Presentation

The story behind Linum Europe More than just interesting to know and to experience ...

Linum Europe is originally a Belgian company, which Fred Vanderbeke started as a one-man business in September 1983. Fred and his son Jan Vanderbeke worked together with 85 employees. On average, our colleagues have 9.6 years of service. This shows that a Linum employee feels at home and is loyal to Linum. The driving force constantly motivating each and every employee consists of 5 pointers: customer-friendly mentality & action; collaboration; sense for responsibility; the provision of tailored professionalism and quality. All our Partners (customers, suppliers, etc.) experience the results and benefits of this on a daily basis.

Fred Vanderbeke    Jan Vanderbeke

Testimonials by 93% of our more than 6,800 active customers taken from our many collaboration projects:

• ‘You can rest assured about anything that the employees at Linum promise (e.g. delivery deadline, additional documentation, etc.). They always keep their promises!’

• ‘Linum joins us in thinking of solutions and therefore never hesitates to provide us with spontaneous advice, which means that, in turn, we’re also able to satisfy our customers. This really and truly is a win-win relationship!’

• ‘There are enough brands and products to meet all our specific requirements and to accommodate our customers’ wishes! What’s more, we find everything we want at Linum. One-Stop Shopping What time savings and convenience!’

• ‘Linum Europe helps us to be of service to our customers in the most profitable way possible. That’s partnership at its best!

• ‘It’s so convenient to also be able to order all types of Linum products through the webshop. Great convenience and really valuable time savings!’

• ‘It’s very easy and quick to contact Linum Europe (by phone, email, webshop, our contact at the company, etc.). This means that all our requests and any questions that we might have are dealt with in detail and resolved within 24 hours!’

• ‘Linum Europe is a living advertisement of what logistics efficiency means in practice! Thanks to matters such as a dispatch centre of 10,000 m² in which over 8,000 references are permanently kept in stock, the use of a wireless bar code scanning system, collaboration with external distribution and transport companies, we, as partner customers, enjoy the benefit of having our orders delivered perfectly and correctly. The Linum logistics motto? ‘Same-day dispatch’: we order a product that is in stock at 29 minutes past midday at the latest and Linum Europe dispatches our order the same day ...!’

Do you also want to enjoy all these benefits to the full? Then contact Linum Europe by phone at +32 (0)56 35 92 94 or send an email to marketing@linum.eu and a Linum employee will return your call or answer your email within 24 hours!

LINUM EUROPE

• Since 1983

• 20,000 item references

• +8,000 references in stock

• 85 full-time employees

• Employees’ average years of service: 9.6 years

• 5 branches in Europe

What does Linum mean and where does it come from?

Linum is the Latin name for flax and neatly nestles Fred’s roots in the local Kuurne flax industry. He worked in any possible holiday job in this company until he was 18.

Kuurne in West Flanders was one of the municipalities where numerous families operated in the flax industry in the previous century. The flax industry, which used to be spread over the entire Flanders, was settled particularly along the edges of the Leie, also referred to as the Golden River because one could (and was allowed to) ret flax in streaming water. This working method gave flax fibres their exceptional quality.

Fred’s grandfather, Georges, was one of those Kuurne flax farmers who put his heart and soul into his craft as flax farmer. It is a beautiful but especially a very intensive and hard craft that required great professional knowledge, cooperation and patience. The Vanderbeke family had a fully equipped retting factory which has in the meantime made way for the well-known Hippodrome of Kuurne.

Linum, initially a trade name
When he started up his own company in 1983, Fred had to think of a trade name to be remembered for the accessories for cooling and freezing installations and for the shelving that he introduced on the market, in addition to a company name (which initially continued as Fred Vanderbeke).
Based on the family’s past and with due respect for the industrious hard work of his parents and grandparents, the word ‘LINUM’ was the obvious choice. To Fred, this is not only a literal translation of ‘flax’ but at the same time also a name that is synonymous for quality, excellence and professional knowledge.

Linum (Europe), subsequently also as company name
The Vanderbeke company name continued to be used also after Fred Vanderbeke founded a branch in Ridderkerk in The Netherlands. After all, purely in the language sense, this doesn’t present any problem at all for the Dutch market.
It was only in 1998, when the sales office was started up in France, that the ‘Vanderbeke’ company name finally made way for an internationally sounding name, and ‘Linum Europe’ made its début.
This company name has no language borders and meant that establishments could also be founded under the Linum name in other European countries, such as branches in Germany (2007) and Switzerland (2017).

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