Monday, April 25th Wesseling Export in Aalsmeer, the Netherlands, stopped trading in the export of flowers and plants. According to the spokesman, the company has gone bankrupt.
He explained that the exporter could have continued for two more weeks, but they did not want to cause any problems to their suppliers and transporters. ‘The situation was unworkable, and we had to throw in the towel. We took our responsibility by not continuing any further. We like to be able to continue to look everyone straight in the eyes.’
According to the spokesman, the bankruptcy was caused by an accumulation of factors. A curator has been appointed already. Several years ago, the company had problems with non-paying debtors in Italy. The exporter was also badly hit by the weakness of the Russian Ruble. Because of this, the company underwent a reorganisation last year.
Two bad months in January and February this year delivered another blow. The final drop was the cancellation of a big project in Azerbaijan. ‘We had made the necessary costs for this already,’ the spokesman said.
Wesseling started in 1969. In their heyday, Wesseling Export had a turnover of 35 to 40 million euros and exported to 30 countries. Last year, after the reorganisation, the turnover was 22 million euros. Because of this bankruptcy, about forty people will lose their jobs.
