Our history
Freelift was formed by the merger of two lift manufacturers:
- Jan Hamer;
- Brinkman.
In 1886 Jan Hamer founded the lift factory Jan Hamer & Co. in Amsterdam. Mr Mulder took over the factory several years later and expanded it so that it was to become the largest lift manufacturer in the Netherlands. His grandson saw a stair lift for the first time while touring America in 1960. Inspired by the idea, he developed the first European stairlift in 1962.
The company Brinkman was founded in 1889 as a mechanical workshop for the dairy industry. In 1920, because customers often had difficulty vertically lifting their products, Brinkman developed a special lift: the column lift.
Collective strength
In the nineteen-eighties OTIS took over both lift companies and the merger resulted in Liftenfabriek Brinkman Jan Hamer, in Heerhugowaard. The OTIS subsidiary specialised more and more in stair lifts.
A new beginning
The company became independent once again in 1996. At the beginning of 1997 the company, by then engaged solely in the development and production of stairlifts, was renamed: Freelift BV.
2 Kings Court Kingsway Team Valley Gateshead Tyne & Wear NE11 0SH England
