my experience to benefit family businesses and community organizations, such as the Red Cross and social housing corporation Woonin. I do that as an advisor and as supervisory officer or Supervisory Board member. This enables me to make use of my expertise in a variety of settings. This I find very fulfilling.”
We are one such family business. What appealed to you about this role?
“This is a wonderful enterprise. The family culture appeals to me and I also much admire the enormous decisiveness and capacity for innovation. I see opportunities for improvement in the company’s sustainability policy. Vetico could take even more responsibility in this area.”
What can you add as a member of the SB?
“I have considerable experience in areas important to Vetico’s business operations for the coming years, such as growth, internationalization, acquisitions and sustainability. My financial and business background also help with the growth strategy.”
How do you put your experience to use?
“For me, this doesn’t just concern knowledge-sharing. It’s also about listening and asking the right questions. The Supervisory Board challenges the management to think even more carefully about the choices they have to make, and to view decisions in other ways.”
How has the first year been for you?
“Great. The company meets my expectations in every way; exceeds them, even, due to the way of doing business. I’m impressed by the technology. And the partnerships with clients are solid and based on adding value. The cooperation with ECM Europe is the next step in that process. Based on this, I expect a bright future for Vetico.”
What do you feel you can add?
“I want to help ensure that the team can achieve its intended growth. In order to do so, it’s important for us to remain an attractive prospect, particularly in the current tight labor market. The great thing about growth is that it allows us to offer employees additional development opportunities. I already see some great examples of this. I also want to help take the company a step further in the area of sustainability.”
How do you hope to do that?
“By looking at what we can do in the area of sustainability, and inspire customers to join forces with us. Easier said than done, since Vetico works for large companies with their own perspective on sustainability. But their size also means we can have significant impact. Fortunately, we get to contribute our knowledge and often succeed in being a source of inspiration for our clients.”
Is having an impact your greatest motivation?
“Business continuity is obviously top priority. Beyond that, I want everything I do to have social value. Being able to contribute to a better world at Vetico keeps me sharp and driven!”
