Having trained across the globe and worked in access control for almost two decades, Eddy van der Vegte shares his journey to becoming General Manager of Codelocks EU, the future of access control, and why windy weather is good for biking.
I have been involved in the European access control industry for 18 years. During this time, I have held Sales Manager and Country Manager positions, and I was a Commercial Director. Now at Codelocks I’ve settled into the General Manager role for the newly created Codelocks EU, which was set up to continue supplying quality access control products to European customers in the wake of Brexit.
I’ve had many years of experience in sales. My speciality is keeping in touch with customers, meaning I’m always open and engaged. This helps me to build long-term, cooperative relationships with our customers, which helps bring Codelocks the results we want, especially as a new arm of the company. Working with customers takes up most of my day-to-day tasks. Still, as a new offshoot, I spend a lot of time overseeing all of our European operations.
In our industry, things can change incredibly fast. New products and technologies come along which have a big impact on access control. This could be advanced Internet of Things (IoT) and opportunities to be more efficient, or it could be sustainable manufacturing processes. These constant innovations and dynamic evolutions are what excites me about access control – that and getting to put them to work to help benefit our customers.
It's also great to be at a company that shares my values. Codelocks is a collaborative and family values lead organisation. That resonates with me as I appreciate my family and time spent with them. Codelocks is a great place to work as it gives everyone the space to show their talents and specialities, and bring them together to achieve our goals.
One of my early projects was helping a customer create event lockers that could be rented by end users to store their belongings – they can be used at sports games, gigs, festivals, even at camp and beach sites. The project was quickly completed in three months thanks to our dedicated engagement with the customer, resulting in the sale of 1,500 KitLocks.
Alongside this, I’m particularly proud of the progressive results that we’ve been delivering for Codelocks Europe over the last year and a half. We’re one of the newest parts of the organisation, and we’ve seen good turnover and growth thanks to the positive work we’ve been doing. When we set out, I knew the organisation had ambitious expansion plans, and I’m proud of driving these plans forward.
I’ve trained across the world. Here in the Netherlands, but also in California, Italy and Germany. When I was first studying economics and marketing, I followed a course for biometrics, which I now have lots of experience in thanks to my different roles over the last 18 years.
I think the access control industry will see further IoT integration, along with the introduction of other, more advanced identity verification technologies too. As I mentioned before,this is what excites me about our industry – at Codelocks, we’re focusing a lot of effort on the integrated solutions our products help create.
I have three children who I love spending time with. I also like reading, squash, doing photography, indulging in some amateur history, and learning languages – I currently speak four languages –and I’m always looking to learn more.
Road and mountain biking is one of my favourite ways to relax too. It’s an especially great way to unwind. I find if the weather is inclement it helps take your mind off work and focus your efforts on the ride – here in Enschede we get a lot of wind too, which is a condition I really enjoy, I like the challenge. A headwind can really slow you down, but also makes you stronger, you must dig deep to produce enough power.
29, Aug 2023