About Fris
Meet FRIS. The Real People at FRIS. Discover our professional, personal service. And experience how we exceed your expectations, and are geared towards relieving you of every concern, today – and tomorrow.
Real People
Founded in 1923 FRIS is a family business that has grown to become one of the largest, independent property managers in the Netherlands. FRIS is also a household name for tens of thousands of individuals and companies in the Greater Amsterdam area, providing full service as real estate agent, manager, surveyor, valuer and insurance intermediary.
FRIS is Real People – over 90 employees in three branches, in Amsterdam and Zaandam. FRIS Real People know that personal attention, clear communication and our customer-oriented organisation structure provide a solid basis for our own job satisfaction, for the satisfaction of our customers, and for the success and ongoing development of FRIS – so that we can continue to serve more customers in increasingly better ways.
“We believe in personal, tailor-made service and processes, that relieve you of every concern”
Personal, tailor-made service
As your partner we provide peace of mind and are the point of contact for national and international clients requiring a property manager, intermediary and/or (re)developer that always delivers the best possible returns. As a full-service, real estate service provider, we are active from real estate project initiation to implementation and execution. The breadth of our organisation and services means we can oversee the entire real estate cycle.
Excellence in operations, service that exceeds client expectations, and marketing innovation are our success factors. We believe in personal service, tailor-made solutions and processes that relieve our clients of all concerns. FRIS Real People provide a full range of services and the ongoing ability to come up with innovative solutions. We deploy our intimate knowledge of our business to provide the right spaces and the right support for people and organisations seeking the very best – in accommodation, in pleasure and in performance.
Our history
Started in 1923, in Zaandam, the FRIS family business continued to grow, for a century, as a respected real estate agency in the Greater Amsterdam region and as a property manager throughout the Netherlands. In 2017, the capable hands of Hans Peter Fris, grandchild of the founder, took the helm of the organisation. Together with Marc Poelmann, he inspires a team of more than 90 Real People.
The first generation: the fundamentals
Grandfather Wouter Fris laid the foundations of the company in 1923, on the Provincialeweg in Zaandam, with an insurance agency and mortgage broker business. His down-to-earth approach and good service won the hearts, loyalty and trust of an increasing number of customers. So it was that, in 1934, he decided to open an estate agency in Zaandam. Wouter also saw an increasing number of opportunities in Amsterdam itself. In 1936 he opened a second estate agency on Prinsengracht. FRIS is known as a real people-for-people company, with personal attention that delivers both real results and a good feeling.
The second generation: expansion
The second generation of FRIS joined the organisation in the reconstruction years after World War II. Sons Piet and Wouter Fris Jnr. started in 1948 and 1950. Under Dad’s supervision they continued, step by step, to build on the success and reputation of FRIS. In 1970, FRIS started – as one of the first in the Netherlands – an investment brokerage. The property management department arose from this innovation, ‘Because who was going to make sure all the rents were paid?’.
The organisation continues to steadily thrive and FRIS grew to include six branches. Then the housing crisis of the late 1970s threw a spanner in the works. Downsizing was required. FRIS was one of the few to survive this housing crisis. Though four offices were closed, two survived – in Amsterdam on the Weteringsschans and in Zaandam on Westzijde. The company remained healthy, adapting nimbly to changing economic times. And in 1984 its entrepreneurial spirit drove a new department into being – FRIS Real Estate Management. In 1990 the founder, Wouter Fris, confidently handed the baton to his sons, Piet and Wouter Fris. A few years later the first chapter of the third FRIS generation began to be written.
The third generation: innovation and further growth
Enterprising and dynamic, Hans Peter Fris took over the running of the company in the mid-1990s – from his father Wouter jr. and his uncle Piet. FRIS had 9 employees at the time. Hans Peter Fris ambitiously started the new Business Brokerage department. And FRIS grew to 30 employees over a period of five years. In 2000, Hans Peter took over B&F Property Management BV, adding commercial property management to the FRIS services package. This activity is now known as FRIS Investment Care. In 2001, Hans Peter Fris decided that the company should not be ‘middle of the road’ – he wanted to provide added value on a sustainable basis. Through superior application of FRIS knowledge in advising businesses, (local) authorities and individuals.
Knowledge application in advisory services
This not only resulted in improved outcomes in conversations with clients and partners, but also to the creation of a knowledge centre – Research & Marketing – in 2005. As a result, the number of clients and partners, and thus the number of employees, also showed healthy growth. Hans Peter Fris invested counter-cyclically, growing the professionalisation of the organisation during the recession years. In 2014, the Research & Marketing department was renamed FRIS Research & Consultancy. The FRIS Valuations department was launched in 2015. Dyade Housing and Real Estate was added in 2016. And in 2016 Marc Poelmann formally became co-owner of FRIS Investment Care. Grandfather Wouter Fris’s down-to-earth, customer-focused, entrepreneurial mindset, in which the business was rooted, still drives the culture, and therefore the customer satisfaction, that FRIS enjoys two generations later.