Profile

For more than 40 years Riwal has become a leading company in the field of access equipment. The name Riwal relates to the company’s origin. In 1968 Richards & Wallington International was established as the Dutch subsidiary of what then was the largest crane rental company in the world. In 1980 Dick Schalekamp Snr. had the courage and determination to take over the activities in The Netherlands.

Together with his sons he laid out a new solid base on which they rebuilt R&W’s reputation. In 1987 the Schalekamp family extended their activities with self-propelled aerial work platforms (AWP's). Although still active in the background Schalekamp Snr. stepped aside in 1989 to let his sons run the business. From then on they have continued his strategy of expansion and diversification. In 1990 Coljé in Woerden was taken over to expand the crane rental activities. In June 1998, while celebrating the group's 30th anniversary, it was announced that from then on all group companies would use the same tradename: RIWAL. Also a new logo and corporate identity were introduced.

 

Although expansion has forced the company to move its location more than once Riwal has kept its headquarters in Dordrecht, which is ideally situated just south of Rotterdam with direct access to world's biggest port as well as the Antwerp docks.

In March 2001 Riwal opened a branch office in Odense, Denmark. Currently a staff of 12 employees are running a rental fleet of some 600 aerial work platforms and telehandlers from both Odense, Roskilde and most recently Randers. For more information visit www.riwal.dk

Since August 2005 Riwal has run a rental operation in Ljubljana, Slovenia. For more information please visit www.riwal.si

In February 2006 Riwal started a rental operation in France in the town of Chartres. Within a year Riwal France has opened two more depots near Nantes and Bordeaux and now covers most of the French Atlantic coast and inland. Visit www.riwal-france.com for more info.

Also in 2007 Riwal started a rental operation in Kazakhstan. From Atyrau Riwal rents out both access and power equipment. Visit www.riwal.kz for more info.

On July 1st 2007 the crane rental division was sold to Sarens leaving Riwal as a specialist in access equipment. Including other international ventures the Riwal Group owns over 12,000 rental units, ranking the company among the Top 12 in the access industry worldwide. Further international expansion is Riwal's main focus, building on reliable local management from within the industry.