28.10.2014

Armand Verhoye 1944 - 2012

It was pointed out to us recently that we had missed and not reported on the untimely passing of Belgian access industry veteran Armand Verhoye, two years ago, aged 67.

Sadly we were totally unaware as no one had informed us of the fact, but felt that his contribution to the European access industry deserved a mention, even if it is a late one.

Verhoye began as an electrical contractor having formed ALM with two partners who also owned electrical contacting firms - Luc and Michel - in 1988 crating the ALM brand - A(rmand) Verhoye, L(uc) Pattyn and M(ichel) Baekelandt.
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Armand Verhoye

A year or two later, the team realised that they were using aerial work platforms on a regular basis and had the idea to establish a rental company to supply both their needs and the requirements of other trades. In 1996, the rental company operated a fleet of around 50 machines and Verhoye bought out the two partners. A year later he decided to sell the electrical contracting business Verhoye NV, in order to focus on the access rental business and in 1997 he added 100 new machines, considerably expanding the business.

His son Frederick Verhoye joined the company in 1999, followed by his daughter Evelyn in 2005. In 2010, Armand decided to take things slower as he handed over some of the day to day duties. He passed the time taking vacations with his wife Annie, shooting pool and playing cards with his brother and friends… But still made time to do his daily ‘round’ at the company. ALM continues to do well and currently runs a fleet of over 350 work platforms and over the years has sold on over 1,200 units from its fleet.

In May 2012, Verhoye was diagnosed with cancer and died five months later, on October 22nd 2012. Armand Verhoye was one of the first to truly appreciate the benefits of modern powered access in a country that was quick to adopt the technology and which played a substantial role in introduction self-propelled work platforms to Europe. We are only sorry that we missed it at the time.

When we contacted Frederik Verhoye this week, he said: “It is heart-warming that our father is still in thoughts of people. Last week was the second anniversary of his passing. Maybe this ‘anniversary’ of is a good time to do something? Our father was known for his pragmatic and unconditional, person-centred approach both privately and in business.”

Finally a big thank you to the person who tipped us off – you know who you are. Thank You.