From distribution centres to supermarkets, and from office blocks to huge warehouses, structure specialist De Boer has shown that its semi-permanent accommodation is suitable for virtually ANY commercial use.
The flexibility of the company’s products is reinforced by contracts that have seen structures transformed into high-spec catering facilities, aircraft hangars, museum halls, sporting facilities, port storage, conference halls, a motorway service station – and even prison buildings.
De Boer’s innovative and highly effective solutions for the commercial sector have come on the back of a remarkable history supplying temporary structures to the global events and exhibitions industries.
For more than 80 years the company has developed an unrivalled reputation for short-term rental projects with structures gracing some of the most famous global events including the FIFA World Cup, golf’s Ryder Cup, the Farnborough International Airshow and the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, as well as high-profile music events such as the MTV Awards and Live 8.
De Boer’s creative design team has been a key factor in securing the company’s market-leading position in the world of short-term rental. That same team has now been spearheading De Boer’s fast-growing long-term rental strategy.
Recent assignments have seen huge structures being used by local authorities across the UK for storing road gritting salt. Mirroring successes across Europe, the contracts in Britain have provided councils with secure, dry storage facilities – helping to ensure motorists keep moving in winter but also providing long-term financial benefits for local taxpayers.
These mighty salt barns, traditionally created within De Boer’s robust, flexible All Weather Hall structures, have been shown to cut wastage from salt degrading and have also enabled many authorities to switch to cheaper gritting substances that could not have been stored outside. Some councils have estimated long-term savings of more than £1 million.
De Boer has also been active in the aviation sector, providing solutions to airports requiring semi-permanent baggage halls, terminal buildings, offices, catering complexes or even aircraft hangars. The company has supplied specialist facilities to airports across the UK as well as in Holland, Qatar and Bulgaria.
The amazing flexibility of De Boer’s products is illustrated by structures being used by leading port operators to provide additional storage facilities, as temporary ice rinks during the festive period and by governments across Europe to create additional custodial facilities within prisons.
Robert Alvarez, De Boer’s Sales Director – Commercial, explains: “We’ve been working hard to expand business beyond the event industry – and our design team has come up with a whole host of amazing concepts offering solutions to businesses in numerous different sectors.
“One of the cornerstones of our commercial success is the flexibility of our structures. The uses they can be put to really are without limit and, bearing in mind that our reputation has been built on short-term rental, we are now providing customers with longer-term solutions where steel-framed storage halls, for example, have an effective lifespan of over 60 years.”
Robert adds: “The speed of delivery and implementation enables clients to secure an immediate return on investment with low whole-life costs. A further benefit is that structures are entirely re-locatable, meaning future growth can be accommodated as required. In the event of decreasing requirements, there’s the potential to sell the structure and relocate it to provide cost-effective storage for a second user.”
This speed of delivery and reliability has led to huge expansion for De Boer’s business continuity concept. The company provided emergency facilities following a fire which devastated Cherwell Valley Services on the M40 in Oxfordshire. With the main shopping and dining plaza completely destroyed, owners, staff and visitors were left with the prospect of no permanent facilities.
De Boer was on site within hours of the incident, enabling an emergency rest area to be opened within a week, followed by the creation of a more extensive temporary service station which remained in place until the permanent building was completed.
In another assignment a Co-op supermarket in Leicestershire was back in business just three months after being gutted by fire. It took less than two weeks for De Boer to construct a complete replica store featuring a shop floor, welfare facilities, toilets, storage and office space.
The temporary supermarket remained in place while the Co-op constructed a new retail unit on the site of the damaged building.
One of De Boer’s most significant emergency installations was a temporary food production factory for Aulds, Scotland’s largest independent family bakers. This was installed in the factory car park after Aulds’ existing building was destroyed by fire. The temporary factory was in place for 18 months while a new purpose-built bakery was constructed.
Robert Alvarez adds: “No challenge is too daunting. Our company slogan says ‘De Boer Covers All’ – and when you look at the amazing range of our projects, I don’t think you can argue with that!”
De Boer is one of the leading international suppliers of temporary accommodation for large events and festivals, storage purposes, airport baggage handling and supermarkets. De Boer was established in 1924 and is headquartered in Alkmaar, The Netherlands.
De Boer
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