::projective ramps up Dutch ambitions with new office in Amsterdam

Project management consultancy ::projective has opened a new office in Amsterdam. The move follows on from a period of strong growth in the Netherlands, in both the number of clients served and team size. Across Europe, ::projective also has offices in Brussels, London, Frankfurt and Paris.

Originally from Belgium, ::projective entered the Dutch consulting industry in 2009 when Piet Impens recruited a small team of programme and project managers to bring the firm’s proposition to Benelux’s largest market. In 2011, Impens was joined by Corjan Mol, who was appointed a Partner. Together the two Managing Partners have anchored the company in the Dutch financial services landscape over the past years. “::projective has more and more become the party to go to for complex delivery of programmes and projects in banking, asset management, insurance and financial market infrastructure,” said Mol. 

The financial services environment has been subject to an enormous amount of change in recent years. Regulatory challenges, rationalisation of process and systems landscapes and the introduction of new technologies have changed the landscape forever. “We needed to innovate and develop our business model to remain ahead of the curve,” stated Mol. Against the backdrop, the group’s Executive Committee – in which both Impens and Mol have a seat – took a radical decision to maintain the firm’s ultra-flat company structure whilst it was re-inventing its business model and growing rapidly in five geographies.

“All our people have ten-plus years of experience in financial services, they are practitioners,” said Impens, adding, “combined as a group we have deep knowledge of almost every thinkable process in our area of expertise. We wanted to mobilise that knowledge towards our clients to bring them more value.” 

Delivery Excellence communities

With that in mind the consultancy established a number of communities across its five locations. Mol: “Instead of selling someone to deliver a project we now work from our Delivery Excellence Community to translate hundreds of years of combined delivery experience into propositions about among others Project Rescue or Agile Transformation. We bring those value propositions to our clients or we insource complete project portfolios from our clients to execute with and for them.”

Parallel to re-arranging its experience into value propositions, ::projective positioned itself at the heart of the FinTech eco-system. The firm has direct links with FinTechs hubs such as B-Hive, The Bridge and The Glue, with private equity players such as Smartfin Capital and startup platforms including Scale-Ups Europe. 

Backed by Diebold Nixdorf as a powerful financial investor, ::projective has according to Impens truly transformed from a traditional project management firm into a “networked multifaceted” market player. “We now have the power to mobilise almost unlimited skill and knowledge in financial services combined with the ability to connect clients to new technologies and opportunities.” 

Commenting on the ambitions for the Dutch outfit, Impens stated that the firm wants to mirror the success of the Belgian business. “In Belgium, ::projective has become synonymous with delivering innovation in the market. We have the ambition to achieve the same in the Netherlands.” An ambition which is recognised by clients in the Dutch market. “Our message clearly resounds with organisations that wish to really become part of new developments in FinTech and finance,” added Mol. “Through our communities, we can offer people direct access to the brightest minds and best new solutions around, whether it’s in Digital, Regulatory or Operational Excellence.”

A peak at the recent growth of ::projective in the Netherlands underwrites the vision of the two Managing Partners. While the firm had 22 professionals in the country in January 2017, today the tally stands at 35 – an increase in headcount of about one third. “Our new office, close to many of our clients, embodies our ambition and the space we want to occupy, literally in the midst of the action,” said Mol. “If you want to bring change to your clients, then you first must show them that you can change first”.