5th GENERATION
Berend Jan van ‘t Zand (1853)
Heering’s history goes back to 1865; a century when horse-drawn carriages, and carts and wheelbarrows were important to the economy. Cartwrights Van ’t Zand in Vaassen made these for the agricultural sector.
Gerrit Heering (1892)
Gerrit Heering, an employee of van ’t Zand, married Berend Jan van ‘t Zand’s daughter in 1919. Two years later they took over the Cartwright’s business and the workshop. Gerrit changed the name of the company to G. Heering Coachworks. The company was already building bodywork for busses and delivery vehicles.
Paul Heering (1926)
Gerrit Heering died in 1942. Gerrit’s wife Hendrika and sons, Bernhard and Paul, carried on the company as Wid. G. Heering & Son Coachworks. Together, they steered the company through those difficult years. In 1953, Paul Heering took on sole responsibility for the company under the name “Carrosserie Heering”. In those days, carriage work was still principled on the basis of trusses, whereby a frame of steel or aluminum profiles was covered by various types of sheet material or cloth.
Gerrit Heering (1949)
Paul’s son Gerrit joined the company in 1970. Seven years later, he became the sole shareholder. In the late 70s Heering started the development of transport equipment for day-old chicks. Heering was soon supplying hatcheries outside The Netherlands. First in Western-Europe, but eventually even in Africa and Russia. New activities were initiated. In 1983, Heering established a company specializing in the installation and service of transport climate systems, among others the installations for day-old chick transport.
Patrick Heering (1973)
Patrick, Gerrit’s son, joined the company in 2000. On January 1st, 2004, Patrick took control over the company, and focused completely on transport solutions for the poultry industry. This change was also marked by further international expansion and the development of new technologies. Nowadays, Heering is fully specialized in air-conditioned poultry transport and related services. Heering assists hatcheries all over the world to improve their transport operations.