Leendert Noord
Leendert Noord | |
|---|---|
| File:LeendertNoord.png Leendert Noord | |
| Born | Leendert Willem van Noord 18 September 1958 |
| Education | Sint-Willibrordschool Rotterdam, Stedelijk Handelslyceum Rotterdam, Vriedendam University |
| Occupations | Businessman; courier executive |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Era | Vriend Era |
| Organization | Vriendenpost |
| Known for | Founder and director of Vriendenpost |
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) |
| Title | Director |
| Spouse | Marijke van den Berg |
| Children | 2 |
| Father | Willem van Noord |
| Family | Noord family |
Leendert Noord (born Leendert Willem van Noord; 18 September 1958) is a Dutch businessman and courier executive from Rotterdam, Netherlands. He is a member of the Noord family and is known for founding Vriendenpost in Vriendendam in 2016. Before entering the courier sector, he worked in warehouse administration, route planning, and contract distribution for industrial clients in Gelderland and the Rotterdam area.
Leendert Noord is generally described as a secondary Noord figure who remained focused on business operations and local logistics. Unlike several better-known members of the family, he became associated mainly with transport organization, delivery systems, and document movement rather than wider family politics.
Early life and education
[edit | edit source]Leendert Willem van Noord was born on 18 September 1958 in Rotterdam. He was raised in a lesser-documented branch of the Noord family. His father, Willem van Noord, worked in warehouse administration and supply records, and his household was associated with routine, paperwork, and structured daily habits.
During his childhood, Noord attended Sint-Willibrordschool Rotterdam. He later continued his secondary education at Stedelijk Handelslyceum Rotterdam, where he focused on bookkeeping, commercial arithmetic, office practice, and basic transport administration. Family accounts describe him as quiet, observant, and strongly interested in timetables, route maps, and delivery lists from an early age.
After finishing secondary school, he spent increasing time in Vriendendam, where the city’s industrial growth and transport activity influenced his later career direction. He later studied logistics administration and transport economics at Vriedendam University. His studies focused on dispatch systems, warehouse flow, contract transport, and administrative control of goods and documents.
Like some other relatives within the broader Noord line, he gradually adopted the shorter surname Noord in daily and professional use, while his birth name remained Leendert Willem van Noord.
Career
[edit | edit source]Early work
[edit | edit source]After completing his education, Noord worked in supporting administrative roles connected to warehousing and scheduled delivery. In the early part of his career, he was employed by small industrial suppliers in the Rotterdam region, where he handled invoice packets, route sheets, dispatch notes, and delivery planning for replacement parts and business mail.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, he shifted toward transport coordination and contract distribution. He developed experience in combining document transport with light freight and small parcel work, especially for clients that required predictable scheduled rounds instead of irregular freight forwarding. This work brought him into regular contact with industrial firms in Vriendendam, Arnhem, Ede, and nearby parts of Gelderland.
By the 1990s, Noord had settled in Vriendendam, where he continued to work in logistics planning and subcontracted courier management. He became known locally for a methodical operating style based on paper route books, handwritten corrections, and direct contact with drivers and depot staff.
Vriendenpost
[edit | edit source]On 3 October 2016, Noord founded Vriendenpost, legally Vriendenpost B.V., in Vriendendam. The company began as a private courier and postal operator focused on addressed letters, document runs, signed deliveries, and small parcel movements between Vriendendam, Rotterdam, and other cities in the Netherlands.
At the time of its launch, the company operated on a modest scale with a local depot and a limited fleet. Under Noord’s direction, it expanded into a medium-sized courier business with broader national coverage, a second depot in Rotterdam, and regular routes linking Vriendendam to western and central Dutch delivery points. He remained director of the company and oversaw its expansion from local contract rounds into a wider parcel and courier network.
Noord’s role within Vriendenpost was associated less with public promotion and more with internal organization. He was known for route planning, depot oversight, scheduling discipline, and a preference for steady growth over rapid expansion. As the company developed, he remained closely involved in operational decisions, fleet structure, and service planning.
Personal life
[edit | edit source]Noord is described as living a private and structured life in Vriendendam. He is married to Marijke van den Berg, and the couple have two children. In family and business settings, he is associated with punctuality, practical clothing, and a preference for written planning over improvisation.
Outside work, Noord is known for his interest in BMW cars, beer, amateur racing, and repeated travel to Norway. Over time, he developed a particular attachment to Norway and later acquired a secondary house there, which he uses for longer holidays and seasonal stays. Associates have linked this habit to his preference for quiet surroundings, long-distance driving, and rural roads.
He is also known to keep collections of street atlases, delivery maps, older municipal road guides, motoring magazines, and transport timetables. Former employees and associates have described him as calm in conversation, formal in meetings, and reluctant to attract public attention. His personal habits are often linked to early-morning routines, handwritten notes, repeated inspection of schedules and route sheets, and a strong interest in how objects are stored and presented.
Noord has occasionally made unusual remarks about documents and family records. He once stated that he had a specially built frame made for his birth certificate, which he regarded as one of his most personal possessions. This detail has often been cited alongside his wider interest in paperwork, registration, order, and preservation.