Carver will assemble its ultra narrow electric city vehicles in the former PostNL premises in Leeuwarden. From here, the company plans to gain momentum in the European market. The NOM and the municipality of Leeuwarden played a leading role in the search for the right location.
Last April marked the introduction of the electric low-speed Carver. Not much later, mobility company Carver announced that it would assemble the canopied urban vehicle with its patented tilting technology in Friesland. Meanwhile, the location is also known: the old PostNL building, on the Celciusweg in Leeuwarden. 'A well-considered choice,' says Anton Rosier, CEO of Carver, 'It is a representative and energy-efficient building that has everything we need for our assembly activities. A large production hall, offices, sufficient outdoor space for testing, good access and loading docks for easy loading and unloading.'
Existing property
The arrival of Carver's assembly plant in Friesland was made possible in part thanks to funding from NOM and FOM. NOM also offered support in the search for the most suitable location, including putting Carver in touch with the municipality of Leeuwarden and the province of Fryslân. 'We searched intensively for existing premises,' says Reinder de Jong, Foreign Direct Investment manager of the NOM. 'Carver is a young company that logically does not yet want to invest in real estate, but consciously chooses to rent business space. That turned out to be not easy. That's why the process took longer than previously thought.'
Investor
Rosier praises the active role the municipality of Leeuwarden played in facilitating Carver's wishes. 'Together with the NOM, they found an investor who bought the former PostNL distribution center and then wanted to rent it to us,' he clarifies. 'I found it impressive to see how much time and energy was put into getting our housing in place.' Assembly of the electric Carver, a city vehicle that combines the benefits of the car and the scooter, will begin in Leeuwarden early next year. The coming months will be used to build up the production line and install the test equipment. The first vehicles are expected to roll off the line in the spring. '
Substantial employment
In the start-up phase, Carver will employ about 10 people in the Frisian capital. The company is currently searching for suitable employees, such as production workers, forklift drivers, testers, warehouse workers and office staff. 'Anyone who considers themselves suitable and would like to work at Carver may apply,' said Rosier. 'I expect the demand for new employees to increase rapidly. The ambitions are high. We want to export throughout Europe from Leeuwarden. Then you are talking about substantial employment in the near future.'
For a direct link to the job openings click here.