Anyone today visiting the workshops of Smith-Holland would find it difficult to imagine how Syko Smith started this company back in 1970. Syko Smith founded his own company in an old building in Vlaardingen. With only one assistant they started as a service company for ships- and offshore installations. With his immense experience and expertise, acquired during his many years as a sea-going refrigeration engineer and as manager for the Rotterdam branch of the Amsterdam based firm “Voorwaarts”, he felt like a fish in water in the world of the Port of Rotterdam.

So it happened that only after a couple of months his workshop became too small and had to move to an old empty factory, also in Vlaardingen. From that moment expansion really started. Within a few years Smith-Holland had built up a name for itself in the field of refrigeration service. Refrigerated containers were repaired on board vessels, on terminals and depots and at the company’s workshop. The company strove to ensure that refrigerated containers were in perfect condition for their next trip. Right from the start, Syko Smith gave priority to quality and this, together with personal service, fast delivery times and reasonable prices, helped to ensure that the customers returned.

His son Edward J. Smith joined the company in 1982. Within a short space of time he learned all the aspects of the trade and brought the company a new impetus. As a result Smith-Holland became authorized dealer for all the major manufacturers in this field. While Syko Smith concentrated on service for ships, Ed Smith continued to develop the refrigerated container business into what is today one of the world’s most efficient and professional service organization and succeeded his father in 1992 as managing director. Although Syko Smith is not with us anymore, we can still see the fruit of his efforts. He build a company that also nowadays keeps faith to his conviction “Quality and Commitment” and he layed the foundation of a market leading company that constantly invests in upgrading its performance in order to be able to meet the wishes and requirements of its customers.