Sarens, the reference in the heavy lifting and specilised transport industry, is extremely committed to its people. We believe that it is the people that drive the growth of the organisation as well as the industry. 

At Sarens, we are proud to be honoured for our efforts and commitment towards training the workforce at the Heavy lift Awards 2021 organised in London on 19th October, 2021. 

In their third edition, Heavy Lift Awards are one of the renowned awards recognising the achievements of the project cargo supply chain and honoring the best of the project logistics industry. The Training award is presented either to a company that has adopted an innovative and successful approach to training staff in day-to-day operations, or a company that has provided a comprehensive training programme for a particular aspect of the heavy lift and project logistics sector.

Sarens received the Training award at the Heavy Lift Awards 2021 for its training center which reached a historic milestone in 2020 by obtaining a certificate to offer the European Crane Operator License (ECOL) training to its staff. Not only is the center the first in Belgium to hold this accreditation and one of only four worldwide, it demonstrates Sarens’ commitment to training and upskilling its employees – underpinning the company ethos and positive culture towards training and employee development. Andrew Davies, Business Development & Proposal Manager and Hannes Van Nedervelde, Operations (Project) Manager received the award for Sarens. Sarens also sponsored the Airfreight Solution of the Year Award which was given away by Bev Bentley, Director Strategic Global Projects, Sarens. 

In the heavy lifting industry, ECOL stands for European Crane Operator License, and is the result of an ESTA initiative to investigate how a European craft proficiency certificate for crane operators can be established for the industry.

The ECOL license is especially valuable for operators working on European projects, and is valid in Belgium and across Europe. All operators, regardless of country of origin, can be ECOL certified. ECOL enables every crane operator in Europe to demonstrate that he or she meets the minimum requirements for the industry, and to exercise his or her profession in any European member state without having to attend multiple retraining or examination sessions. Furthermore, ECOL allows every employer to assess the qualifications and experience of any operator applying for a position, and enables every site or plant manager to check the qualifications and experience of any crane operator entering the construction site or plant.

According to our Group Talent Manager, Pieter Van den Eynde, “This award is a meaningful reward for the huge efforts in providing industry related training by our Sarens Training Center and a strong encouragement to keep improving our quality program for our people.”