Van der FLIER has been in the family for three generations, but its history goes back even further. In 1763 the Edens mill was built. It is not only the oldest mill in Winschoten, but also the oldest in the province of Groningen. This is where Maas-Jan van der Flier, the grandfather of Mark and Kor, was employed as a salesman on 1st September 1947. He sold a variety of baking equipment and procured grain from farmers. For many years he worked for the miller A.T. Edens. When Mr Edens passed away in 1952, his wife decided to sell the mill to Maas-Jan and her brother-in-law Mr Lemminga. During the last few years, the company was focused mainly on contract work.
In 1969 the company moved to Beerta, and in 1982 Diek van der Flier, the father of Mark and Kor, took over from his father and Mr Lemminga. He continued the agricultural contract work with great passion. Potatoes were planted and harvested, straw was pressed and crops were sprayed.
It was during the 1990s that Mark van der Flier began working at the company. Mark indicated that contract work wasn't for him and that he preferred doing earth-moving work. In the late 1990s, the company acquired a mobile excavator and that's how it all began.
During this period Kor van der Flier had been working on a dredge boat and was travelling through Australia. In 2001 Kor jumped in because Mark needed an extra operator. Kor explains: "It wasn't my intention to keep this up, but things went well and I actually quite enjoyed it." At this time Mark was in charge and Kor worked at the company. Everything was discussed and decisions were made together. In 2005 the decision was made to take over the company together.
The time came in 2008.. Kor and Mark took over the company and returned to Winschoten in 2011. Since that time the van der FLIER Group has grown enormously and the machine fleet has extended to include weed harvesters, suctions excavators and a sand pumping machine. It's wonderful to see how such a long-established family business has grown while maintaining a family environment.
