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I use my common sense to

make decisions

but listen to my heart

About Frans

The hero who, together with his team salvaged the Kursk nuclear submarine from the depths of the Barents Sea. The football fanatic who bought his favourite club, FC Utrecht. The natural born-entrepreneur, whose family business has conquered the world. Frans van Seumeren is all of the above. But most of all he’s a passionate die-hard, who follows his heart.

Frans went straight from school into the boardroom. He was barely 23 years old when he took over at Van Seumeren Cranes, which he grown and developed into Van Seumeren Holland; a business with 40 offices across the globe. In the year 2000 he incorporated Mammoet into the business, and one year later Frans van Seumeren wrote history when in 2001 Mammoet succeeded in raising the sunken Russian submarine, the Kursk. Few can forget those poignant images.

FC Utrecht

On turning 55, just as he had planned many years previously, Frans van Seumeren left the business and wandered into Europe: quite literally. Together with his wife Gonnie, he set out to walk to Athens and then return via Alicante to his home town of Harmelen, near Utrecht: covering a total distance of 6,000 kilometres. And even after such a feat, he wasn’t planning on taking things easy. In 2008 Frans paid 16 million euros for shares in his beloved football club FC Utrecht. Over the years, his share in the club has increased. His aim is to get the club into a permanent, stable position in the league and includes the ambition to make it in European football.

Activities

Keeping moving and investing in sport. So, has Frans van Seumeren stopped being an entrepreneur? Definitely not! Over recent years he has invested in a series of start-ups, helping a new generation of young entrepreneurs get off the ground. He also became majority shareholder of the Roll Group, which comprises of RollDock Shipping and Roll-Lift, a heavy goods land transportation and lifting company.