Nonstopfreshmagazine juni 2019 uk

The new head office
‘Today we are opening the new head office,
and if you were to ask me whether it is
turned out beter than I expected, then my
answer would be yes. The same goes for
whether it is turned out better-looking than
I expected.’
‘We were and are a growing organisation,
and at a certain moment you start running
out of space. We are not running out of
ambition, though, so in early 2016 we sat
down with the architects to make plans
for a new head office. We quickly realised
that the existing office building was still
largely suitable for 2016, even though it was
designed in 2004 and built in 2006. That is a
real compliment to the team back then.’
‘Working on the basis of what we already
had, we have now developed a 2.0 version.
As always, we asked ourselves what needed
to be improved. We developed and realised
the new building based on the answers to
this question. We have changed quite a bit in
terms of technology and air conditioning and
we have also looked ahead as regards style
and appearance. Nevertheless, it is great that
we are opening a head office with the same
kind of look and mostly the same choice of
materials. In 2006, the office was built in a
way that permitted expansion, but I could
not have imagined back then that in 2019
we had be quadrupling our floor area.’
‘Over the past three years, we have
experienced Aartsen’s biggest period of
growth. So much has happened for us in this
time. The company is developing at a rapid
pace, not only in commercial terms, but also
with new and growing departments such as
IT. That requires space. It does not need to
be the most beautiful, expensive or luxurious
office. You will not find any gold taps here,
which I do not even like actually, but we do
have a special quality. When you see the final
result, I believe you will agree that we have
a wonderful contemporary and distinctive
office building within our sector. I am really
happy with it and I hope and believe that my
people will love to work there.’
The sense of family
‘In the new building, departments are
physically much closer together than in
the old situation. All the departments work
together in the modern section of the head
office. Everyone works in the same space,
shares the same coffee pantry and uses
the same lunch space. This strengthens
collaboration and solidarity between the
commercial, administration, IT and marketing
& communication departments, thus
achieving one goal of the new building.’
‘Moreover, I hope that the name change
contributes to the sense of family, even if
just by 1%. Aartsen’s success depends on
the quality of the people who work for us.
We employ truly fan-tas-tic people,
and their number is growing all the time.
One disadvantage of growth is that the
sense of solidarity decreases and there is a
risk that the atmosphere will become more
impersonal. Increasing our size is a tricky
issue, I feel, because it also brings some
things I do not like so much.’
‘You see, I want to make sure that we retain a
culture of collaboration, that we are all in this
together. All the management staff do their
utmost to strengthen the team feeling, the
culture and the solidarity. Aartsen is no place
for loners, we always look for team players.
That is our quality. If the name change and
the sense of family that goes along with it
help to promote the sense of solidarity,
then in my view it is mission accomplished.
Time will tell.’
The future
‘To be honest, I am curious about how
many people expected us to announce
something historic today. Many people
may have thought it would involve me.
I have absolutely no desire to retire –
perish the thought. However, in order to
focus my energies on other issues and to
give people the chance to progress in their
careers and take on more responsibilities,
I withdrew from day-to-day commercial
activities at the age of fifty. This has made
us stronger as an organisation.’
‘Looking to the future, I can say that I never
want to become that old guy at Aartsen
who keeps interfering with everything and
everyone. The previous generation did not do
that either and so created opportunities for
new talent and new qualities and abilities at
Aartsen. I need to find the right balance here.
However, what is certain, is that Aartsen
is not for sale and that I want to guide the
company into a new phase. The long-term
future – that will be my challenge for the
coming years.’