7 HEINEKEN MADE MORE PROFIT! THE SPORT OF HURLING In the first six months of 1984 Heineken N.V. made a net profit of more than 101 million guilders. That's some 15% more than in the same period of 1983. Prospects for the second half of 1984 are good. The same profit increase is expected as in the first six months. But this does not mean that things are going equally well for Heineken everywhere. There are countries where excise duties on beer have been increased substantially or where we are being faced by very heavy competition. But in other areas we certainly can't grumble. And it is those other areas which have helped us achieve a splendid result. Hurling is a field game which is played 15-a-side. Its name is derived from the 'hurl' (a big, broad stick a little like a hockey stick). This hurl or hurley stick is used to hit a hard ball (also known as the 'slitter') about the same size as a tennis ball. The aim is to score points. If the ball goes under the cross-bar, that counts as a goal; you can also score by getting the ball over the cross-bar between the uprights, but that gives you fewer points than a goal. You're not allowed to strike your opponent with the hurl but, if he's running at you full-speed, you can try to body-check him with your shoulders. Hurling is probably one of the world's fastest games. And one of the most physical. As can be seen from the fact that for each match one referee plus 6 assistant referees are needed. Hurling is Ireland's national game. How pleased our grandmothers were when they could replace the old copper pots and pans from their kitchens by enamelled ones! Today, thoughtheir grandchildren have to pay a mint for them, if they can find a place that still sells them at all. And, even today, we're still often faced with a dilemma: should we throw a thing away or should we hang on to it? The same applies in companies as well. Is a steam engine that is no longer used simply scrap iron or a worthwhile museum item? Is a wooden beer crate just something to stoke your fire with, or is it a valuable requisite from the history of the brewery? We went over to Ireland for a talk with Mr. G.J. van Soest, director of our Murphy's Brewery in Cork, a business that is rapidly being modernised. Almost every day a choice has to be made there between keeping something or throwing it away. How does he solve that problem? A problem we all have to deal with. In our homes as well. Is it worth money? The businessman 'W One of the nicest HE1NEKEMS q BIER Old things. Throw them away? G.J. van Soestdirector of Murphy's Brewery in Cork, appreciates antiques. admits to us a little later. "Just take a look round my office. It's furnished completely in the old-fashioned way. It needed doing up when I arrived here. I could have had some of that modern steel and cane furniture put in. But I didn't. The parquet floor was sanded and polished, the castors under the table were replaced by wood, I had indirect lighting fitted and I had the whole room A 1930s blotting pad advertising Heineken. It shows the name and address of an agent in Holland. A businessman, as we already said, but one who's not willing to see old things simply vanishHe'd rather turn them into cash or surround himself with them! "Certainly", was his immediate reply, "but I offer those for sale to the Corporate Public Relations Department. They've been busy for years collecting items for a concern museum." As boss, you're not allowed to get rid of them anyway, because they're a business asset and the most you can do is sell them if you don't intend to keep them." Calmly but precisely, Van Soest gives us some examples. He points out that you sometimes have to weigh the costs of demolishing a building against the costs of putting up a new oneHe explains that it would cost a fortune to have the malt house of his brewery demolished, as its walls are as thick as those of a mediaeval castle. But its rooms are so low that hardly anyone can stand upright in them. In that case it's better to leave the shell of the old building standing, to break out the six floors and make four of them. That's much cheaper, too. We had to smile at the idea of Van Soest to-earth. People also say that they're hard-headed businessmen. G.J. van Soest is undoubtedly both. That was clear from his answer when we asked him what he does with all those old-fashioned things. "First of allyou ask yourself whether the item has any value for the business or for the brand that you sell. Murphy's is an old brewery, one that's always stood on its present site. The people of Cork are attached to it. That's why we're modernising right here, on this site. And that's why we're also carefully keeping the old pictures, documents, furniture and other old items which are linked to Murphy's in some way or another", and as he speaks, he points to the many beautiful antique items in his office. "If a thing is of no value to the business, you have to ask yourself whether it is worth any money. Lots of old things sometimes fetch a high price. Obviously you don't throw them away in such cases cleaned out. Oh yes, and I sent the curtains to the dry cleaners when I heard how much new ones would have cost. And yet this office did not cost me a lot, and I still think it's one of the nicest offices in the concern." We simply had to agree with him. Our final question was whether it never occurred that he has things on his hands that couldn't really be sold as scrap, for instance like a couple of brewing kettles when a brewhouse had to be demolished All those old kettles are equally beautiful and can have just the same sentimental value to the business as well. A silver mug which a number of our agents presented to G. A. Heineken, founder of the brewery, as a jubilee gift at the end of the last century. A painting of the drayhorse 'Trui' which worked from 1920 to 1929 at 'De Sleutel' Brewery in Dordrecht (Holland), a business that formed part of the Heineken group. having that splendid granite malthouse razed to the ground. He had been talking to us for a while and we couldn't help but notice his love for all things old. "That's true, I take a great personal interest in everything that's old", he Geert Jan van Soest is a Dutchman. And they have a reputation for being down- it S

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Heineken International Magazine | 1984 | | pagina 7