About us
The employees at Dick Gilles form a close and cheerful team, who all know each other inside out. They each have their own preferences for a specific material, but none of them is afraid of a fresh challenge. Everyone is happy to help everyone else and to share their knowledge and skills. Example is better than precept. Dick Gilles’ enthusiasm, his desire to achieve efficiency, quality, and his eye for detail – from design to finish – are in everyone’s DNA. Without exception, each member of the crew has a maritime background or interest. As the founder of the company, Dick Gilles has been at the helm since 1975.
Mirjam GILLES de Rooij
Mirjam is the linchpin of Dick Gilles Jachtbouw. As the All-Round Office Manager, she ensures the smooth running of all the various processes. With her creativity and her background as an actress, she has no trouble creating and maintaining connections between everyone and everything. Always cheerful, she translates our customers’ wishes to the workshop. She lives by her motto: ‘Make it work and get it done.’ Mirjam aims not just to advance her own personal development, but is keen that everyone should be the best version of themselves.
LauS (1964)
According to his colleagues, Laus “can work miracles with wood”. He has been a carpenter for many years, and has been with Dick Gilles since 2005. Trained as a furniture maker, Laus is always willing to share his passion for wood. Every day, he develops new ideas with and for his colleagues, in areas that extend far beyond applications for just boats. He is equally adept at making moulds and hulls as well. At the end of the day, his greatest pride is for the POWERHOUSE boat, and he also enjoys clocking up the mileage on his mountain bike. ‘Always do the things you enjoy’ is his motto.
Marcel (1977)
In his early days as a carpenter, Marcel worked on De Brandaris and Victoria. He still has good memories of these solid quality sloops. Now, he can regularly be found on or under the POWERHOUSE boat. He is as happy to be welding a stainless steel swimming pool ladder as he is to be creating intricate wood designs. Once he is on the water, Marcel prefers to take things nice and easy, while on land, his favourite form of transport is a comfortable camper van. He gets his adrenalin boosts on Formula 1 circuits.
Morris (1997)
Mechanical engineer Morris works in both Amsterdam and Middenmeer for New Electric Marine and knows pretty well everything there is to know about electrical engineering, batteries, and drives. A team player, he skilfully navigates between the wishes of the customer and implementing them for Dick Gilles. Morris enjoys making each design that little bit more attractive, functional, and efficient than the previous one. His eyes gleam at the very prospect of the launching of the latest New Electric tugboat for the Port of Amsterdam. Give Morris the chance to try something new and he’ll seize it with both hands. He has dreams of fitting his classic 1969 Toyota Crown with a V8 motor, of relishing its specific sound, and of making an electric version of it. The prospect of carrying his passengers in silence… Let Morris get on with it.
Jeroen (1970)
All-round welder and mechanic Jeroen used to have his own industrial maintenance business. He is looking to streamline and expand the work activities at Dick Gilles – with the emphasis on the metal department – and to have them operate as self-sufficiently and as independently as possible. Jeroen sees the recently delivered installation for lifting boats out of the water as a good example of the project that typifies the versatility of the company. He hopes to relieve Dick of the burdens of the day-to-day activities on a more frequent basis. Jeroen has taken to the friendly atmosphere and the harmony at Dick Gilles like a duck to water. In his leisure time, he is a keen angler, so he is never very far from the water. It’s great to spend time relaxing without his children now and again, no matter how much they mean to him.
Milan (1972)
Milan is a man of few words. Give him a project, and he’ll be on it straight away. He obtained his diplomas in the former Yugoslavia, and in the Netherlands. He enjoys welding and working on large industrial machines and conveyor belts. The POWERHOUSE boat is therefore one of his favourite projects. He loves the quality and the shape of this seafaring houseboat and is proud to be working on what is the first of its kind. Milan feels at ease at the company and gets on with everybody. He looks forward to spending his retirement years in the sun. Until then, he enjoys being outside and has a racing bike for keeping fit. “Just let me do my own thing …”