Strand Associates opens office in Braine-l'Alleud, second in Belgium

Belgian boutique consultancy Strand Associates has expanded its presence through the establishment of a second office in the Braine-l’Alleud municipality in the Walloon Brabant province in Belgium. Alongside facilitating expansion, the move simplifies the provision of service to Strand’s growing body of clients in the province.

Strand Associates is a consulting firm that was established in Antwerp in 2009 as a small operation, looking to help clients in some of the most relevant industries in the contemporary global economy, specifically engineering, pharmaceutical affairs, supply chain management and digital expertise.

The firm differentiates itself by investing in building industry-specific expertise amongst its pool of professionals, so as to ensure value addition at every stage of the support process. Some of the firm’s specialised services include recruitment support, sourcing, contracting, staffing and even engineering.

In addition, the firm delves in the interim management domain, supply chain services, quality management, project management and regulatory affairs. In recent years, the firm’s operations have seen an increase in demand from the Walloon Brabant province in Belgium, requiring a large number of its consultants to make trips to the region from Antwerp.

To feed this demand, Strand Associates has now opened an office in the Walloon Brabant province, which is its second office in the country. The new office is also a step towards realising the firm’s objective of employing 300 consultants over the next two years leading up to 2020.

Commenting on the new office, CEO of Strand Associates Gael Terroir said, “Our team of project consultants active in Walloon Brabant grew exponentially in 2017. An extra office became a necessity for us to service our people well. It’s much more efficient and humane to have a place close to where our colleagues work, when we need to organise team meetings or after-work events.”

He added; "We have always been looking at the French speaking part of Belgium to extend our activities, and with the new branch all the pieces of the puzzle fit perfectly. The learnings and experiences we accumulated in Flanders will serve as a basis for the development of our brand in Brussels and Wallonia. The expertise and market knowledge of our aspiring associates will be a crucial asset. We aim to hire up to 10 extra colleagues by the end of 2018.”

To support the firm over its next phase of growth, the firm has also appointed new Branch Directors for its two offices. Pascal Severs, a Senior Associate at the firm, will now take over as Branch Director for the Walloon Brabant office, while Lien Vertommen will take over as Branch Director at Antwerp. Vertommen was previosuly the Business Unit Manager for Supply Chain at Strand.

"You may expect the Strand experience times two. We will make sure the high level of quality Strand is known for will be the same in both offices. I am convinced both Lien and Pascal are ready for the challenge. My role as CEO will evolve to supporting them through training, challenging discussions and constructive feedback. Of course, I will remain involved in strategical decision taking!” concluded Terroir.

As it grows in stature, Strand Associates is likely to increasingly lock heads with some of the biggest names in the consulting industry that are also expanding their operations in Belgium, particularly in the digital space. BDO, for instance, is investing substantially in the country, having recently acquired two digital consultancies earlier this year.