Bayards ensures a safe landing

Owned by the same families for about 30 years, the company is a leader in complex aluminum structures. These include projects for the offshore market, civil infrastructure, yacht building, defense, and so-called urban air mobility. The Bayards Helidecks division operates worldwide, with projects from Canada to Malaysia. The company has a focus on one hand on (onshore) helipads for on hospitals, hotels and office buildings and on the other hand on helidecks for offshore platforms and ships. Because of aluminum's versatility, the structures are much lighter and more durable than steel alternatives. They also have a long service life and minimal maintenance.

New orders usually come in through the company's own sales managers in the Netherlands, France, Italy and the United States. They know the markets, and have local knowledge and information about laws and regulations. They also use agents and receive weekly leads through their website. At this point, therefore, the portfolio is well stocked for the foreseeable future.

The company then took the step of producing small aluminum boats. The knowledge and expertise grew, and the company grew with it. Today the Bayards Group carries out projects in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North and South America with more than 180 permanent employees. In addition, they use flexible staff at peak times.

Growth

Marco Tanis, Managing Director of Bayards Helidecks: “We see that at the moment about half of the requests come from the hospital market. This market is also much larger than the offshore market. We are currently seeing a lot of opportunities especially in the United States and Canada, but also in the United Kingdom and Scandinavia. They are also willing to pay a good price in these countries for a quality product and total solution. ”

For example, a contract was recently signed with a hospital in Denmark for a helideck. This was also the first transaction in which Bayards used a counter-guarantee.

Marco: “Bayards was running up against the limits of its credit facilities at the bank. By making use of the counter-guarantee, we as an organization had some more credit space at the bank for other things. So we were still able to take on new transactions. We came into contact with Atradius DSB a few years earlier because of a large project in Qatar. The payment arrangement then was not entirely cash flow neutral, but in the end the main contractor adjusted the payment arrangement in our favor during negotiations.”

Unique solutions

Bayards often receives requests to participate in tenders, and then tries to join at an early stage. Sometimes they sit down with a customer years in advance so that they have a good knowledge of the market. This allows the engineers to think along about the solution and planning, and to advise on this. For example, if the construction crane is still present at a project, this can make a big difference in the cost of assembly on the roof.

Almost all products are unique and customized for the customer. From the moment a request comes in, Bayards issues a price and a solution within a few weeks. Sometimes it takes up to a year before an order actually is placed. Once an order is in, the engineers get to work. The production itself is also done in the Netherlands with Bayards advanced machinery, and then installed on site under the direction of its own supervisors. For example, production of the helipad for Denmark is in full swing and installation at the hospital will begin in May!