Winning the Swedish Steel Prize 2010 has already affected the company in many ways, says John van Reenen, Managing Director of South African Van Reenen Steel Ltd.
“Above all it has meant a lot of prestige. Everyone we talk to state that this is a great achievement – like winning the Nobel Prize in steel engineering,” says John van Reenen.
There has been a lot of attention in the media and visits to the VR Steels website have nearly doubled.
“We have significantly more inquires from the market now. We can see a large increase for the VR truck body in the US and Australia. I am convinced that we will double our business in 2-3 years,” John continues.
How have you celebrated the prize?
“The way we do it in South Africa – with a large barbeque. All the staff were gathered when our representatives came back from Stockholm and our Technical Manager Bertus Haasbroek told us about his impressions from the prize giving ceremony.”