Project 4900

The Randstad; the construction site of the Netherlands. In 1984, when the management of building services company Bemelmans-Jongen decided to focus only on the southern provinces and expand into service work, manager Jan Adams and project manager Ben Le Large leaped in to fill the gap with a new company.

"About 90 per cent of Bemelmans-Jongen's work was in the Randstad region," says Jan. "That had its drawbacks, such as the installation crews driving up and down there every day. So it was quite a reasonable decision by the then management to focus on the south." Thanks to Ben's good contacts, the new company got off to a flying start. "We basically continued with what they had already."

The name? Bemar, named after their wives Betty and Marlies. The first project: installing a ventilation system in a swimming pool in The Hague, commissioned by building services company Lievers. Assigned project number 4900. The 49 stood for Ben's year of birth. Starting at project number 1 did not seem like a good idea to the founders of the new company, as it might send a poor signal to customers. Did a higher number make more of an impression? “That was the point,” confirms Jan. “Although we had only just been created at the time. Sometimes you just have to do something."

From its inception, Bemar has operated out of premises at Windmolenbos business park in Haelen, Limburg. "A couple of offices with a generous warehouse behind them, plus part of a manufacturing space where we could prefabricate pipes," Jan recalls. The company consisted of about 20 people in its early stages. "Not legally, but in economic terms that was the number. Because we took a subcontractor over with us who did the installations for the projects in the west."

That subcontractor from Baexem - close to Haelen - produced the air ducts for the swimming pool. These were prefabricated to size as far as possible and went on a trailer down to The Hague. Bemar signed up for the design, the engineering of the ventilation system and the project management.

Did it go well? "Yes, it went well. After that, we were able to obtain several more orders from the same building services company," says Jan. "And I always say: there has not been one single project where we have failed to deliver. If we run into a problem, it gets solved. Otherwise, the project cannot be delivered."

And so Bemar began to grow. This year, on Friday 1 November to be precise, it is exactly 40 years since Jan and Ben took the plunge and created the basis for our group of companies. The Interduct Group now consists of 15 companies with a total of more than 350 employees who work together every day to create a sustainable, healthy and comfortable indoor climate for everyone.