History

Weststellingwerf is a Dutch investment company with a long history in shipping, real estate and the travel industry.

Weststellingwerf's history goes back to 1857 when the German shipping entrepreneur Friedrich Anton Voigt established a company in Rotterdam called F.A. Voigt & Co. In 1964 Wieger de Ruiter took over the company completely when it was on the verge of going bankrupt.

The highly entrepreneurial Wieger de Ruiter breathed new life into the company and very soon started one business after another all of which had a common characteristic: transport. This resulted in a motley collection of businesses which were for instance active as forwarders, shipbrokers, stevedores, shipowners, liner operators, charterers, tour operators and software builders. In addition, the participations were active in the tyre trade, storage and transhipment of goods and containers, inland tanker shipping and real estate. These companies were established in the Netherlands, Belgium, the United States, the United Kingdom, Burma and Curacao.

When Wieger de Ruiter retired in 1996 his legacy was a dynamic and profitable business. Joost de Ruiter took over 100% of the shares of the company and continued enterprising. Quite soon afterwards companies were reorganised, sold, closed down and new companies were established and taken over.

This resulted in a holding company with 4 divisions: Shipping, Travel, Container Depots and Real Estate. In 2002 the largest division of the group (approx. 200 FTE) was sold. After this the step was taken to change Weststellingwerf into an investment company.