Niels sees Twente as an opportunity for doing business

This article is part of a series called “Twente Leeft!” (Twente Lives!). You can read personal stories here about living and working in Twente. Twente is a nice place to be, according to the talents we meet. The beautiful nature, space, the down-to-earth mentality; they all characterise Twente. There are also plenty of career opportunities! Twente has many innovative, international and future-proof companies that are desperate for staff. Want to know what Twente has to offer? You can find Niels Peters’s story below. 

Niels moved from northern Limburg to Twente for his studies. “I loved chemistry and had no exact idea about what I wanted to do. But chemistry always appealed to me, and I found technology very interesting. So it seemed logical to study Chemical Technology. The University of Twente is regarded as one of the best, so I chose for Twente.”

Niels worked as a chemical technologist after his studies, at a company in the south of Limburg. “I started dating Louise, my current wife, during my studies and we moved to Limburg afterwards. She wanted to go back to Twente though after a while, so we went back. During my studies, I felt like Twente was a place I could always go back to; that was very pleasant. I was able to settle down when we got back to Twente, and it soon felt like home. I have been living here for many years now. We have a wonderful family, and I am now the director of Mekufa: a great technical company.”

“Everything is well-organised in Twente!”

Twente is a great place for doing business, if you ask Niels, especially for technical companies. “Twente gives you space. Not only for relaxing, but also if you want to establish and grow your technical company. The pressure on the labour market is also not as extreme here; we can always find high-quality staff from the region. Almost all our production staff and engineers are from around here.”

Twente is a great place, especially for technical companies. “Suppliers around us have the same high-quality technology, which is very important to me. We also work together with companies around us on a regular basis. That is the great thing about Twente: there are many high-quality companies, and we work together regularly.”

Niels receives mostly international customers at Mekufa: “The distance between our office and the airports, both Amsterdam and Düsseldorf, is never really seen as an obstacle. On the contrary; they all say that it is so beautiful and green here and that Twente has a lot of space!”

Twente is not just a great place for doing business. According to Niels, it is also great for settling down with your family. “Twente has a lot of space and nature. This wasn’t very important to me when I was a student, but this changed now that I have a family. There are great schools here in Twente as well, and houses are still relatively cheap. There are a lot of great facilities, and public transport takes you all over the world. In short: everything is well-organised in Twente!”

Twente lives

Twente is the ideal place to live and work, according to the talents we meet. Want to know why? Read personal stories about living and making a career in Twente on twente.com/twente-leeft. Want to look for a job immediately? Then take a look at our extensive job site.