Bright Real Estate

Marco de Winter is assistant director of Helder Vastgoed Alkmaar and Helder Vastgoed Onderhoud BV. He explains: “Helder Vastgoed Onderhoud BV is a multidisciplinary real estate maintenance company. This actually means that you can find everything you need for the daily maintenance process in our professionals. We have a range of professionals in the form of plumbers, masons, plasterers, tilers, all-round carpenters, asbestos removers, electricians and central heating engineers. This makes us agile and efficient as a maintenance company, which is reflected in the high score on customer satisfaction. Our people make the difference.”

Helder Vastgoed Onderhoud BV is therefore the branch of Helder Vastgoed BV that deals with the repair requests of their more than 10,000 tenants and their maintenance subscriptions. “That's why we visit all tenants every two years to carry out preventive activities. And because we have all the disciplines in-house, both architectural and installation technical, residents only have to be home once for all the necessary activities. Many housing associations work with many different contract partners. Then, as a resident, you have to stay home up to four or five times to receive all professionals once.” Helder Vastgoed Onderhoud BV also carries out larger renovation projects such as bathrooms and kitchens and mutational maintenance of homes that have become vacant. “Then a team of people gets to work to ensure that the house is completely up to date before the next occupant enters.”

Local and flexible

So they have all kinds of people at home. Nevertheless, Helder Vastgoed Onderhoud BV also works with C&M Labor Supply. “In our field, you always need a flexible shell. In particular, the amount of planned maintenance in the form of projects depends heavily on the client's wishes and plans for that year. We have fully equipped our critical mass of professionals to the primary processes, i.e. daily maintenance, including mutation. We know exactly what we need per year and, based on that, we employ permanent employees. But for everything that comes with it, we need extra hands, and we lend them to C&M, among others.” He is very satisfied with that. “We've been working together for a long time, at least fifteen years. They are located locally. This is nice when it comes to contacts, but also because of the physical presence in the city. When we work with them, we also take social responsibility to hire local workers. In addition, it is an organization that always complies with regulations, is very flexible and can therefore provide customized solutions. They can switch incredibly well.”

So words of praise. Can Helder Vastgoed Onderhoud BV trust that C&M always has the right people for them? “It's just a very neat secondment agency and we like to do business with it,” says Marco. “The labor market is just tight. If I need a carpenter tomorrow, it's probably not going to work. But they are certainly well represented on the mechanical and electrical side. And it also happens that we find people for short-term projects ourselves. We then link them to C&M first. They see if they are suitable and hire them on a secondment basis so that they can rent them out to us and others.”

Efficient and organized

Marco already mentioned why he likes to work with C&M. The pleasant contacts were an important reason. “Over the years, we have built a good relationship with our contacts. The lines are short. You don't have to look for someone within the organization to help you, but you know who to fall back on. In turn, they know what we need for each sport. It's just well organized.” There is a high degree of unburdening and a high level of reliability. For us, it's a logical step to call C&M when necessary.” The latter is crucial. “When necessary, yes. C&M isn't chasing us asking if we want to hire people from them. I don't have time for companies that acquire. That is so annoying. You just want to use your time efficiently. One party that allows you to switch quickly when the time comes.”

Marco would therefore definitely recommend C&M to other companies. “I think it says enough that we, people who come in through us, often first sign up to C&M, because then we know for sure that everything is well organized and they immediately have a new strength to continue renting out. I can hardly give a better reference.”