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The maritime service company VMS Group A/S in Frederikshavn acquires new domicile and thus ensures a much-needed expansion of both workshop facilities and administration. The purchase of the new premises also marks the company’s anchoring in their hometown..

Only two months after the Danish maritime service company VMS Group A/S published their best fiscal year ever, the Danish company continues its ambitious growth strategy with the conditional acquisition of Roblon’s former domicile at Nordhavnsvej 1 in Frederikshavn.

After thorough research for suitable facilities, the striking building from 2003 was chosen as the new premises in Denmark.

With the purchase, VMS Group adds another 2,900 sqm to the existing workshop facilities at Havnepladsen 14, where the company performs repair and maintenance of diesel engines, gears, propellers and turbochargers for marine engines.

Local anchoring

One of the reasons that this move is important for us is the need for more space and a boost of our facilities.

Moreover, it is also an important underlining of the fact that we belong in Frederikshavn, where the company was founded by Morten Vestergaard in 2001.

At a time when several Danish companies are moving their production abroad, we are proud to strengthen our local anchoring in Frederikshavn from where we pursue an ambitious global growth strategy and expect to open additional branches abroad within the next few years, says CEO Kim Bengtsen.

We are already present in both Brazil and Namibia, and with the latest excellent annual accounts, which showed a profit of almost DKK 20 million, we are well positioned for further investment and development of our business, both locally and globally.

A significant lift

– I am incredibly pleased that we have secured our future expansion possibilities in Frederikshavn with this relocation, which is also an important step in our ambition to create a workplace where our employees can realize an efficient, balanced workstyle while servicing our customers worldwide, says Kim Bengtsen.

With a signed conditional purchase agreement on the new property, the takeover date has been agreed to 31 October, and Kim Bengtsen expects the move to be completed by the end of 2023.

– The purchase is subject to an environmental approval similar to the one that covers our workshop facilities at Havnepladsen, but since we have already received advance notice, we expect it to proceed without problems, says Kim Bengtsen.

Four locations in Frederikshavn

With 2,100 square metres of office space at Nordhavnsvej, the entire administration team is moving to the new building. Also specific sections of the marine workshop will move from Havnepladsen.

– Primarily repair and service of smaller units will be relocated to Nordhavnsvej, while the activities dealing with larger units will remain at Havnepladsen due to matching crane capacity and larger size of the gate openings. There may also be some transport considerations that make it more appropriate to carry out some of the work at Havnepladsen, explains Kim Bengtsen.

With the takeover of the domicile at Nordhavnsvej 1, VMS Group will be present at four locations in Frederikshavn. In addition to the workshop at Havnepladsen, VMS has 1,500 sqm warehouse and office facilities at Nordhavnsvej 10 and 750 sqm test facilities for testing of large engine units and generator systems at Sandholm.

Facts about VMS Group:

• VMS Group A/S covers a wide spectrum of competences, sales and services within the maritime world and the offshore industry.
• The company is headquartered in Frederikshavn and has subsidiaries in Brazil and Namibia. The company employs approx. 200 employees in Frederikshavn.
• With the international departments, VMS Group employs more than 300 employees.
• With the takeover of the new domicile at Nordhavnsvej 1, VMS in Frederikshavn has a total of 6,500 square metres of workshop facilities.
• Among VMS Group’s core services are:
• Repair and maintenance of gears, propellers and diesel engines.
• Repair, maintenance and balancing of turbochargers for marine engines.
• Sales of spare parts as well as new engines and gears.
• Design and project management.