Verder Group

Founded in 1959 in Vleuten in the Netherlands as a family business, the Verder Group has seen continuous growth and now spans 28 countries globally. Within the group, Verder Liquids, with headquarters still in Vleuten, is its fluid handling specialist, servicing a number of highly demanding markets with the most stringent technical requirements. Richard Hagan met with Verder UK Managing Director Lee White to discover how the company continues evolving its specialised product portfolio.

Since its establishment over 60 years ago, the Verder Group has enjoyed continuous and substantial growth over the decades. Growth has come through both organic means and acquisitions. Today, the Verder Group consists of two arms: Verder Liquids and Verder Scientific.

Verder Liquids, which remains in the Verder family’s control, employs around 2,000 people globally. Production for Verder Liquids is held across six manufacturing sites, including Germany, the UK, Belgium, Poland, Italy and South Korea. Its products have representation in 28 countries, with

VERDER LIQUIDS I PROFILE

many orders flowing through the group’s central European logistics hub in Groningen, also in the Netherlands.

High-quality products

Verder Liquids is a specialist engineering firm manufacturing a comprehensive range of pumps, mixers and related equipment for fluid handling. The company’s products are specifically designed and engineered for applications in the most demanding industries, including pharmaceuticals, food and beverages and water treatment, amongst others.

Servicing these high-stakes sectors is no small feat, as Managing Director Lee White pointed out: “We’re known in the industry as a high-quality manufacturer. When benchmarked against the competition, we use only the highest-quality materials, seals, O-rings and fixings with the best integrity. Consequently, our products are able to deliver years of use.”

Cleaning up the competition

Lee highlighted the company’s relationship with its customer, Centrego, as a particularly good example of Verder Liquids’ product application environments. Centrego, based in the UK, manufactures high-tech devices that generate disinfectants and cleaning solutions from salt and water by a process of electrolysis.

“Centrego uses our pumps inside their machines,” he explained. “The solution the machines create is stronger than bleach at certain concentrations. It’s a disinfectant that can be used to clean any surface, reducing the need for disposable cleaning products and wipes. Through our relationship with Centrego, we’re reducing single-use products, which ultimately makes for a greener environment; but it’s also a great demonstration of the robustness of our own products.”

In 2022, thanks to relationships such as that with Centrego, The Verder Group

reported annual sales of €450 million. “That’s a lot of pumps!” said Lee. “We’ve experienced tremendous growth in both the hygienic pumps sector and in our industrial peristaltic and diaphragm pumps – we’re becoming market leaders in both sectors, and it’s because we’re very good at producing products for those industries.”

In recognition of the company’s hard work, Verder Liquids won a number of prestigious awards in 2022, the most notable of which was the International Business Award for Manufacturing Company of the Year. This award was won against stiff competition from the best global manufacturing companies across many industries.

High-tech connections

Not content with already producing some of the best fluid-handling machinery on the market, Verder Liquids has begun developing a new internet-connected range of products. The new Verderflex peristaltic metering and dosing pumps have been developed by Verder’s Castleford-based research and development team.

One model – the Verderflex Ds500 – is already available. Designed as a revolutionary product for specific pumping applications, it features cloud-based remote monitoring and control facilities. The Ds500’s high accuracy delivers cost savings for the user, both in terms of chemical usage and reduced maintenance and servicing.

The internet connectivity featured on the Ds500 addresses an emerging trend, according to Lee: “At the high end of the market, the more demanding customers are looking for digital and Internet of Things functionality.

“A great example of this is one of our customers which is a paint company. They have 60 to 80 diaphragm pumps running that would normally have to be manually inspected. Internet connectivity allows them to monitor the pumps remotely and, therefore, far more efficiently.”

Thanks to substantial investments in new product development, Verder Liquids looks forward to further product launches of similarly high-tech pumps. “We’re heavily invested in research and development; 25

per cent of our team in the UK is in R&D,” said Lee. “This represents a big investment for us, but we’re increasingly moving into the Internet of Things, controllability and energy efficiency, and these investments ensure that we remain at the forefront of the market.”

The pillars of the earth

In line with the Verder group’s policies, Verder Liquids is emphatic about protecting the environment. The company’s annual budget makes ongoing provision for various environmental programmes, according to Lee: “Our environmental policy is one of the pillars of our company. One of our investments in this regard has been installing solar panels on all of our facilities – some of

which are huge factories – so it’s been a big investment. We’re also looking at planting trees for every employee we hire, which is currently a high rate of about 20 per cent employee growth annually.

“Another environmental programme that we’re very excited about is a move to do as much as we can remotely and digitally,” he continued. “Lockdown taught us that we can realistically reduce our travel, so now we think carefully about our travel plans on an ongoing basis.

“For example, we now meet in person quarterly rather than monthly. All of our logistics, planning and travel are given detailed attention to find the least impactful options. It’s become part of our DNA now, to the extent that we train

our people on this aspect of our culture every year.”

Verder Liquids’ increasing budgetary commitment to the environment is being driven by the company’s management and is a reflection of the company’s ethics and priorities, Lee explained: “As a Europeanat-heart company, it’s all part of our desire to be more environmentally mindful.”

In addition to its own internal measures, Verder Liquids has also paid special attention to its supply chain to ensure that its suppliers have sustainability practices and programmes in place.

In closing, Lee White spoke of his enthusiasm for the specialist teams at Verder Liquids: “We have a fantastic multicultural team full of the right people, with a good mix of age and experience. We tackle new challenges together; it’s a really great team. It makes me excited about coming to work each day.” n