F E AT U RE invested in quality and resources over quantity, which is resulting in smaller organisations winning market share. FF: Where do you see the biggest opportunities for growth? DP: We see that the number of real traditional international moving companies are decreasing and corporate clients are looking for quality services for their employees who are moving internationally. RMCs need quality moving companies to help them with their customers. Atlas is helping their clients with own-packing crews, trucks and personal move coordinators. We are confident this will help to bring the overall service quality to a higher level. FF: How would you describe your companys business ethos? DP: Atlas International Movers is always focused on quality, 100 per cent customer satisfaction and the wellbeing of our employees. Dees Peters, CEO Atlas International Movers, Arend Reijm, General Manager Atlas International Movers and Jesse van Sas, FIDI General Manager MAPPING OUT THE FUTURE Overseas investment and ongoing evolution of the moving business in The Netherlands has created opportunities for smaller providers able to offer more flexible high-quality services according to the varied requirements of clients. FIDI Focus speaks to Dees Peters, CEO of new Affiliate Atlas International Movers DEES PETERS, CEO OF ATLAS INTERNATIONAL MOVERS FF: What are the characteristics of your local market? DP: The Dutch market has become even more attractive for foreign investment. We see new multinationals opening up in The Netherlands every month and smaller international companies from Asia, US and EMEA opening subsidiaries around the country while Dutch companies are also sending their talent abroad. A major move from the UK to The Netherlands in anticipation of Brexit was the European Medicines Agency, which moved approximately 900 employees. This put some pressure on the housing market in Amsterdam and challenged international schools to create enough space. From a policy perspective, we see more and more corporates offering lump-sum allowances. The number of moves is increasing, while shipment sizes are reducing. FF: How has your countrys moving industry evolved over the past 10 years? DP: The dominant international market players have been challenged by smaller private companies who have 78 FF294 DecJan20 pp78-79 New Affiliate Atlas.indd 78 FF: What are your main strengths as an organisation? DP: Atlas has experienced staff with more than 15 years in the moving industry. We provide excellent customer service, are transparent and flexible, and are privately owned and independent. We focus on international moving services only, delivering what we stand for and what we agree with our clients. We take full responsibility and accountability for what we do. FF: Why did you decide to join FIDI? DP: I believe that doing a good job and trying to be the best in what you do is the foundation for your organisation and business. I am sure that we were already doing a good job, but the FAIMPLUS audit helped us to do even better on different levels. As most of our staff worked for FIDI-affiliated moving companies, have a FIDI certification and are used to working according to the FIDI standard, it was a simple decision for us to apply to join. We also strongly believe that working with FIDI-affiliated partners will be a benefit to our clients and deliver reciprocity to the business. FF: How did you find the FAIM process? DP: Very interesting but time-consuming. FIDI was there to help and was very responsive during the complete process. It also challenged us to think differently to fine tune parts of our business and service delivery for which we are thankful. FF: Are you looking forward to playing an active role in the FIDI Association? DP: We will definitely attend FIDI conferences but I do not know yet if I have the ambition to play an active role maybe in the future. FF: What are the future challenges for your business? DP: To be able to provide high-quality services we need to find the right talent to join Atlas International Movers, which in todays market is our main challenge. We hope that our FIDI accreditation will help to attract the talent we need to support our business for the future to be able to deliver what we believe in and stand for. WWW. F I D I . OR G 20/11/2019 13:37