Where we came from

The two brothers Gerhard and Arie Jacob Nagtegaal start a factory in Gouda for the production of refractory materials under the name of Firma Gebrs. Nagtegaal.

In 1909 Arie Jacob leaves the company and transfers his share to his sister Anna Maria.

Gerhard's son Gerard Cornelis and the latter's brother-in-law Eduard Carel van den Bovenkamp buy-out the founders of the company and focus on supplying to the petrochemical industry, which is growing rapidly thanks to the post-war reconstruction.

Firma Gebrs. Nagtegaal becomes an NV (Dutch limited liability company) with more than 60 employees.

Partnership with De Porceleyne Fles leads to a new name: NV Gouda Vuurvast, Verenigde Vuurvaste-Steenfabrieken. New offices and a modern laboratory are built on the company's site. The factory is already using a tunnel oven. Regular customers for the company's refractory bricks and monolithics include Shell, Esso, Stork, Philips, Ketjen, Werkspoor, Koninklijke Sphinx, Koninklijke Mosa, the Royal Netherlands Navy and the NS (Dutch Railways).

Acquisition of the refractory materials installation department of De Porceleyne Fles. By now the company has over 150 employees.

Acquisition by the French company Carbonisation Entreprise et Céramique (CEC). This in turn became later part of the cement producer Lafarge.

In 1976 the company celebrates its 75th anniversary.

Gouda Vuurvast takes over Chamotte Unie in Geldermalsen. An additional refractory factory was purchased for the price of six million guilders.

In 1982 De Nagtegaal and Van den Bovenkamp families buy Gouda Vuurvast back from Lafarge.

Gouda Vuurvast is listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange.

Acquisition of the Belgian oven builder Selanco Vuurvast in Schoten leads to the formation of Gouda Vuurvast Belgium.

Gouda Feuerfest is established in Germany.

Gouda Vuurvast becomes part of the RijnDijk Groep, which changes its name to Andus Group at the beginning of 2009. The group has four divisions working in the oil & gas, steel construction, refractory and process industries.

Andus Refractories has four independent operating companies: Gouda Refractories, Gouda Vuurvast Services, Gouda Vuurvast Belgium and Gouda Feuerfest (Germany).

On November 15, 2013, the 3rd tunnel kiln and the new production facility were officially brought into service. By means of the new furnace, which reaches 1700°C temperature, the production capacity increased by 60%.

An agreement for the acquisition of 15.000 m2 of adjacent land and buildings has been reached with the city council of Gouda. With this acquisition the ambitions and further development of Gouda Refractories can be realized.

The construction of a new fully automatic mixing line for high-grade refractory materials will already start at the end of November 2018.

Construction works for a new head office is started and scheduled for completion by mid-2020. Other projects that can be realized through this expansion include the realization of cutting-edge laboratory facilities for product development and further improvements to the production process and logistics process.

The refractories division from Andus Group opens a location in Sweden: Gouda Refractories Nordic.

Again the refractories division from the Andus Group opens a new location in Sweden: Gouda Industri Eldfast.

The division Andus Refractories changes into Gouda Refractories Group and becomes an autonomous group of companies.

With the support of investment company Gilde Equity Management (GEM) since 2021, Gouda Refractories Group has experienced strong growth. As of October 24, 2024, an acquisition by Shinagawa Group was successfully completed, making Gouda Refractories Group and all its subsidiaries part of Shinagawa Group.