27.06.2022
COO for Mycrane
Virtual crane rental broker Mycrane has appointed Piet Kraaijeveld as chief operating officer,
Based in Dubai, his role will be to expand the Mycrane business around the world, in particular persuading major contractors to register as customers on the Mycrane website.
Born in the Netherlands Kraaijeveld joins the company after two years as a strategic account manager with Ritchie Bros auctioneers in Dubai. He began his career in 1989 as a planner with GE- General Electric, moving to a similar role with Dutch heavy lift and transport company Mammoet in 2001. Four years later he was transferred to Canada as operations manager at the company's Fort McMurray, Alberta regional operation. During his almost 13 years with Mammoet Canada - both in Fort McMurray and Edmonton - he moved into increasingly senior roles, culminating as sales director for heavy lift & transport, in Edmonton. In 2018 he was transferred to Mammoet’s Middle East operation in Dubai as a sales manager for the Middle East and North Africa. He left the company for Ritchie Bros in mid-2020.
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Piet Kraaijeveld
The Mycrane concept is for contractors to post their lifting requirements on the company’s website so that registered crane rental companies can respond with an offer, allowing such contractors to ‘shop around’ without having to approach multiple suppliers.
Most of the Mycrane alumni are former Mammoet employees, which had itself tested the market for this type of service in 2019. In the past 12 months Mycrane has appointed franchisees in Singapore, the UK & Ireland, Qatar and staff in Russia.
Mycrane founder Andrei Geikalo said: “Piet is a proven leader with deep experience in our sector and it is a pleasure to have him join Mycrane in this critical role. I’ve no doubt Piet’s extensive international connections and entrepreneurial spirit will be a great asset to Mycrane as we continue to roll out our service in more global markets.”
Kraaijeveld added: “This is an exciting move for me because Mycrane is offering much needed change in the construction sector. I can’t wait to get started and help customers save time and money on the cranes procurement process.”
Stey
As an interest, would all companies aligning with Mycrane be operating against sanctions on Russian trade, given the situation in Ukraine and this article listing that Mycrane have operational staff working in Russia??
Benji
Are there any rental companies that think MyCrane will be a positive for their business?
To me it sounds like a terrible development for an industry which already suffers from poor rates.
Whether or not it introduces or promotes new technologies or efficiencies, it sounds like a disaster in the making for rental companies.
Contractors and MyCrane might find some short-term success, but ultimately I imagine the entire industry will lose out.