And yet it does move

The end of last year was hectic for Cor de Groot, a Dutchman living in Romania since 1995. Hectic because the last quarter of a year is usually the busiest for the relocation of companies from old to new offices, as well as because autumn is regarded as the best period for transactions with new homes, which, of course, entails moving. Even so, the Dutch businessman believes that this market “is really down. The economy is a disaster and there are hundreds of companies that went bankrupt. I would be happy if we made two million euros.”

Global Relocation, founded by Cor de Groot almost fifteen years ago, posted 1.8 million euros in turnover from moving furniture in 2009 – down almost 20% compared with 2008. The situation was partly offset by the business of storage and archival of corporate documents, which remained at the same level, with the Global group making slightly more than one million euros from such services.
Archival services were complementary to relocation services at first. Cor de Groot recalls the “inadequate space” where some companies he was moving kept their documents.

In 2007, together with a Dutch partner he invested one million euros in the acquisition of a plot of land near Bucharest, where a storage facility is to be built. “I took partners to be able to grow faster. Bank loans are no solution in Romania,” Groot believes, who now owns one third of Global Group, after having attracted a new partner in 2008, specialising in software applications required by a relocation company.

Global Relocation was started in 1996, and the first important contract in Romania came in 1997 when ING moved to a new place in Bucharest. Cor de Groot recalls that almost all the contracts back then were signed with expats returning to the country and with embassies and consulates. Furniture, personal items, tableware or home appliances – those were the goods transported. “Clients back then used to move their things in plastic bags; it took a while to convince them boxes were better. Computers were moved with cars – how can one put a PC in the trunk of car?” the manager recalls.
Meanwhile, the business has developed in sync with the real estate market and the economy in general, with thousands of companies that could afford to expand their business and move to new offices.