The story of konesilta
BUSINESS STORY
1991-1996: Entrepreneur Ville Kyllönen’s interest in earthmoving machines and their technology began as a child and adolescence in summer jobs and in his free time at Koneselkä Oy, an earthmoving equipment salvage yard founded by his parents in 1991 in the village of Saviselkä in Kärsämäki, Finland.
1996: At the age of 16, Ville Kyllönen sold a machine for the first time at his parents’ company while they were on holiday. To his parents’ surprise, Ville sold a Case CK61 excavator to a customer in Merijärvi.
2001: In 2001, while Ville was on an international internship for his mechanical engineering studies in the Netherlands, he got the idea to start selling mini excavators in Finland, where those smaller machines were just beginning to become popular. Ville founded Konesilta Ky and bought his first Hitachi EX60-1 mini excavator with money he had earned from his summer job and borrowed the remaining 5,000 € from his sister Kaisa. The machine was sold during the autumn holiday week, and Konesilta’s operations slowly began to grow from that point.
2003: The turnover for the first financial year (18 months) was 360,000 € and the operations were carried out from Kärsämäki in the same premises as Koneselkä Oy.
2007: Konesilta Oy obtained the highest AAA credit rating.
2010: The company opened another office in Sarankulma, Tampere.
2010: The premises in Saviselkä, Kärsämäki, were completely destroyed in a fire that caused millions of euros of damage and the company’s operations were temporarily halted. For the next year, we had to operate in temporary premises at three different addresses in Kärsämäki while the reconstruction of the new premises was started.
2011: A new 1,300 m2 maintenance and customisation centre was completed at the junction of Highway 4 and Highway 28 in the centre of Kärsämäki. After the setbacks, the operation got into a new gear thanks to the new facilities and excellent visibility along the main roads.
2015: Turnover exceeded 10 million EUR and the number of employees was 10 persons.
2017: Turnover exceeded 20 million EUR and there were 15 employees.
2018: An agreement was concluded with Japanese Kubota Construction for the sale and import of new Kubota mini excavators and loaders in Finland.
2018: The Tampere office moved to a new service and customisation centre in Pirkkala.
2020: Turnover exceeded 30 million EUR and the number of employees was 20.
2021: The family business turned 20. At the request of the customers, a third office was established in Tuusula near capital Helsinki. Its operations started in spring 2021. The selection includes a growing stock of over 50 new and used machines, as well as maintenance, repair and spare parts services under the name of a subsidiary named VKL Huolto Oy.
2022: During the latest financial year, 700 pieces of equipment were sold from three locations to thirteen different countries, and the turnover for the financial year exceeded EUR 40 million. There are more than 250 new and used machines in stock. The company employs nearly 30 people. Our repeat customer rate is about 65%.
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