Image Builders
Established in 1986, Imagebuilders is an international interior architecture company. Today, they have a team of more than 70 dedicated professionals at the head office in Apeldoorn and 8 Chinese employees at their office in Shanghai. At Imagebuilders, they believe that their people make the difference. Building strong customer relationships is the key to success; their service level is what makes them unique.
Owner and founder Albert Abbink originally started out using his creativity and entrepreneurial spirit to supply glass fireplaces; glass and fire was a unique and striking combination at the time. One of his customers was the owner of a clothing store chain. When Albert was asked to provide all his stores with a new interior, he moved on into the retail business. His style did not go unnoticed; many other brands soon followed. Today, IB is strongly represented in the international retail market. Many of their customers are large international fashion brands. Imagebuilders is also well-represented in other sectors such as the healthcare, hotel and catering, residential, office and educational sectors. From 5-star hotels to luxury villa interiors and from modernising elderly care homes to developing new restaurant concepts, Imagebuilders is a reliable partner for project developers, government agencies, architects and individuals. A relatively new market is adaptive reuse architecture, where commercial properties are transformed into offices, flexible workspaces and homes.
Imagebuilders sells their products worldwide. Nonetheless, 95% goes to international subsidiaries of companies who have their head office in the Netherlands.
The production takes place in Apeldoorn and abroad, namely in Eastern Europe, Turkey, the Baltic States and China. They have a joint venture in China, allowing them to deliver excellent quality with fast delivery. This partnership also keeps the stock risks low. Supply routes to Europe have become faster with the new Silk Road rail connection.
Still, their main distinguishing factor is their strong focus on sustainability, according to manager Sanne Vincenten. Imagebuilders has their own CO2 calculator and many raw material analyses, and they are currently working on building a sustainable materials library. The most commonly used basic raw materials are wood and steel, but there are also plenty of alternatives. These are extensively described in the materials library, so customers can see their benefits. This includes material inventories, samples and an extensive database. All this will also be incorporated into the new website which will be launched this year.
Export: worldwide, but mainly businesses with their head office in the Netherlands.
