Founded back in 1980, Pieter Smit’s eponymous logistics business has gone on to be one of the most recognisable trucking companies within the live events sector. With bases throughout Europe including the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Portugal and Poland, the company has been responsible for ensuring that everything from theatre productions to stadium-sized tours get from and to venues on time. Although perhaps most known for its trucking solutions, the company also has a fleet of rental cargo, splitter vans and nightliner busses along with offering rehearsal spaces for academy-level acts and storage facilities for their equipment. In short, it’s a one-stop-shop for many a production’s needs.
Having dedicated over four decades to the growth and development of the company, Pieter Smit has opted to step back from the top role to pave the way for his daughter, Louise Smit. TPi caught up with the newly appointed CEO to see how she’d been enjoying the first six months in the new role and how she hoped to continue her father’s legacy. “While I was studying law and thinking about my next move, I spoke to my father about spending some time working for Pieter Smit just to give me an idea of business,” reflected Louise.
“The family company is the third child in the house, it is like having an older brother. So with my father getting older, it only seemed right to learn a bit more about the company, but five years later I’m still here,” she laughed, while speaking of how much she had enjoyed her time at the company. “My father has always been very entrepreneurial and free spirited. Although we had planned for a more gradual handover process, he essentially gave me free rein to find my feet,” she explained.
Despite the changing of the guard, Louise stated how one of her main goals was to maintain the “DNA” of the company. “We often speak about how everyone at Pieter Smit has a dark blue heart,” she revealed, making a reference to the company’s paint job on all its vehicles and logo. “We have many staff members who have been with us for many years resulting to the feeling of a family spirit.”
As such, Louise was pleased to keep the business in the Smit family to maintain this working culture. “At a recent seminar I learned that only 30% of businesses remain within a family and that percentage gets even smaller when it moves to the next generation, so I’m glad we’re somewhat of an exception.”
With the clear goal of keeping the company’s culture intact, Louise went on to explain some of her goals for the business – namely with a move to a more sustainable future. The company has been utilising HVO fuel for the past few years, but it is now seriously considering the future of electric vehicles. “We already have a number of electric vehicles for our smaller vans as they are able to be charged quickly and charging systems are becoming more and more accessible,” she explained. “When it comes to the heavier, larger vehicles – like trucks – you need a completely different charging system. You cannot plug them on the same system as passenger vans or B-licence vans. We have to figure out how to make the specific charging requirements work and how to facilitate it both at our several yards and on the road.”
The CEO admitted that there were still several questions about the direction of electric vehicles, for example the issue of the life cycle of vehicles, which should be considered. “It’s imperative that we try to find solutions and share our findings and experience with our clients.”
The CEO also spoke of the potential growth of the company – specifically in the territories it already has bases. “The company has been very stable in the Netherlands for 45 years and my hope is that we’ll be able to get to the same level of stability in our other regions.”
Part of this development strategy has all the branches putting a real focus on local regional work. “Our origin within the Netherlands was in the theatre market and we’re pushing all of our other branches to really consider their local markets, especially as these are less effected by the seasonality of the wider events market.”
There is also a real push internally to keep tabs on up-and-coming talent. “We have two rehearsal studios in Germany and Poland. Both are ideal for small to mid-level bands and therefore we put efforts to visit various festivals in the summers such as Eurosonic Festival to meet artists and let them know of our services.”
Louise Smit finds herself in an interesting position taking on her father’s legacy and maintaining the DNA of the company while also aiming to develop the brand in line with the wider demands of needing to consider sustainable practices.
“We are now moving the company away from being centred around my father, but we see this as a positive move as having a company centred around one individual could be very risky and instead, we can rework our structure to secure the company’s future and ensure that his vision lives on. We find ourselves amid succession and the energy transition. At Pieter Smit Group, we think in solutions and no challenge is too big for us.”
Words: Stew Hume
