Crocs relocates to temporary COIN location
for nine months following a fire
“No one wants to be a victim of a disaster, but if it does happen then be prepared”
– Edith Koevoets, HR Director –
A fire suddenly turned everything upside down at Crocs
Crocs, Inc. is a world leader in innovative casual footwear for men, women and children. Crocs offers a broad portfolio of all-season products. Since its inception in 2002, Crocs has sold more than 300 million pairs of shoes in more than 90 countries around the world.
When you walk into the Crocs building in Hoofddorp it oozes light, space, openness and action. The world famous shoe brand, which represents ultimate walking comfort at work and at home, has succeeded in implementing the brand’s positive appearance in its working environment as well. And then one morning, before the staff started work…… a fire. It wasn’t a massive fire that had broken out but a small intense fire that was quickly extinguished yet it still had an enormous impact. A total of three floors became unusable as a result of the fire, the smoke and the extinguishing water. It was a disaster, explains HR Director Edith Koevoets, which meant the staff were no longer able to work in the building.
“‘We are a commercial organisation and every hour we can’t work costs us a lot of money.”
“We could be reached immediately in the most optimum way, we had Internet and our customers were able to contact us as normal. We could pull up a chair and continue to work as usual.”
Immediate and adequate response
Like many entrepreneurs, the Management Team at Crocs thought until then: ‘It won’t happen to us’. Edith: ‘We are a commercial organisation and every hour we can’t work costs us a lot of money. That’s the reason we looked for an organisation that could help us in the event of a disaster. Not just an office with desks, but a place where we could be up and running immediately following a disaster; a turnkey solution, that’s what we wanted and that’s what we want. And that’s how we found COIN. They helped us understand everything that was needed to be able to continue working. Immediately after the disaster, when our premises became unusable, that’s where we went.’
Business continuity guaranteed by workspace recovery
After the fire, Crocs relocated 130 staff to the COIN premises. Edith: ‘We could be reached immediately in the most optimum way, we had Internet and our customers were able to contact us as normal. We could pull up a chair and continue to work as usual. Our normal work processes were replicated 100% at the temporary accommodation and we were able to operate from there to our full satisfaction for nine months.’
