Former Dutch minister Raymond Knops joins Valcon as partner

Valcon has strengthened its partnership in the Netherlands with a high-profile hire, welcoming former government minister Raymond Knops to its ranks.

Raymond Knops brings a distinguished 30+ year career in politics to Valcon, serving as a minister, member of the House of Representatives, and state secretary for the CDA party. Among others, he served as the minister of Interior and Kingdom Relations under Prime Minster Mark Rutte.

Earlier in his career, Knops worked in local politics and served the Dutch military.

Now in his role as partner, Knops will act as strategic adviser to Valcon’s government practice. He will provide Valcon teams with counsel on strategic matters, support the further growth of the business, and engage with top-level officials.

Knops will hold the role alongside a number of other roles, including serving as Chairman of The Netherlands Industries for Defence & Security (NIDV).

“We are delighted that Raymond will be joining us as a partner,” said Geert van den Goor, CEO of Valcon. “He has a wealth of knowledge and industry experience garnered from his stellar career in politics and we think he will provide us with the insight we need to view our government business through a different lens.”

“At Valcon, we always aspire to attract people of the best calibre to our team and Raymond’s appointment is testament to this approach. We are looking forward to working with him.”

Valcon is a pan-European consulting business, with its roots in the Netherlands. The firm has over 1,750 consultants in the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Serbia and Croatia.

Commenting on his move, Knops said: “After a 30-year career in in politics and the military, consulting is a new direction for me. I thrive on learning new concepts and skills and this position at Valcon fits the bill. Valcon has a fantastic culture as well as values and is led by a superb leadership team. I can’t wait to start working with the team.”