And Then There Were Ten

Thursday, 7 August 2025 (updated 12 September 2025)
On 21 July, IM recovery operators Hoogwout Berging in Oostzaan and Theo Rood Berging en Transport in Zwaag merged. Maarten Pels of Hoogwout and Stefan Rood of Theo Rood will continue together under the name Assistance United. The existing branches will remain, and the old trade names will also be retained. However, a new head office has been established in Purmerend, from which the activities of the merged companies will be coordinated.

Stefan Rood (L) and Maarten Pels of Assistance United

The transaction is the fourth acquisition of an IM recovery operator in 2025. On 1 February, Roos Autoberging in Capelle aan den IJssel was taken over by BRL Leiden. Henk Roos, the company's director and founder, had suddenly passed away in November 2024. In April came the acquisition of ABC in Amsterdam by De Jong Zuurmond. In July, Jan van de Graaf Jr. in Rotterdam was acquired by BCU. All the acquired companies are based in North and South Holland, leaving just ten independent IM recovery operators in these two provinces.

Nico Zwetsloot of BRL Leiden, Sienna Roos (centre), daughter of Henk Roos, and Fifi Troenodjojoto, partner of Henk Roos, toast the acquisition of Roos Autoberging on 1 February 2025

IM recovery operators carried out 41,563 recoveries on main roads in the second quarter of this year. This was about the same as in the second quarter of 2024, but more than 5,000 above the very quiet first quarter of 2025. The average response time for all jobs was 10:22 minutes, eleven seconds more than in the previous quarter. The fastest recovery operator in the country was, as in the first quarter, Takel-, Berging- en Transportbedrijf A. Barendregt in Rhoon, closely followed by Amsterdamse Bergings Combinatie in Amsterdam-West. Strong figures were also recorded by several smaller companies outside the Randstad: BCZ in Vlissingen and Besems Recovery Service in Tilburg.

Fastest recovery operators 2025-Q2

The ranking only includes companies that carried out at least 100 recoveries in the past quarter. The response time presented for each company is the weighted average of the average response times in all districts assigned to that company.

A select group of recovery operators managed to complete all recoveries in a single district with a response time of less than twenty minutes. Since the start of the current contract period, Schoenmaker in Avenhorn has consistently led this list, and this quarter was no exception.

IM recovery operators with 100% performance