In 1800, Nicolaas Jurjan Lankhorst goes to Sneek as a pharmaceutical apprentice. Three years after, he falls in love with Hendrikje Stam and gets married on the 12th of June 1803. This same year, the Lankhorst family starts the rope making activities.

Nicolaas Jurjan Lankhorst is officially recognized by the French government (the Netherlands was conquered by Napoleon in 1810) as a marchand de cordes - rope tradesman.

The company starts producing binding twine.

The business is taken over by Auke Lankhorst, the middle son, who had been a common employee on his father's ropewalk. This change in status may have been due to his marriage in 1829 where the bride contributed with almost 7,000 guilders to the marriage. The company grows from three workers on the ropewalk to fourteen employees.

Auke Lankhorst asks the King whether the name Beckeringh could be added to that of Lankhorst. Royal Decree granted this request on 20 July 1833. From this day on, the young Willem was allowed to use the name Beckeringh alongside to his own and to call himself Beckeringh Lankhorst from then on.

Auke Lankhorst’s youngest son, Willem Lankhorst, takes over and his father is no longer in charge of the company.

He wasn’t considered an innovative company manager, as he was more concerned with consolidation than expansion.

Nicolaas Jurjan Lankhorst dies at an old age.

On November 26th, Auke Lankhorst dies. The company name changes to N.J. Lankhorst and Son.

Willem Beckeringh Lankhorst’s son named after his grandfather, Auke Beckeringh Lankhorst, joins the company as manager.

Auke Beckeringh Lankhorst II had always showed a special interest in the fishing industry.

During this year, Lankhorst starts to sell fishing articles.

Willem Beckeringh Lankhorst dies on 19 May.

During this year there was a change in the organizational structure of the company. By Royal Decree on 14 April, the name of the company N.J. Lankhorst and Son was changed to that of Naamloze Vennootschap N.J. Lankhorst en Zoon’s Machinale Spinnerij, Touwslagerij en Vischnettenfabriek (Public Limited Company N.J. Lankhorst and Sons Mechanical Spinning Mill, Rope-yard and Fish-net Manufacturers).

Auke Beckeringh Lankhorst II ended his duties due to health issues. His son, Willem Beckeringh Lankhorst II and his son-in-law Cornelius Hendrikus van Rhijn succeeded him in the company. As the largest shareholder, he would continue to have an influence on the business operations for some time. 

Auke Beckeringh Lankhorst II dies in 1928. Before he died, he transferred the largest part of his shares in the company to his children a year before his death. The eighteen shares, which he kept for himself, became his wife’s after his death.

The company name is changed to Lankhorst Touwfabrieken (Lankhorst Rope Manufacturers Ltd). A third member was added to the board of directors, Ruurt Alle van der Sluis Sr. 

Lankhorst began to mass-produce binder twine for use in self-binding harvesters

Due to some conflicts van Rhijn resigned this same year, he said the reason was because “there were great differences that exist between myself and others (…), differences that are not based on business facts, but on personal antipathy.” Van der Sluis Sr was quickly appointed ”the senior director with all the rights and obligations associated with such a position” and Willem Beckeringh Lankhorst II would become second director.

During the shareholders meeting, a proposal was put forward to privatize the company’s fishing division. This happened under the company name N.V. Lankhorst Visserijbenodigdheden (Lankhorst Fishing Supplies plc). 

Willem Beckeringh Lankhorst II resigned from the position of director but remained a member of the Supervisory Board of the company. Leaving the company with no representatives of the family Lankhorst.

Lankhorst celebrated it’s 150th anniversary and the personnel received a tennis court, bathing house and sauna from the management.

Lankhorst takes over the Nederlands Touwfabrieken (NETO) in Alblasserdam in order to stimulate sales in the Rotterdam port region, and in hope of gaining better entry into the market. This company has specialized in the manufacture of maritime ropes for a long time and had gained itself a first class reputation.

Sisal twines became the mainstay of the production within the Lankhorst spinning mills. Lankhorst established a sisal spinning mill in Usambara (Tanzania) together with the owner of the bordering sisal plantation.

This year, but on western Europe, Euronete Ltd. was created, when seven entrepreneurs took the company for synthetic fibre products in the largely agricultural country of Portugal. With limited capital of approximately €1.000, the company began under the name Cerfil Companhia Industrial de Cerdas Artificiais S.A. in Matosinhos, 5 kilometres north of Porto. Later, Cerfil received necessary permits to produce rope and yarn, as well as to produce fishing nets, starting the production in a new factory in Maia. On the same place, Euronete concentrated on the manufacture of fishing nets from polyamide and HPPE monofilament synthetic yarns. 

Lankhorst started to produce orange synthetic yarns for water sports and the fishing industry.

Lankhorst started extrusion of polyethylene and polypropylene

Van der Sluis Sr. retired. After his retirement, the directorship of the company was taken over by his two sons and his son-in-law Wieb van Oerle. Hedman R., Heiding and Jan H. Warrink joined them. However, Van der Sluis Sr. kept on playing a role in the company until the early eighties, first as supervisor, later as advisor. 

Family Gramaxo established their factory for ropes and netting

The company did not have the prospect of sorting out the existing problems and it therefore started to look for new products and possibilities. The man who gave new impetus was José Luis Retumba Gramaxo. He had been a captain in the merchant marine and subsequently in the fishing trade for twenty years so he knew everything there was to know about fishing and nets giving him the nickname O Capitão (The Captain).

Euronete enters in a joint venture with Boston Deep Sea Fisheries in Hull, England.

Back in Portugal: After the revolution in 1974, the communist party (PCP) gained increasingly more power and had control of the government. This development led to an uncertain time, particularly for bankers, entrepreneurs and many others who took up prominent positions during dictatorship. Many of them looked for a safe haven abroad. In the first few days of revolution, Gramaxo had also had his bags packed and was ready to leave the country.  It turned out not to be necessary but the government’s radical measures ruined the economy. Cerfil and Euronete were only able to remain reasonable competitive abroad thanks to the devaluation of the Portuguese escudo. 

This same year, there were held free elections in Portugal. There was a strong economic recovery at the end of the seventies and from then on, Gramaxo, with the technical assistance of his close friend Mr Ferrer, could work on the further expansion of his companies. 

Lankhorst Touwfabrieken bv and bv Lankhorst Visserijbenodigheden merged to holding Lankhorst Sneek Ltd. Although the companies had the same shareholders, both companies appeared to be competing with each other more and more. With the creation of the new holding this was brought to an end.  It also meant that the multiple leadership of the company came to an end.  Wiebe van Oerle and Ruurt Alle van der Sluis Jr left the company. 

Jan Hendrik Warrink was appointed chairman – worked for the company since 1937 as a clerk and worked his way up till director. 

Setting up of Lankhorst Sport Ltd. division – point of manufacture and sales of yachting and angling products 

In 1980, Ruurt Alle van der Sluis Jr  left after the final appointment of a chairman in 1977. After his departure, the Lankhorst family was no longer part of the company's board. 

Taselaar Ltd. in Zwijndrecht was taken over creating a new subsidiary: Lankhorst Taselaar Ltd., distributing an entire product range for yachting.

Jan H. Warrink was succeeded by Ruurd Seinen in 1985. He had already been employed at the company in Sneek for 24 years starting off in the finance department.

The subsidiary Lankhorst Recycling Ltd. was created as a result of the 1973 oil crisis and the price of raw materials rose to an unprecedented level making Lankhorst to start recycling its own plastic waste. They processes various types of plastic waste into finished products and semi-manufactured products.

Lankhorst and Euronete start negotiations to merge. During the whole process Mr Seinen and Mr Gramaxo both played an important role in this. They became very well acquainted during the long preparatory process. Gramaxo’s southern character completed with Seinen’s Frisian level-headedness. Trust also played a large part in the process. Many agreements were not put into contracts as it was not considered necessary, something which characterizes the relationship between the two companies. 
 
Lankhorst started a co-operation with the Portuguese rope and net maker Grupo Euronete

Rebuilding of the Head office in Sneek.
Lankhorst Touwfabrieken was divided into three independent operating companies:

• Lankhorst Touwfabrieken: fiber rope, twines and wire rope
• Lankhorst Indutech: industrial yarns
• Lankhorst Recycling: products made from recycled plastics

Substantial divisions of the Dutch firm Verto, which had gone into bankruptcy, were acquired. A joint venture named LASH vof., a plastic pallet producing company, was established. Worldwide distributing network for fishing markets was established.

Ijmuiden Stores Holland was taken over after servicing the world’s fishing industry with top fishing gear since 1901. 

José Gramaxo dies due to a severe cancer disease. However, the man who had been responsible for the expansion of a small company into one of the largest fishing net manufacturers in the world for nearly thirty years did not leave his company without suitable successors. After his death, the running of the company was taken over by his sons and daughters, who were also strong supporters of the cooperation with Lankhorst.

Rebuilding of the Recycling Department in Sneek

Rebuilding of the extrusion factory in Sneek.

Rebuilding of the braiding factory in Boticas

The companies finally merge. José Gramaxo junior hold the position of Vice-President of the Group and Maria de Lurdes was responsible for the Group's Accounting and Finance. Other members of the Gramaxo family also played an active role in running the group: Miguel was a member of the Board of Euronete, Mafalda was a member of the Board of Euroredes and Nuno was active in Export Sales. 

Lankhorst Sneek and Euronete are named Lankhorst Euronete Group BV

Takeover of Ekon Ltd. in Born, Limburg, a company which produces sheet materials mainly from plastic waste. This take over came to strengthen Lankhorst Recylcing’s market position. Eurorope Performance Rope Producers, a rope producing joint-venture in Greece, was established.

Construction of the factory, for manufacturing fencing products, in Murça.

Later this year, on the occasion of the group’s bicentennial anniversary, Her Majesty the Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands granted the company by Royal Warrant the predicate “Royal”. The full name of the company was changed into Royal Lankhorst Euronete group bv

Foundation of the sixth division: Yarn Division

The Royal Lankhorst Euronete Group announces the acquisition of a new 
industrial unit in Rio de Janeiro – Brazil. This new industrial unit will be used for production of deep water mooring ropes for the oil & gas platforms, production of maritime ropes for the local market and - at a later stage - also for production of buoyancy materials for the oil & gas industry.

On the 5th of July 2012, Miguel Gramaxo passed away after struggling from a serious disease for many years.

This same year:
Acquisition of Le Drezen. Since more than 80 years Group Le Drezen has been involved in the production and Sales of fishing nets, in selling fishing hardware and wire rope for the French market and export. 

Fisheries Supply changes it's name (operating since 1989) to Lankhorst Euronete Australia in January 2011. Euronete and Bekaert team up for a general supply agreement, for the supply of the Bekaert high quality wires for Euronete fishing wire rope department.

On 16th of April 2012, Ruurd Seinen passed away. Ruurd was President (till 2004) and actual Supervisory Board member of the Royal Lankhorst Euronete Group.

This same year:
Construction of a new modern factory to produce deep water mooring ropes for the oil and gas platforms in Viana do Castelo. Change in production unit, from Povoa de Varzim to Viana do Castelo, was done due to the difficulties in transporting and handling such heavy products. To solve these problems, that factory will be located inside the port in order to provide our offshore customers with the required products.

WireCo WorldGroup Inc., global leader in producing and marketing of wire rope, electromechanical cable and a major producer of wire products announced the acquisition of Koninklijke (Royal) Lankhorst Euronete Group B.V. (“Lankhorst/Euronete”).