Our history Bernard van Leer (1883–1958) built a worldwide business in steel drums between 1920 and 1940. An oldfashioned captain of industry, who had only a primary education and worked his way up, he was known as a bold man with an intuitive feel for business. One of his favourite sayings was ‘You mustn’t tell me it can’t be done’. Van Leer’s Vereenigde Fabrieken built its success on an order for drums from Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij, the company that would later become known as Shell, and a licensing agreement with the American Flange & Manufacturing Company to produce and sell the Tri-Sure drum closure outside North America. Bernard set up drum factories in Western Europe, Africa and the Caribbean, generally close to Shell refineries. Bernard spent much of the Second World War in the United States, and was impressed by meeting industrialists who had put their fortunes into foundations for various social or cultural aims. Under Dutch law, it was impossible to disinherit your wife and children, so in 1946 Bernard took up residence in a hotel in Lausanne, Switzerland. Taking advantage of provisions in Swiss law, his wife and his two sons signed legal documents waiving their rights to inherit.
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A good start for all children