Royal Hulshof office opening

The new, futuristic head office of Hulshof's Royal Dutch Tanneries in Lichtenvoorde was opened on October 9 by the Minister of Economic Affairs, Mrs Jorritsma. Hulshof is the only integral tannery in the Netherlands which tans as well as finishes. Hulshof say that the new offices are the crown of 15 years of investment amounting to around 30 million guilders (US$12,146,732) to make the tannery more environmentally friendly and to scale up by a factor of 6. Hulshof are intending to invest the same amount in the future to keep abreast of their customers in the furniture industry who they say continue to grow. They intend to become even more innovative, safer, more efficient and cleaner. The construction of a new and extremely modern water treatment plant is part of the grand plan. It will have the capacity to serve 45,000 inhabitants outside the centre of Lichtenvoorde in a synergistic cooperation with the local water authority (Waterschap). Hulshof acknowledge that they are dependent for their raw materials on a shrinking agricultural base. However, they believe that by concentrating on specialised and high quality leathers, they are able to generate sufficient added value to enable them to capture their share of the increasingly scarce top quality European hides. Hulshof operate a strong and open culture with good working conditions. They employ nearly 200 people and are proud of the very low rate of absence due to sickness in their workforce.