Hans Baggerman and Henk van Maanen (Van Nelle Fabriek Events, Schiecentrale, Floating Pavilion and Team van Maanen Live Communicatie) each go their own way. For about a quarter of a century they were an inseparable duo in the events world, but as of the beginning of this month, that has come to an end. Then Henk van Maanen (1964) and Hans Baggerman (1965) each went their separate ways.
Baggerman will focus entirely on the Van Nelle Fabriek event venue, which facilitates meetings and events in the UNESCO monument in Rotterdam (14 rooms, from 20 to 5,000 people). Van Maanen will take on the operation of the Floating Pavilion and the Schiecentrale in Rotterdam. To date, they are joint directors/shareholders in this trio, but they are going to split that up.
The Team van Maanen Live Communicatie (TVM) organizing agency, in which they are also both directors/shareholders, will be terminated as of March 1. As a result, TVM is also no longer part of EventConsortium Holland (5 leading organizing agencies that joined forces for major international conferences and events) of which it was a founding member in 2016.
Good harmony
The split is done in good harmony. The Van Nelle Factory is on the eve of spectacular expansions, such as the arrival of a hotel , a restaurant by barbecue king Jord Althuizen and a fitness center. A hefty increase in the number of rooms is planned, which will enable Van Nelle to attract even more international conferences. Henk van Maanen wants to fully concentrate on his role within this beautiful complex.
For Hans, this would be the third transformation at the Van Nelle Fabriek. He is the founder of Van Nelle Fabriek Events and has seen it all in the Van Nelle Fabriek in terms of events and wants to focus on pioneering in smaller special venues. Pioneering by doing business on the basis of the new business agenda as recently introduced by MVO Nederland.
The Floating Pavilion (400 visitors) is an innovative and sustainable venue that will soon move to another location in Rotterdam’s Rijnhaven. The Schiecentrale (1,000 guests) opened as an event venue in early 2018 and aims to once again provide energy to residents and businesses in Rotterdam’s now rapidly developing Lloyd Quarter.
Catering
Henk and Hans began their collaboration in 1993 at caterer Frans Kuil. There they stood at the cradle of Frans Kuil Invitation, which broadened its scope from catering to the complete care of an event. In 2000, Hans began operating the Van Nelle Fabriek, which during that 1997-2003 period was redeveloped from a vacant coffee, tea and tobacco factory into a 50,000 m2 business complex with industrial spaces, offices and 10,000 m2 of rentable space for events. Henk joined in 2002.
