How it all started
On 4 December 1924, founder Martien Jonkers was born in Helmond, the Netherlands. In 1945, at the age of 21, Martien started his own business. With Jonkers’ Handelsonderneming (commercial enterprise) he laid the foundation of our organisation. He was one of the first people to introduce pens imprinted with advertisements, named Clipper, to the Dutch (and European) market.
The 60s
His ambitions went beyond the Dutch borders and in 1961, IGO was founded: International Gift Organisation. IGO focused on selling promotional gifts to companies, foundations, institutions and the government.
Martien was introduced to the concept of "direct marketing" and changed IGO’s approach to the market. Sales was no longer done personally, but via catalogues.
So IGO becomes IGO-POST: International Gift Organisation by (parcel) Post!
The 80s and 90s
In the 80s, IGO expanded to Belgium and, in the 90s, France was added. In recent years sales offices were opened in England, Germany, Denmark and Austria. From these countries, also the Luxembourgian, Italian, Swiss, Liechtensteiner, Irish, Norwegian, Finnish and Swedish markets are approached.
After having moved several times, the headquarters has been situated at the Haverdijk in Helmond since 1992. The city where it all started. To this day, the production facility in Helmond continues growing. We have our own printing facility, packing and unpacking department and a large warehouse.
In 2007, founder and general director Martien Jonkers passed away at the age of 82.
Frans-jozef Maas and Ron Boer were appointed to be general - and commercial director.
Expansion of 10,000 m2
In 2015, the logistics centre was expanded by 10,000 m2, which enables further expansion of our production, making it ready for the future. Printing techniques are developing rapidly and our warehouse has more storage capacity, so that we can realise growth.
Brand developments
In 2016, Clipper Gifts became "Promotiv" (as a brand name) in the Nordics.
In 2017, we acquired a majority of the shares in Compacon B.V.; Compacon B.V. became part of our organisation.
In 2017, the brand IGO-POST transformed to IGO Promo. And the company name IGO-POST B.V. changed to Plato Group B.V.
Plato Group now encompasses the following brands: Clipper Gifts, Compacon and IGO.
1 December 2018, Plato Group got a new CEO: Ton Löbker.
Together with Hans Stoker (CFO since 1 August 2019), Ton Löbker constituted the Board of Plato Group until May 2022.
Acquisitions
In June 2020, Plato Group took over the activities of Supremia B.V. in the Netherlands with her brand Compacon. In August 2020, Compacon Germany also continued the activities of Supremia GmbH, located in Germany.
In December 2021, Clipper acquired Interall Group who develop, produce and supply sustainable and circular promotional products. This acquisition allows Clipper and Plato Group to make the industry of promotional products greener together and have a greater impact on the future of this industry.
The acquisition of the sustainable brand Interall Group and various other initiatives demonstrate that sustainability and social responsibility are top priorities of Plato Group.
