Leasing company with understanding

Starting a business, greening a car or machinery fleet, building a war chest or simply wanting to have working capital available: these are all motives for not putting all the money into hardware. Then leasing is a great way to get started. Beequip, located on the Willemskade in Rotterdam, started almost six years ago with the lease of new and used equipment and has put its own spin on it. With great success: the 2020 Gazelle Award winner has grown from three employees (the founders) to 100 people. "Knowledge of equipment is an important criterion," he says.

'Equipment first' is the adage with which Giel Claes, Peter Loef and Joris Linders in 2015 Beequip started. Claes: "The three of us were convinced that there was a need, especially in the SME sector, for a leasing company that did not look at the need from the banking, numerical approach, but more from expertise and knowledge of equipment. As founders, we have a background in containers, earth moving, aerial work platforms and finance. The people we have hired since then, and continue to hire, also come primarily from the equipment world."

Iron over figures

This does not mean that the party who is at Beequip knock on the door always a machine can lease. Claes: "The customer's figures have to be correct, of course, but you can interpret them more broadly. Normally a leasing company mainly looks at the profit and loss account and balance sheet. We look mainly at the cash flow generated by the machine, what it is used for and what its value is now and in the future. Iron over numbers, in other words. On that basis, we look for the customized solution that adds the most value for the customer. We work according to three core elements: simple, fast and flexible. The process is set up in such a way that the customer can start using new or used equipment within 72 hours. We derive our own financial solidity from a strategic partnership with NIBC."

Sectors

Beequip operates in many different fields and a wide range of sectors. "Construction, earthmoving, road transport, infrastructure and maritime are the main segments," Claes clarifies. "Despite corona, PFAS and the nitrogen issue, construction is running well. Especially the outlook for residential construction is good. For used equipment, we can offer strong solutions with our expertise. Machinery factories have been closed for a while and, as a result, output has slumped somewhat. This means long delivery times for new equipment and high demand for young used equipment. Our many good contacts in the market come in handy then."    

Three lease forms
Beequip has three different lease types. At sale & lease back the customer sells equipment to Beequip for its current market value and then leases it back. In operational leasing, Beequip buys the machine from the supplier, which the customer then leases from Beequip. Finally, with financial leasing, Beequip is the legal owner but the customer remains the economic owner (the machine is on the customer's balance sheet). In all cases, the leasing party does not have to make the large initial investment and this money can be used directly for the business.