'Vandersanden is an uncut diamond'
In January, Johan Deburchgrave became Vandersanden's new CEO. He is passionate about our company's values and innovative focus and sees the collaboration as an opportunity to achieve even more growth through his experience. In this blog, he explains how long-term thinking played a crucial role in his choice of Vandersanden.
I have had many different experiences in my career, both in domestic and foreign companies. But what I have never experienced before on a first company visit or in initial discussions with employees, is the tireless entrepreneurial spirit I see at Vandersanden. Every day, I feel an enormous drive to roll up my sleeves and get things done. That's how I am, that's how I have always worked.
What immediately struck me is that in this company, both small and big innovations not only arise in co-creation with customers but also come from the minds of our own employees. We combine tradition and craftsmanship with a drive to continuously innovate. I strongly believe in a collaborative work culture; a company is more than the sum of the individuals working there. Much more. I intend to listen very carefully to the ideas that live within the company, at every level.
Bricks that stand the test of time
Family businesses are also strong in long-term thinking and at Vandersanden, this really is part of the company's DNA. Lasting 135 years, our bricks remain for entire generations. How many companies can say that? Vandersanden's ambition is to be as relevant in 50 years as it is today.
The long-term perspective and commitment to sustainability are crucial to the company.
For all the major challenges facing the construction and infrastructure world, we have the solutions in-house. We develop bricks that remove CO2 from the air and help reduce the impact of global warming. We invest in circular building methods like dry stacking to reuse bricks. We also use automation and prefabrication to keep the cost of building manageable as well as coping with the labour shortage in the construction sector. In addition, we think along with solutions that respond to the changing climate by using our paving bricks to improve water management and promote greening.
Collective well-being
I feel a lot of pride when I walk around the company, not only because of the vision, the potential and the mentality within the organisation. Above all, our people are imbued with their social role and want to take responsibility. This naturally involves major global challenges such as the climate issue: how do we help to reduce our sector's historically high CO2 emissions?
But it is equally about a deep commitment to the local communities we are part of with all our locations. And of course, it is about caring for our employees, who deserve the healthiest and safest working environment. This all sits together under the umbrella of what Vandersanden calls ‘collective well-being’.
I feel a lot of pride when I walk around the company, not only because of the vision, the potential and the mentality within the organisation. Above all, our people are imbued with their social role and want to take responsibility.
Marathon and sprint
Thanks to its people, solutions and potential, I see Vandersanden as an uncut diamond. In recent years we have grown into the largest family-owned brick manufacturer in Europe, but there are still many new opportunities for further progression in the future. The construction industry is going through a difficult period right now: people are keeping a tight grip on their wallets and construction and infrastructure projects are being postponed. But it seems that from 2025 onwards, the sector will recover.
As the new CEO, it is my mission, together with others, to outline the vision and strategy for the coming years and achieve growth. How do we realise our ambitions? How do we divide big plans and goals into manageable pieces? The trick is to constantly find the right balance between long-term and short-term needs by combining two disciplines: the marathon and the sprint.
We need to make that vision and strategy as explicit as possible so that we can communicate it clearly and all employees and teams should be able to work with it. That way, we can gradually polish that uncut diamond and make it shine even more.
Johan Deburchgrave
