Interview with Arjen Koole - director General Trade Association for Building Hardware (VHS)

Fortunately, the industry - from an economic perspective - is doing well. Despite the corona crisis. Or perhaps better said: thanks to the corona crisis. Because investments on, around and in the home rose unprecedentedly last year (2020) because just about everyone in the Netherlands was structurally stuck at home ("Working from home is the norm"). And the eye wants something there too. Fortunately, construction was and is still going on. So basically a breeze for the General Trade Association for Building Hardware (VHS) in the lobby? Little to complain about? We put some questions to Arjen Koole, director of the VHS.

1. In what ways has the topic of burglar resistance received more attention in the past year?

"After one year of corona, we conclude that consumers have made a lot of investments in their homes. The effect is clearly visible. For example, there was suddenly a serious focus on the security of windows and doors but another effect emerged: the home-sitting consumers also saw the 'compulsory home-sitting' as an opportunity to upgrade the inside of their homes as well. A trend toward more expensive and exclusive products emerged."

2. Yet it is striking that it was precisely a corona crisis that prompted consuming Holland to pay attention to its own burglar resistance and security

"Yes, that's right. Consumers tend to be hard to convince in 'normal times' but when times are 'very special,' like now, then people are apparently suddenly more receptive to this kind of issue. Of course it is true that the number of burglaries nationwide has fallen sharply - precisely because everyone is at home - but if we ever get back to somewhat 'normal times', then I can hope that attention to one's own security does not slacken ánd that consumers do continue to invest in these kinds of issues." 

3. So is there already a strategy - in terms of promoting that housing safety - for after the corona crisis?         

"Well, we unconditionally continue to lobby the government that the government must continue to pay attention to this. After all, I fear a 'boost of burglaries' when times are back to normal. We must not slack off. But the government is sometimes opportunistic: if the number of burglaries goes down, suddenly there is less attention for this in policy and communication. But if at the same time you say "To govern is to foresee," then it is important to keep this issue on the agenda. So that is exactly what we - as VHS - continue to fight for."

4. What is your message to - for example - architects?

"Actually, there are many opportunities for architects to add value in the designs (of homes). Building hardware was not always seen as the most important item but at the end of the day we can insist that they can also tell the market the technical benefits of advanced and well-engineered hardware. Just thinking about all the electronic possibilities, which offer more flexibility than traditional mechanical closures, I'm sure architects can do something with that in their own designs." 

"About the power of innovation in our industry we fortunately don't have to complain. Even compared to the countries around us, we are doing very well in the Netherlands. We are leaders in many areas. This also applies to circular construction. The reuse of materials is unfortunately not yet fully embedded in our industry, but it has gained structural attention. That is exactly where I see a task for us to push this further up the chain. So the prospects for our industry are good. But yes ... it remains somewhat 'wry' that we needed a corona crisis for that to make the message even more urgent."