Customer Story: De NatuurApotheek

We formed a new team of 27 for The Nature Pharmacy within three months, with a mix of experienced forces and young talent. Read how owner Edwin Lipperts experienced the collaboration in this article.

Edwin Lipperts enthusiastically tells his story in an engaging conversation with Forp. Edwin has been an inspired owner of De NatuurApotheek since 2013. We talk together about the origins of the business, to the recent move and Forp’s successful building of his new team.

As a former pharmacist in Roosendaal, Edwin wanted more challenge and variety. He came in contact with the fascinating world of natural medicines.

Driven by his passion for preparing natural remedies, he used his pharmaceutical knowledge to create natural medicines, including Western and Chinese herbal remedies.

The NatuurApotheek is a licensed pharmacy, offering the highest quality natural medicines at the lowest price with custom preparation.

Edwin took over in Pijnacker from the previous owners of NatuurApotheek, who retired.

This was a big challenge because there was no reimbursement from health insurance companies. In addition, the existing customers often had a personal relationship with the previous owners. The customers suddenly had to put up with a new pharmacist who had yet to prove himself.

Nonetheless, Edwin set sail with determination. After six months, confidence began to grow and he had mastered the tricks of the trade.

From the time Edwin became owner, several companies were acquired and added to NatuurApotheek. The company thus grew into an international company with a large network of 3,000 doctors and therapists.

This growth created multiple business locations. After analyzing it for the best location, the Three Country Point emerged. This became the place to further develop the company.

This will allow activities to be centralized, the company will own its own premises, be closer to most European customers and increase shipping options. In addition, the company can attract talent from technical and laboratory schools in the area.

NatuurApotheek decided to relocate from Pijnacker to Simpelveld, Limburg, more than 200 kilometers away.

The consequence of this major move was that almost all employees from the old location left the company and a completely new team had to be assembled. Forp managed this transition.

Edwin explains enthusiastically, “During a service club dinner I talked about these plans and was advised to get in touch with Dennis van Dijk of Forp. In June 2023 I called Dennis and agreed to drop by. This was a very good and open conversation.”

“Dennis thought such a large, rigorous move was a nice and interesting challenge for Forp. In addition, he saw The Nature Pharmacy as a new line of business.”

“I immediately had a good feeling about a possible collaboration and immediately said ‘yes,’” he said.

“Dennis went to work on the plan and introduced his colleague Esmée Tielen. She was my regular partner for this project, she went and found the people and together we achieved great results.”

Edwin continues, “Our desire was to hire 23 FTE by October. I myself had little time for that because of the move and everything that came with it.”

“We started with Forp by interviewing our employees in Pijnacker to form job descriptions and write vacancies. Then Esmée created a recruitment system and linked to it a Work-by website to manage the application process.”

“Next, Forp posted the vacancies and made them visible in their own network. Many applicants came in to this.”

“Esmée heeft de eerste selectie gedaan, de telefonische intakes gevoerd en de bevindingen met mij gedeeld. Met de geselecteerde sollicitanten hebben Esmée en ik online een gesprek gehad. Na de positieve gesprekken ontvingen de kandidaten arbeidsvoorwaardenvoorstellen en bij acceptatie volgde een welkomstmail met belangrijke informatie en formulieren.”

“Het was fijn dat Esmée ook een groot deel van de administratieve zaken regelde.”

After recruiting, we got to work on the pre- and onboarding for The Nature Pharmacy. Most colleagues started on Monday, Oct. 2, with a welcome by Edwin, followed by a welcome video and a tour of the building with a story by Esmée.

“That day, by playing an introductory bingo, we got to know each other. In the afternoon, we all spent time further setting up production and forming a picture of the property,” Edwin said.

“In advance, we had arranged a number of experienced supervisors who spent the first two weeks helping people get started with production, taking them through the story from A to Z, and helping them in and training them.”

“In this way we had a successful start, the induction of the team went smoothly and the colleagues found their way quickly and well in the complex processes of the NatuurApotheek.”

“Because of a nice mix of ages and backgrounds, we have a fresh, strong and enthusiastic team.”

The targeted recruitment was successful, and Forp used their expertise to form a new team of 27 people, with a mix of experienced forces and young talent, within three months.

“I found the cooperation with Forp, in that uncertain period with drastic changes, to be very positive. This cooperation and finding the right people for our new team, was crucial for the survival of a labor-intensive enterprise like the NatuurApotheek. Thus we have laid a solid foundation for the future and NatuurApotheek is ready for further growth and development,” Edwin says with satisfaction.

“Esmée is a fine and reliable professional who not only led the recruitment activities, was able to quickly identify the right ‘type’ of person for my company but also acted as a sparring partner and took care of everything around pre- and onboarding. For both Forp and us it was a gamble as we both did not know if it was going to be successful but we look back very positively on the cooperation, the successful approach and the results achieved. We could not have imagined a better partner and start.”

After the start of the new team, several meetings were held with the employees as part of the onboarding such as check-up meetings (after 2 weeks), end of probation meetings (after 4 weeks), interim meetings (after 3.5 months) and the end of contract assessment meetings (after 7 months) are coming up. This was advised, set up and implemented by Esmée.

Edwin: “I am still happy with Esmée’s support. Forp is a very good solution for many SMEs that have no or limited HR department. You can outsource parts, spar and so also gain knowledge again.”

“Thanks to Forp’s effective recruitment, the possible relocation of another location, scheduled for 2025-2026, could now be brought forward in part,” says owner Edwin Lipperts.

“This could not only create more work for the team in Simpelveld, but also solve needed staff additions elsewhere. For this operation, too, I will certainly want to make use of Forp’s expertise. And even for after the relocations, I will gladly continue the cooperation with Forp.”

The Nature Pharmacy looks confidently to the future, with a beautiful new, strong and committed team, a thriving business and a determination to make natural medicine more accessible to a European audience.