Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?
I am 33 years old, soon to be a father of a little girl. I used to play football on a “high” amateur level in Belgium and currently playing in a team with close friends. Besides sports, I have a big passion for Italian wines. I used to import Italian wines from Toscany and Piedmont and even had a small company in selling wines. Since my new role within Axelent, I sold my company to my sister, who is now running it.
Can you share your background with Axelent Benelux?
Axelent has been a part of my life since my father and Folke started the company in Belgium. As a young teenager I did some vacation work installing our machine protection at Procter and Gamble in Mechelen. At this point I started to get a feeling with our products. When I was 21, I started working for Axelent. The first month I did different installations with our team to get to know all the products.
After getting a good knowledge of all our products I started to make quotations and did some customer support. After a few years, I did measurements on site and got more responsibilities within the company. A funny thing is that one of my first site visits was again at Procter and Gamble reviewing the same installation I did when I was 16 years old.
Eventually I started my career in sales, finding new costumers and maintain our relationship with existing customers. Over the past 12 years I was able to extend my knowledge in our products, our company and in business development.
Since the beginning of this year, I’m taking over the position from my father and started my new role as CEO of Axelent Benelux. I am very grateful for the big opportunity and so excited to face all the challenges and future opportunities.
You are now taking over the position from your father, how does it feel to start this role after him?
Big shoes to fill, I can only hope that we will have the same success as my father had building up the company to what it is today. However, I am convinced that we can succeed since we have a great team in Benelux and I strongly believe in our products and general management of Axelent Global.
What are your visions for Axelent Benelux forward?
Our number one goal is of course to keep growing in a healthy way. We aim to be a company that is known for great products, service, and good relationships. Also, I want Axelent to be a company with happy and motivated employees who are excited to be a part of the team.
What are you looking forward to the most in this new position?
Grow my experience in people management, keeping my team motivated and happy and being part of the bigger group Axelent Global. I’m very excited to work closely together on the future of our company.
Can you tell us a little bit about the team in Axelent Benelux?
At Benelux I am proud to say that we really have a family spirit, it’s in our DNA since we inherited this from my father. For us, having an open communication and a healthy balance between work and fun, is key to have a good relationship between colleagues and work as ONE team. This has been our strength in the past and will be in the future.
