Dennis Verachtert

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

“My name is Dennis Verachtert, I’m married and the father of a beautiful daughter. I live in Helmond. I’m a bit of a workaholic – I work a lot and love to work. And I give one hundred per cent in everything I do. Outside of work, I’m always busy, too. Doing nice things with my wife or with friends – we have a great social life. In that respect, I feel very wealthy.”

“My roots are in carpentry. I started doing that around the age of 20 because I liked building houses. From there, I kept developing myself further and further. From carpenter to site manager, and from site manager to Project Manager.”

How did you end up working at Bulsink? And why did you choose Bulsink at the time?

“Bulsink had hired me previously as a carpenter through a secondment agency. I already liked the company back then. And the construction company that I worked for before that also sometimes did some work for Bulsink. During the financial crisis in 2009, that company went bankrupt and I was able to start working here. As a carpenter who wanted more.”

“At one point, I started specialising in retail. In the beginning, it didn’t appeal to me that much, but now I wouldn’t want to do anything else but retail and hospitality. Why is that? The variety. Building a house takes a year, whereas in retail you have a new project every six weeks. A fast pace, variety, always keeping the pressure up. That appeals to me. No two days are ever the same, and you won’t get anywhere by just twiddling your thumbs.”

“Working hard pays off, I am convinced of that. By showing passion and drive, you can grow. I expressed my ambitions here from the very beginning, and in 2017 I was able to become Project Manager. First in retail and now mainly for large projects in hospitality. Hotels like the ED, Jan Luyken and the American in Amsterdam and Hotel VIC in Leiden. Now I’m working on the GR8 Hotel in Breda.”

What do you do as Project Manager?

“As Project Manager, I’m responsible for every aspect of a project. The financial side, planning, quality, managing people and communicating with clients and subcontractors. Building a hotel is like a train that has to continue moving. You are busy all day long trying to keep that train running. Because you have to get to the end station on time – even though that can sometimes only be achieved by taking detours. I’m constantly changing switches, as it were. I spend all day working on the planning, because it is sacred to us. It’s in our DNA. If we say a building will be delivered on 1 October, it is going to happen. I have been working here for 12 and a half years now and cannot remember a single project ever being delivered late.”

“What I enjoy most about my job is the freedom, responsibility and variety. I am given a lot of freedom here to tackle projects in my own way. I took to it like a duck takes to water. And I get a kick out of building something from scratch. I’m proud of what we create.”

“In hospitality, projects often get started shortly after being assigned. That means you have to work out a lot while the project is in progress in order to be ready on time.”

Bulsink uses B.U.I.L.D. as its core values: Brand-conscious, Ultra-fast, Inspiring, Leading and Determined. Or in other words: brand-conscious, ultra-fast, inspiring, leading and determined. Can you pick out one or two core values and explain what they mean to you?

“I could imagine all five. But if I have to choose two, I would say ‘determined’ and ‘ultra-fast’. They go hand in hand. Working ultra-fast has become my speciality over the past several years. In hospitality, projects often get started shortly after being assigned. That means you have to work out a lot while the project is in progress in order to be ready on time. And that in turn calls for determination.”