Stahl Europe celebrate 50th anniversary

Fifty years ago, on April 18, 1955, Wil Levenbach and Frans Bernards announced the formation of Stahl Chemische Industrieën nv in Waalwijk, Holland. This was the firm that was eventually to grow into Stahl Europe bv, an important part of the Stahl Group. The 'Stahl' brand-name has achieved an excellent reputation worldwide for quality and innovation. Over these years the leather product range has been expanded to include a complete range of wet-end products, dyestuffs and finishes. Other products now produced by Stahl Europe include a wide range of Permuthane coatings for flexible substrates. The half-century long presence of Stahl in Europe has been characterised by continual new investments in plant and buildings. The facility in Holland has grown from a factory of approximately 1,000 m2 and a staff of ten to a multimillion euro worldwide enterprise. In Waalwijk, Stahl employ around 300 staff at the prestigious 55,000 m2 site on which new and modern production, research and development, and application facilities have been built around the original factory, laboratory and office building that is still in use today. Elsewhere there is now a major manufacturing unit in Spain and important application laboratories and distribution centres in France, Italy and Türkiye. Today Stahl Europe is run by executive vice president, Michael Vaskovich. The Waalwijk site also houses the headquarters of the worldwide group, Stahl Holdings bv, headed by chief executive officer Frank Policky. Of this important event in the company's history, Michael Vaskovich says: 'At this special occasion we look back at Stahl's past. We are proud of the identity we have built over the past fifty years and are very grateful to our staff and our customers and suppliers who have made it all possible. We confidently and optimistically look forward to the exciting things that are going to happen in the future.' The fiftieth anniversary was marked by a celebration for staff and their families and local suppliers and customers who enjoyed an evening together.