In the What'Sub series, we give the floor to our subcos. They talk about their partnership with Circet and zoom in on their growth process over the years. This time, we sit down with Rick Gerrits, co-owner of Techbase. Under Circet's wings, this start-up grew into, among other things, an all-round specialist in Fiber to the Home (FttH).
Rick: "Thijmen Hoeks and I started a company in 2020. We both have a mechanical engineering background and we dreamed of building machines for manufacturing companies. But then came Covid19 - and everything ground to a halt. We got in touch with HDB, who were already doing revision work for Circet at the time. And so we were introduced to Berry Diepstraten, Head of Operations Netherlands, who was looking for an engineering partner for FttH projects.
We sat around the table with Berry for half an hour, and it was love at first sight professionally. The only thing was, Thijmen and I had hardly any experience with fibre projects. We had only made house connections - during a holiday job - 18 years ago. But because of our technical background, we assumed we would quickly master the work. Circet gave us that opportunity.
Later in 2021, we and our other associates decided to operate under the Techbase name to take on HDB's revision projects for Circet as well."
How did you gain all the knowledge?
Rick: "Due to the Covid19 crisis, we couldn't do on-site training, so we started with a handbook. Because we were ‘outsiders’, we regularly spotted things that we felt could be more efficient. Circet was always open to our feedback and input. That way, we learnt the tricks off the trade, put together a great handbook and created an efficient way of designing fibre-optic networks."
What characterizes the collaboration with Circet?
Rick: "Even though Circet is a big organisation, Berry just walks in here, like any other employee. He is always first to catch up on everything. After that come the serious conversations, ha-ha! The cooperation is very informal and based on trust. We know what we get from Circet, and vice versa. That's very nice."
"We know what we get from Circet, and vice versa. That's very nice."
How have you grown as a subco?
Rick: "At the start, we only carried out engineering work. Drawing sections, clustering areas, linking houses, drawing up plans ... Always under the supervision of a lead engineer from Circet. Because we quickly mastered everything, the question came up whether we were interested in monitoring other projects and becoming lead engineers ourselves. Of course we were!
We gradually scaled up and more and more projects came our way. We started with one construction stream in Den Bosch, now there are seven. We also conduct projects from A to Z (engineering to revision - as-built) and handle the management package. That means connecting homes (digitally) in areas where a project has already been completed.
We now have 14 employees. Thanks to Circet, we are where we are today: this collaboration has really been our kickstart."
The partnership in figures (2023)
You make it all sound very uncomplicated. Is it, though?
Rick: "It is, actually. Berry calls us when there is work to be done or a problem to be solved. There are times when we do not have the right experience, but that is not a problem: Circet teaches us on the job. We get that opportunity because we are always “on”, we discuss with them, we want to help, we run faster than the rest. And if a mistake is made - something that very rarely happens - Circet calls us, and we put it right. It is as simple as that."
"The collaboration with Circet has been our kickstart"
How do you see the future?
Rick: "I am sure we will take up more projects - including for other departments. And that we will become even better together that way. We are very grateful to Circet for that: it is great that they have given us the opportunity to learn and grow under their wings."
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