PROMOTING THE FAMILlY-RUN CHARACTER OF THE BUSINESS

As a purebred family-run company, Ivens nv is the odd man out in the Antwerp port complex. Certainly we may have grown in step with the industrial development of the port. But our aim has always been the same: to operate a stable, family SME.

It's as though the spirit of pioneer Leon Ivens is still floating round our business premises. His son Eduard, granddaughter Greet and great-grandson Peter now watch carefully over the individual character of the company. It's something that is much appreciated by countless customers in Belgium and abroad.

Our staff also feels at home in this family atmosphere. Which can be seen from the fact that some of our employees have been with us for 30 and even 40 years.

But our sense of tradition in no way stands in the way of being dynamic - as can be seen from the opening of the new production plant in 2005. We very much hope to be writing many more pages of this successful family chronicle from behind these high walls. From traditional boilermaker to modern tank-builders: the story is far from over ...

CREATIVE BOILERMAKERS

The roots of Ivens nv go back to Leon Ivens' modest garden workshop. In 1930, this skilful coppersmith became a self-employed installer of filters, pumps, central heating, greenhouses and greenhouse boilers.

After Leon Ivens' early death, his father came out of retirement and took the business further with a few workers. It wasn't long before grandson Eduard joined the business and he soon took over the helm. Better still: he steered the Ivens ship forward to new horizons.

There was a hole in the market for building oil-fired boilers. Orders flooded in and soon the old-fashioned workshop was too small. Eduard and his staff moved new premises on the Leugenberg in Ekeren, from where large numbers of heating oil tanks quickly went out of the door.

TO THE PORT

But the business hunger of 'the boilermaker' was still not satisfied. He was now making tanks for the new chemical companies and storage terminals at the port. He again discovered a gaping hole in the market. Ivens' water and oil tanks, and later also specific tanks for the chemical industry, found their way allover the world.

In 1976, Ivens Transport was added to the group. The production of the first automatic welding machines for storage tanks meant the operating premises on the Leugenberg were bursting at the seams. So a new move was needed.

Ivens nv found the room it needed to expand to its heart's content on Noorderlaan in Antwerp, in the centre of the port. This impressive site of over 37.000 sq.m. became a hive of activity and ideas. Daughter Greet Ivens, who had in the meantime became managing director, and grandson
Peter Van de Perck kept a close eye one the family nature of the flourishing company.

TODAY - CUSTOMISED TANK-BUILDER

Ivens is specialised in all other aspects concerning the core business that are part of a tailer-made overall service.

In our modern, fully-equiped production areas, we handle the design, prefabrication and assembly of storage tanks and everything that goes with them.