Belgian High-Growth Monitor Edition 2019/media/corporate... · 4 Birch, D. (1979), The Job Generation Process, MIT Program on Neighbourhood and Regional Change, MIT, Cambridge 5 Henrekson,

BELGIAN HIGH-GROWTH MONITOR EDITION 2019

YANNICK DILLEN

PROF. HANS CRIJNS

WHO ARE BELGIUM’S FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES?

Report made by the Impulse Centre ‘Growth

Management for Medium-sized Enterprises’ (iGMO)

Our solution to your specific needs

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page 1 INTRODUCTION

Page 3 HIGH-GROWTH FIRMS IN BELGIUM: THE STATE OF AFFAIRS

Page 12 THE VOICE OF GROWTH ENTREPRENEURS

Page 25 WHO ARE THESE HIGH-GROWTH FIRMS?

Page 27 ABOUT THE RESPONDENTS AND THEIR FIRMS

Page 29 THE VIEW OF THE AUTHORS

Page 32 LIST OF EMPLOYMENT HGFs FOR THE PERIOD 2014-2017

ABOUT THE BELGIAN HIGH-GROWTH MONITOR

The Belgian High-Growth Monitor is an annual initiative from the Impulse Centre

‘Growth Management for Medium-sized Enterprises’ (iGMO) of Vlerick

Business School, in cooperation with EY and KBC. This report presents the state

of affairs of Belgian high-growth firms by giving an overview of their profile

and characteristics. In addition, it presents the results of a survey of Belgian

growth entrepreneurs.

ABOUT THE IMPULSE CENTRE ‘GROWTH MANAGEMENT’ (iGMO)

The Impulse Centre ‘Growth Management for Medium-Sized Enterprises’ (iGMO)

of Vlerick Business School is a platform for research, open dialogue and networking

for owner-managers of growth-oriented SMEs. The Centre fits within the

strategic mission of Vlerick Business School, which aims to stimulate

entrepreneurship. Founded in 1993, iGMO currently has over 160 active

member-entrepreneurs who periodically gather in research seminars,

workshops and learning visits, both nationally and internationally. iGMO builds on

the support of its prime foundation partners EY and KBC.

BELGIAN HIGH-GROWTH MONITOR 2019

This report is based on data gathered from the Belfirst database of Bureau Van Dijk and on the

analysis of survey results gathered from Belgian entrepreneurs. The conclusions and opinions of the

authors of the report are not necessarily those of Vlerick Business School, EY or KBC. Copyright is

held by Vlerick Business School and the report cannot be used without the permission of Vlerick

Business School and the authors.

Copyright © 2019 Vlerick Business School (Yannick Dillen & Hans Crijns).

All rights reserved.

1

INTRODUCTION

High-growth firms (HGFs) are frequently described as the engine of the Belgian

economy. They create the majority of new jobs and account for an enormous

increase in the total added value that is realised by Belgian private firms.

Therefore, it is crucial to learn more about the characteristics of these HGFs. Who

are these Belgian high-growth firms? Do we find remarkable evolutions in their

profiles? Answers to these questions may be vital for academics, policy makers

and ambitious entrepreneurs. The Belgian High-Growth Monitor aims to provide

these answers by analysing the subset of HGFs in Belgium for the most

recent period and by surveying a group of Belgian growth entrepreneurs.

HGFs are defined as companies that have achieved annual growth rates of at

least 20 per cent per year in employees or added value, over a period of

three years. Firms need to have had at least ten registered employees at the

start of the analysed three-year period.1,2 Hence, micro-firms are excluded from

the analysis. Our data were obtained from the Bel-first database of Bureau Van

Dijk, which contains financial information for all Belgian firms for the period 2009-

2017.3

Number of employees and added value will be considered as growth measures. As

a consequence, we will analyse two different subsets of high-growth firms. First,

employment HGFs are defined as those that have realized high-growth in terms

of full-time equivalent employees working for the company. Second, added value

HGFs are defined as those that have experienced a period of rapid growth in terms

of added value. Added value figures have important social implications, because

the sum of all added value figures is a building block of the country’s domestic

product. Hence, the two growth measures that are taken into account both have

an impact — directly or indirectly — on the prosperity of a region, as strong

employment growth entails job creation, and strong added value growth enables

an increase in GDP.

1 The OECD definition of an HGF considers turnover instead of added value as a growth measure. In Belgium,

however, most firms do not have an obligation to publish turnover figures. Hence, in our analysis, added value is chosen as an alternative growth measure as it makes up the difference between the total sales revenue and the total cost of components, materials, and services purchased from other firms within a certain period (usually one year). Belgian firms have an obligation to publish added value figures, which can be retrieved from section 9800 of their annual accounts. 2 Excluded from the analyses are firms without a lucrative purpose (in Dutch abbreviated as ‘V.Z.W.’, in French

as ‘A.S.B.L.’) and public-sector companies. 3 Bureau Van Dijk, Bel-first: Financial Reports and Statistics On Belgian and Luxemburg Companies,

https://www.bvdinfo.com/en-us/our-products/data/national/bel-first.

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/sales-revenue.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/total-cost.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/component.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/material.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/services.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/period.html

2


In our analysis, we will look for evidence if the net employment growth in

Belgium is generated by a relatively small group of rapidly growing

companies, the so-called ‘Gazelles’. According to Birch (1979) 4 these firms are

generating most of the new net jobs in the economy. David Birch estimated that

the gazelles, around 4% of the population of American firms, accounted for 70%

of all new jobs. Next to these Gazelles stand on the one hand a group of large

firms, called the ‘Elephants’, that created only few new jobs and on the other

hand the ‘Mice’, the vast majority of all firms that aim to remain small and

contribute only marginally to employment growth. A ‘Gazelle’ or high-growth firm

is less associated with the size of a firm as we can find ‘Gazelles’ from nearly all

sizes. However, on average, small firms are overrepresented in a subset of HGFs,

but the few large HGFs are important as they are major job contributors in absolute

terms.5 In this report, we will analyse the characteristics for subsets of Belgian

high-growth firms.

The report consists of three parts. To start, it gives an overview of the profile

and characteristics of the subset of high-growth firms in Belgium, focusing on

2014-2017, the most recent three-year period available. Thereafter, the

main results of the annual Vlerick Growth Survey are presented, including the

responses of 83 Belgian CEOs of growth firms. A variety of topics were covered in

this survey, ranging from the most important barriers and enablers of growth

through to the HR, innovation and digitization policies that are being applied. At

the end of the report, an alphabetical list of the 822 Belgian high-growth

firms for the period 2014-2017 can be found (with number of employees adopted

as the growth measure).

4 Birch, D. (1979), The Job Generation Process, MIT Program on Neighbourhood and Regional Change, MIT, Cambridge 5 Henrekson, M. & Johansson, D. (2010), ‘Gazelles as job creators: a survey and interpretation of the evidence’, Small Business Economics, volume 35 (2), p. 227-244

3


HIGH-GROWTH FIRMS IN BELGIUM:

THE STATE OF AFFAIRS

HOW MANY HGFs DO WE HAVE?

Table 1 gives an overview of the evolution of the number of employment HGFs and

added value HGFs over the last nine years. The percentage of HGFs remains

relatively stable across the six periods of analysis.

The relative number of employment HGFs ranges from a low of 3.15% for the

period 2012-2015 to a high of 3.57% for the period 2009-2012. For the most

recent period, 2014-2017, 3.48% of Belgian firms with at least ten employees

qualified as high-growth in terms of employment.

The percentages for the subsets of added value HGFs are slightly more volatile,

ranging from a low of 5.91% in the period 2009-2012 to a high of 6.94% in the

most recent period 2014-2017.

Hence, we can discover a positive trend with respect to the percentage of HGFs in

our economy. The relative number of employment HGFs has been on the rise for

several years, resulting in the highest percentage since the period 2009-2012, and

the percentage of added value HGFs has now reached its highest level since the

start of our calculations.

DO HGFs SUSTAIN THEIR GROWTH?

The percentages that were presented in the previous section show only a small

minority of firms are able to achieve a high-growth status. However, persisting as

a HGF might be even more difficult. With this in mind, we analysed the subsets of

employment HGFs for six overlapping periods (from the period 2009-2012 to 2014-

2017) (see Figure 1).

2009-

2012

2010-

2013

2011-

2014

2012-

2015

2013-

2016

2014-

2017

Total number of firms

(>10 employees) 23,867 24,262 24,930 24,633 22,442

23,654

Number of

employment HGFs 853 835 799 775 744

822

Number of added value HGFs 1,410 1,616 1,507 1,530 1,532

1,641

Relative number of

employment HGFs 3.57% 3.44% 3.20% 3.15% 3.16%

3.48%

Relative number of added value HGFs 5.91% 6.66% 6.04% 6.21% 6.83%

6.94%

Table 1: Evolution in the number of HGFs from 2009 to 2017

4


Figure 1: Overview of the overlapping analysed HGF subsets

This analysis revealed that 2,791 Belgian firms qualified as employment HGFs

between 2009 and 2017. Of this group, 1,560 firms (55.90%) were identified as

an HGF in only a single period. The majority of the employment HGFs can

therefore be identified as one-shot HGFs. Table 1 shows that only a limited

number of firms were able to remain as an employment HGF for more than three

periods, and that only 11 Belgian firms were able to maintain their HGF status for

the entire analysed period.

Number of periods qualified as an employment HGF

Absolute number of HGFs that were qualified x times

as an employment HGF

Percentage of total number of

employment HGFs in period 2009-

2017

1 out of 6 periods 1,560 55.90%

2 out of 6 periods 727 26.05%





Total 2,791 100%

Table 2: Overview of the overlapping analysed HGF subsets

For the group of added value HGFs, we performed the persistence check in a

slightly different way. In this case, we analysed the overlap between the most

recent subset of added value HGFs and the previous subsets. It emerged that 36%

(i.e. 590 firms) of the added value HGFs for the period 2014-2017 were also

present in the subset for the period 2013-2016. This percentage gradually drops

to 4% when comparing the 2014-2017 subset to the 2009-2012 subset.

5


Number of added value HGFs in the period 2014-2017 1,641 100%

Number of added value HGFs that were an HGF in both the periods 2013-2016 and 2014-2017 590 36%





Table 3: The persistence of high-growth for added value HGFs

HOW MANY JOBS AND ADDED VALUE DO HGFs CREATE?

High-growth firms are commonly known as the engines of job creation. For

employment HGFs such a statement might seem rather obvious, as these firms

are identified based upon growth in their average number of employees.

Nonetheless, the number of jobs created by this group of firms is striking.

Table 4 shows the net number of jobs created by employment HGFs from 2009 to

2017, alongside the total number of jobs generated by all Belgian firms with more

than ten employees. It shows that, in five out of the six analysed periods, the

subset of employment HGFs generated more jobs than the overall amount

generated by all firms with at least ten employees. Only in the most recent period

was the number of jobs generated by employment HGFs (45,947 jobs) less than

the total increase (68,549 jobs). Nonetheless, even in this period, HGFs

accounted for 67 per cent of the total number of jobs generated by all

Belgian firms with at least ten employees.

Table 4: Job creation by employment HGFs

Total number of employees for the subset of employment HGFs in the first year of the high-growth period (1)

Total number of employees for the subset of employment HGFs in the final year of the high-growth period (2)

Net jobs generated by employment HGFs in the high-growth period (2) – (1)

Total number of jobs generated by all firms (> 10 empl.) in the first year of the reference period (3)

Total number of jobs generated by all firms (> 10 empl.) in the final year of the reference period (4)

Net jobs generated by all firms (>10 empl.) in the study period (4) – (3)

2009-2012

39,707 94,976 55,269 1,440,913 1,493,511 52,598

2010-2013

33,017 87,331 54,314 1,483,715 1,508,288 24,573

2011-2014

27,859 75,650 47,791 1,541,335 1,531,351 -9,984

2012-2015

27,978 73,256 45,278 1,425,581 1,438,837 13,256

2013-2016

36,592 83,775 47,183 1,470,498 1,490,922 20,424

2014-

2017 32,538 78,485 45,947 1,433,260 1,501,809 68,549

6


Figure 2 graphically represents the amount of net jobs that are generated by the

subsets of employment HGFs (dark green line) and the net jobs generated by all

firms with at least ten employees (light green line) from 2009 to 2017. It appears

that the amount of jobs generated by the subsets of HGFs – notwithstanding that

they are always composed of a large proportion of different firms – is very stable.

It ranges around the amount of 50,000 jobs. The light green line is fluctuating

much more, going from a decrease of almost 10.000 jobs for the period 2011-

2014 to an increase of nearly 70,000 jobs in the period 2014-2017. Hence, we can

conclude that the group of HGFs are a stable factor that is - especially in times

when the total job creation is decreasing (like the periods 2010-2013 to 2013-

2016) – able to generate a roughly the same amount of jobs in every three

year period.

Figure 2: job creation by ‘employment HGFs’ and ‘all firms’

Looking at the subset of added value HGFs (see Table 5), the same logic holds

when discussing their contribution to the total increase in added value. For the

period 2014-2017, the group of added value HGFs accounts for 59% of the

total increase in added value generated by Belgian firms with at least ten

employees (i.e. 10,62 billion EUR generated by the added value HGFs versus a

total increase of 17,95 billion EUR). In this period the added value HGF subset

generated 10.6 billion EUR — by far the highest increase in net added value when

compared to previous periods.

55.269 54.31447.791 45.278 47.183

45.94752.598

24.573

-9.984

13.256 20.424

68.549

2009-2012 2010-2013 2011-2014 2012-2015 2013-2016 2014-2017

NET JOB CREATION OVER TIME Number of

jobs created

period

HGFs

All firms

7


Table 5: Added value creation by added value HGFs

IN WHICH INDUSTRIES ARE HGFs MOST PREVALENT?

Table 6 shows the industries in which high-growth firms are active. Traditional

and labour-intensive industries such as construction, manufacturing and retail

show a clear under-representation of high-growth firms. For instance, nearly 15

per cent of firms with at least ten employees have their main activity in the

construction industry, whereas only 9 and 10 per cent respectively of employment

HGFs and added value HGFs are active in this industry.

Knowledge-intensive service industries, such as the IT and communication

sectors, typically show an over-representation of HGFs. Firms that perform

administrative and support service activities are also more likely to be in a high-

growth category. Compared to the previous analysed period (2013-2016), the

over- and under-representation of HGFs in certain industries is now less striking,

leading to a convergence towards the overall percentage of firms in each sector.

Total added value generated by the subset of added value HGFs in the first year of the high-growth

period, in EUR (1)

Total added value generated by the subset of added value HGFs in the final year of the high-growth

period, in EUR (2)

Net added value generated by added value HGFs in the high-growth period, in EUR (2)-(1)

Total added value generated by all firms(>10 empl.) in the first year of the reference period, in EUR

(3)

Total added value generated by all firms (>10 empl.) in the final year of the reference period, in EUR

(4)

Net added value generated by all firms in the study period (>10 empl.), in EUR (4)-(3)

2009-2012

5,897,692,993 14,091,670,160 8,193,977,167 124,257,404,000 138,617,069,000 14.359.665,000

2010-2013

5,058,993,697 12,192,311,480 7,133,317,783 136,948,115,000 142,662,907,000 5.714.792,000

2011-2014

4,632,267,956 11,156,900,580 6,524,632,624 141,032,422,000 144,472,465,000 3.440.043,000

2012-2015

4,600,153,363 11,965,873,440 7,365,720,077 133,245,485,000 140,525,965,000 7.280.478,,000

2013-2016

5,697,114,282 14,572,206,078 8,875,091,796 136,006,296,600 145,112,363,000 9.106.339,400

2014-2017

7,637,020,945 18,261,646,820 10,624,625,875 135,115,415,300 153,066,049,400 17.950.634,100

8


Table 6: Industry classification (based on NACE-BEL 2008 classification)

WHERE ARE HGFs LOCATED?

The province of Antwerp and the Brussels-Capital region show a clear over-

representation of both employment HGFs and added value HGFs (see Table 7).

In all other provinces, there are fairly limited differences between the relative

number of firms that are located in a province and the relative number of HGFs.

Industry breakdown Number of

firms (>10 empl.) in this industry

Number of employment HGFs in this industry

Number of added value HGFs in this industry

Relative number of firms (>10 empl.) in this industry

Relative number of employment HGFs in this industry

Relative number of added value HGFs in this industry

(NACE Rev. 2 sections)

A. Agriculture, forestry and fishing

243 10 17 1.03% 1.22% 1.04%

B. Mining and quarrying

49 0 4 0.21% 0.00 0.24%

C. Manufacturing 4,237 92 290 17.91% 11.19% 17.67%

D. Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply

38 2 4 0.16% 0.24% 0.24%

E. Water supply, sewerage, waste management

170 6 19 0.71% 0.73% 1.16%

F. Construction 3,525 72 176 14.90% 8.76% 10.73%

G. Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles

6,436 161 368 27.21% 19.59% 22.43%

H. Transportation and storage

1,856 72 122 7.85% 8.76% 7.43%

I. Accommodation and food service activities

1,156 46 74 4.89% 5.60% 4.51%

J. Information and communication

861 85 125 3.64% 10.34% 7.62%

K. Financial activities and insurance

428 19 43 1.81% 2.31% 2.62%

L. Real estate activities

282 6 17 1.19% 0.73% 1.04%

M. Professional, scientific and

technical activities

1,699 89 156 7.18% 10.83% 9.51%

N. Administrative and support service activities

1,400 112 147 5.92% 13.63% 8.96%

O. Public administration and defence

11 0 0 0.05% 0.00% 0.00%

P. Education 54 2 4 0.23% 0.24% 0.24%

Q. Human health and social work activities

720 37 48 3.04% 4.50% 2.93%

R. Arts, entertainment and recreation

216 6 17 0.91% 0.73% 1.04%

S. Other service activities

258 5 10 1.09% 0.61% 0.61%

T. Activities of households as employers

15 0 0 0.06% 0.00% 0.00%

TOTAL 23,654 822 1,641 100% 100% 100%

9


Only in the provinces of Liège and Hainaut do we encounter a clear

underrepresentation of HGFs.

If we compare these results with the findings of last year’s report, we see more or

less the same trends continuing. However, the over-representation of HGFs in

Brussels has decreased slightly, as has the over-representation of added value

HGFs in the province of Antwerp. The over-representation of Antwerp-based

employment HGFs increased by one percentage point. The province of Flemish

Brabant shifted from an over-representation of employment HGFs of two

percentage points to an under-representation of one percentage point. In West

Flanders, there is still a small under-representation of employment HGFs (1.5

percentage points), but compared to the under-representation of 4.2 percentage

points in the previous period, this represents an upward trend.

Breakdown by province

Total number

of firms (>10 empl.)

Employment HGFs

Added value HGFs

Relative number

of firms in this region

Relative number of employment HGFs in this region

Relative number of

added value HGFs in this region

Antwerp 4,630 200 349 19.57% 24.33% 21.27%

Limburg 1,983 64 130 8.38% 7.79% 7.92%

East Flanders

3,251 108 222 13.74% 13.14% 13.53%

Flemish Brabant

2,087 62 146 8.82% 7.54% 8.90%

West Flanders

3,202 99 191 13.54% 12.04% 11.64%

Brussels-Capital Region

2,619 138 259 11.07% 16.79% 15.78%

Namur 695 15 34 2.94% 1.82% 2.07%

Liège 1,996 44 112 8.44% 5.35% 6.83%

Luxemburg 404 8 23 1.71% 0.97% 1.40%

Hainaut 1,941 47 113 8.21% 5.72% 6.89%

Walloon

Brabant 846 37 62 3.58% 4.50% 3.78%

Total 23,654 822 1,641 100% 100% 100%

Table 7: Geographical distribution (provinces)

On a regional level, the strong over-representation of Brussels-based HGFs

is striking (see Table 8). Whereas the presence of HGFs in Flanders appears to be

in line with the overall percentage of Flanders-based firms with at least ten

employees, the region of Wallonia shows a clear under-representation of both

employment HGFs and added value HGFs.

10


Breakdown by region

Total

number of firms (>10 empl.)

Employ-ment HGFs

Added value HGFs

Relative

number of firms in this region

Relative

number of employment HGFs in this region

Relative number of

added value HGFs

in this region

Flanders 15,153 533 1,038 64.06% 64.84% 63.26%

Brussels-Capital Region

2,619 138 259 11.07% 16.79% 15.78%

Wallonia 5,882 151 344 24.87% 18.37% 20.96%

Table 8: Geographical distribution (regions)

DO HGFs MAKE A PROFIT?

On average, the relative number of employment HGFs with a positive EBITDA

is in line with the overall percentage of firms with at least ten employees that

show positive EBITDA figures. It appears that the period of high-growth had a zero

or only very limited effect on the percentage of employment HGFs with a positive

EBITDA (see Table 9). For the subset of added value HGFs, however, we encounter

a sharp increase in the relative number of firms that realise a positive EBITDA. For

this group of HGFs, the high-growth period clearly had a positive effect on EBITDA

figures, notwithstanding that there were clearly less added value HGFs with a

positive EBITDA at the start of the high-growth period.

Percentage of firms that had a positive EBITDA in 2014 90.91%

Percentage of firms that had a positive EBITDA in 2017 90.08%

Percentage of employment HGFs with a positive EBITDA in 2014 91.00%

Percentage of employment HGFs with a positive EBITDA in 2017 90.75%

Percentage of added value HGFs with a positive EBITDA in 2014 76.79%

Percentage of added value HGFs with a positive EBITDA in 2017 93.36%

Table 9: Profitability of HGFs

HOW LARGE ARE HGFs?

By applying the OECD definition of a high-growth firm, we exclude all firms with

less than ten employees from our calculations. Hence, the average size of the HGFs

that are reported in Table 10 might seem rather high, as HGFs are frequently

associated with young, small scaleup companies. The average employment HGF

employed nearly 40 people at the start of the high-growth period and 95 at

the end of this three year period. Added value HGFs were — on average —

somewhat larger at the start of the high-growth period, but clearly smaller than

employment HGFs at the end of the high-growth period.

11


Table 10: Size of high-growth firms

KEY TAKEAWAYS

1. With number of employees as the growth criterion, 3.48% of all

Belgian firms (with at least ten employees) qualified as a high-growth firm in the period 2014-2017. This percentage is a slight increase compared to the previous period 2013-2016 (3.16%).

2. With added value as the growth criterion, 6.94% of all Belgian firms (with at least ten employees) qualified as a high-growth firm in the

period 2014-2017. This is the highest relative number when compared to the previous 5 three-year periods.

3. In the period 2009-2017, more than half of the firms that became ‘high-

growth’ (in terms of employment growth) only remained a high-growth firm for one period of three years. Hence, high-growth is difficult to

achieve, but even more difficult to sustain. 4. High-growth firms are responsible for the vast majority of job creation

in our economy. A fairly small group of HGFs — 3.5% of the total number

of firms — account for 67% of the total amount of jobs that are generated in Belgium by firms with at least ten employees.

5. The net added value that is generated by all high-growth firms is a good proxy for their contribution to overall welfare in a region (as added value is the building block of GDP). With this in mind, we can state that high-growth

firms are the engine of Belgium’s GDP growth, as the group of 1,641 added value HGFs for the period 2014-2017 was responsible for 59% of

the total increase in added value realized by firms with at least 10 employees.

6. High-growth firms are clearly over-represented in knowledge-intensive

service industries (such as IT and communications) and under-represented in the more traditional and labour-intensive industries such

as construction and manufacturing. 7. The Brussels-Capital region and the province of Antwerp are the

hotspots for high-growth firms. The more urban regions appear to attract the most HGFs.

8. More than 9 out of 10 high-growth firms had a positive EBITDA at the

end of the high-growth period. Hence, rapidly growing in terms of employees or added value does not seem to negatively affect profits.

9. Most Belgian high-growth firms had less than 100 employees at the end of the high-growth period.

Employment HGFs ('14-'17)

Added value HGFs ('14-'17)

Average number of employees in 2014 39.60 45.50

Average number of employees in 2017 95.48 73.47

Relative number of firms with workforce between 18-49 employees in 2017 58.27% 71.12%

Relative number of firms with workforce between 50-249 employees in 2017 34.67% 22.97%

Relative number of firms with more than 250 employees in 2017 7.06% 5.91%

12


THE VOICE OF GROWTH ENTREPRENEURS

In September 2018, a survey was sent out to the members of the Impulse Centre

‘Growth Management for Medium-sized Enterprises’ (iGMO). Eighty-three

entrepreneurs completed the survey, in which a wide variety of growth-related

topics were covered. However, not all of them have shown the high-growth rates

over the past three years that are stipulated by the OECD definition. Nevertheless,

the survey gives us useful insights into the characteristics of growth firms. We

compare the results with last year’s Belgian High-Growth monitor.

WHAT ARE THE DRIVERS OF BUSINESS GROWTH?

Taking Ansoff’s growth strategy matrix as a starting point, Figure 3 shows that

39% of the surveyed growth entrepreneurs stated that they mostly adopt a

product development strategy, which aims to sell new products and services in

a market in which the firm is already active. This percentage is in fact slightly

higher than last year’s result (36%). The difference between the second most

popular growth strategy — market penetration (30%) — and the third most

popular strategy — market development (26%) — becomes smaller when

compared to the previous year. A diversification strategy, where firms move to sell

new products or services in new geographic markets, clearly remains the less

commonly chosen strategy with a mere 5% of entrepreneurs opting for this.

Figure 3: Growth strategy

Figure 4 shows all the actions performed by growth entrepreneurs with the aim of

increasing turnover. Clearly the most common action undertaken was the

introduction of new products and/or services, which is in line with the most

commonly chosen growth strategy.

26%

39%

30%

5%

21%

36%34%

9%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

Selling existingproducts/services in

new markets

Selling newproducts/services in

existing markets

Selling existingproducts/services in

existing markets

Selling newproducts/services in

new markets

GROWTH STRATEGY

2018 2017

13


Compared to the results of the previous year, it appears that taking over other

players in the industry has become a very common option (from 30% to 40%).

Creating partnerships (42%) and increasing marketing efforts (40%) also

remain very popular. Increasing prices has also become an increasingly popular

action, rising from 24% in 2017 to 35% in 2018.

Figure 4: Actions undertaken to increase turnover

WHAT IMPEDES FUTURE GROWTH?

There is nothing new under the sun when looking at the most prevalent growth

barriers. Finding and attracting the right people seems to be by far the biggest

barrier (75%) that impedes firms from growing faster, followed at some distance

by increased competition (25%, compared to 20% in 2017) and the lack of

management capacities (25%). The latter might be surprising, as one out of

four entrepreneurs consider the management capacities present in the firm as an

important barrier for future growth, meaning that a quarter of the CEOs find that

the level of managerial skills in their organisation is not sufficient to manage the

firm as it increases in size.

42%

71%

35%

2%

40%

23%

40%

18%

40%

67%

24%

4%

47%

24%

30%

32%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Setting up partnerships with other firms

to facilitate market entry

Introducing new products/services

Increasing prices

Decreasing prices

Increasing marketing efforts

More efforts on selling through digital

channels

Taking over other players in the sector

Setting up new distribution channels

ACTIONS UNDERTAKEN TO INCREASE

TURNOVER

2017 2018

14


Figure 5: Growth barriers

ARE FINANCIAL RESOURCES EASY TO FIND?

Finding the financial resources to boost further growth appears not to be a

major barrier, as merely 19% of entrepreneurs stated that financing constraints

might, to a certain extent, hamper the future expansion of the firm. Eighty-one

per cent of the CEOs indicated that they experienced no real financing

constraints, which is eleven percentage points more than the result of 2017.

Hence, the conditions to attract financing appeared to be even more favourable in

2018 than in 2017.

Figure 6: Financing constraints

11%

16%

75%

25%

10%

25%

22%

4%

14%

12%

76%

20%

7%

23%

22%

7%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Financing the growth

Change in market situation

Attracting the right people

Increased competition

An inadequate growth strategy

Lack of management capacities

An inadequate internal structure

Fiscal and regulatory barriers

GROWTH BARRIERS

2017 2018

6% 13%

81%

10%20%

70%

0%

50%

100%

Yes To a certain extent No

DID FINANCING CONSTRAINTS

PREVENT THE FIRM FROM GROWING FASTER?

2018 2017

15


DO THEY HAVE FUTURE GROWTH AMBITON?

One out of ten entrepreneurs stated that they no longer have the ambition to grow

their firm. Two out of three entrepreneurs have future growth ambitions

and have captured these ambitions in formal growth plans. The relative number

of entrepreneurs that aim for more growth but who have not captured this in

growth plans has decreased by 12 percentage points, from 35% in 2017 to 23%

in 2018.

Figure 7: Future growth ambition

WHAT ABOUT THE ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT?

Three top priorities emerge when the entrepreneurs were asked about the role of

the Belgian government in stimulating growth entrepreneurship: (a) a more

flexible labour market (72%), (b) less regulatory and legal obligations

(57%) and (c) lower tax levels (47%, compared to 59% in 2017). The other

possible options presented in Figure 8, such as providing growth capital or

increasing the amount of subsidies, were not considered crucial by the clear

majority of the surveyed entrepreneurs.

10%

67%

23%

5%

60%

35%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

No Yes, and this is

captured in formal

growth plans

Yes, but this is not

captured in formal

growth plans

2018 2017

16


Figure 8: The role of the government in supporting growth firms

WHAT ABOUT HUMAN CAPITAL?

As indicated in figure 5, attracting the right employees is considered to be the

biggest hurdle for further growth. Figure 9 confirms these statements, as only 3%

of respondents indicated that they had no difficulties in recruiting new people

(compared to the closest competition). However, the percentage of firms that

could not fill vacancies remained fairly low (8%). This might also indicate

recruiting suboptimal profiles, as firms are forced to opt for lower quality

candidates.

Figure 9: Difficulties attracting the right employees

4%

11%

4%

7%

57%

47%

72%

1%

6%

7%

16%

65%

59%

76%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

No actions

Increase the amount of subsidies

Provide growth capital

Create a pool of coaches who can

advise growth firms

Decrease the amount of regulation and

legislation

Decrease taxes

Make the labour market more flexible

WHAT SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT DO TO

STIMULATE GROWTH FIRMS?

2017 2018

3%

24%

37%

26%

8%

4%

24%

38%

26%

8%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

No difficulties

Little difficulties

Quite a lot of difficulties

Many difficulties

So many that vacancies were not

filled in

HOW MUCH DIFFICULTY DID YOUR FIRM

HAVE IN ATTRACTING NEW PEOPLE COMPARED TO YOUR CLOSEST

COMPETITORS?

2017 2018

17


ORGANIC OR EXTERNAL GROWTH?

In 2018, acquiring other firms became more popular than the previous year. Figure

4 already indicated that M&A transactions are more and more indicated as

an action that was undertaken and led to greater turnover. Figure 10

confirms this trend with now almost half (48%) of the surveyed growth firms

having acquired a firm in the last three years, compared to 40% in 2017. If we

look at the entire history of the growth companies that are present in our sample,

it reveals that more than 8 out of 10 firms (81%) have taken over another firm at

some point (Figure 11).

Figure 10: M&A activity in the previous three years

Figure 11: M&A activity in the past

48%52%

40%

60%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Yes No

DID YOUR FIRM TAKE OVER

ANOTHER FIRM IN THE PAST THREE YEARS?

2018 2017

81%

19%

DID YOUR FIRM TAKE OVER

OTHER FIRMS IN THE PAST?

Yes No

18


HOW ‘INTERNATIONAL’ ARE BELGIAN GROWTH FIRMS?

About one out of five growth firms do not export any of their products or

services (21%, compared to 22% in 2017). However, we can witness a trend that

the firms that do export their products outside Belgium are exporting more as

a ratio of their total turnover. For 40% of the surveyed growth firms, more than

60% of their realised turnover is the result of export; this percentage has grown

from 30% in 2017. Looking at the distribution of the percentages in Figure 12,

Belgian growth firms either export nothing (or only a very limited amount of their

turnover), or they are realising the clear majority of their turnover outside

Belgium.

Figure 12: Export behaviour

When looking at the export behaviour in continents other than Europe (Figure 13),

it becomes clear that nearly half (47%) of the analysed growth firms do not

sell their products or services outside Europe. Merely four percent of the firms

are ‘truly global’ firms, exporting more than 40% of their turnover outside Europe.

Figure 13: Export behaviour outside the Europe

21%

12%

15%

7%5%

18%

22%22%

19%

12%

9%8%

14%16%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

0% 1%-10% 10%-20% 20%-40% 40%-60% 60%-80% 80%-100%

PERCENTAGE OF TURNOVER THAT

RESULTS FROM EXPORT

2018 2017

47%

28%

7%

14%

4%0% 0%

51%

19%

12% 11%

4% 2% 1%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

0% 1% - 10% 10% - 20% 20% - 40% 40% - 60% 60% - 80% 80% - 100%

PERCENTAGE OF TURNOVER THAT RESULTS

FROM EXPORT OUTSIDE EUROPE

2018 2017

19


HOW ‘INNOVATIVE’ ARE BELGIAN GROWTH FIRMS?

63% of the respondents indicated that they believe their firm is more

advanced when it comes to innovation than their closest competition, with

only 11% stating that they are less innovative than the competition. Although

these answers are based on the self-perception of CEOs of growth firms, we might

assume from the result that Belgian growth firms are doing well when it comes to

innovation.

Figure 14: Innovation capacity

Figure 14 shows that most CEOs of Belgian growth firms see that their firms

are doing well when it comes to innovation. However, another important

aspect concerns the speed at which these firms can innovate. Therefore, Figure 15

shows us the average time period that growth firms need to go from identifying

an opportunity in the market to entering the market. Twenty-one per cent of

the surveyed firms can come up with an innovative solution in less than 6 months

after having identified an opportunity. The clear majority (37%) stated that it takes

between half a year and a year, with another 15% pointing to the presence of

an annual cycle, thereby indicating that they have a more or less systematic

approach to cope with opportunities that emerge in the external environment.

1%

10%

26%

45%

18%

2%

7%

32%

44%

15%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

We are clearly

underperforming

We are lagging a

bit behind

We are equally

strong

We are sligthly

more advanced

We are clearly

more advanced

HOW DOES YOUR FIRM PERFORM WITH RESPECT

TO INNOVATION CAPACITY COMPARED TO THE CLOSEST COMPETITORS?

2018 2017

20


Figure 15: From opportunity to market entry

HOW ‘DIGITAL’ ARE BELGIAN GROWTH FIRMS?

Seventy-two per cent of the surveyed growth entrepreneurs believe that their

firm is at least equally as strong as the closest competitor when it comes

to digitisation. Compared to the results of 2017, however, the relative number

of CEOs that think that their firm is lagging behind has increased from 20% to

26% (Figure 16).

Figure 16: Digitization efforts

When the growth entrepreneurs were asked how they are coping with digitally

transforming their businesses, for 31% of them the preferred solution is assistance

from consultants and specialised digital agencies. Another third of

respondents reported that they are focusing on partnerships with start-ups or

established firms in order to facilitate their digital transformation. Only 28% of

the growth firms considers itself strong enough to handle digital transformation on

its own without reaching out to other parties (Figure 17).

21%

37%

15%

18%

6%

3%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

Less than 6 months

6 to 12 months

We have an annual evaluation cycle

Between 12 and 18 months

Between 2 and 3 year

Longer than 3 year

FROM IDENTIFYING OPPORTUNITIES TO

MARKET ENTRY

3%

26%

35%31%

6%3%

20%

39%

28%

11%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

We are clearlyunderperforming

We are lagging abit behind

We are equallystrong

We are slightlymore advanced

We are clearlymore advanced

HOW DOES YOUR FIRM PERFORM WITH RESPECT

TO DIGITISATION EFFORTS COMPARED TO THE CLOSEST COMPETITOR?

2018 2017

21


Figure 17: Coping with digital transformation

Somewhat related to these digitisation efforts is the amount of products and

services that are being sold online. Although it might not be feasible for all B2B

firms in our analysis to sell their products online, the survey reveals that more

than half of the firms (57%) are not realising any turnover via online sales.

However, this is already 6 percentage points lower when compared to the results

from 2017. Hence, we might deduce from Figure 18 that more growth firms are

starting to sell online, as 36% of respondents indicated that they realise between

1% and 10% of their turnover from online sales.

Figure 18: Online sales

28%

31%10%

23%

3% 5%

HOW DOES YOUR FIRM COPE WITH

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION?

We are doing this on our own

We collaborate with consultants and/or digital agencies

Through partnerships with start-ups

Through partnerships with established firms

Other

We do not focus on digital transformation

57%

36%

4% 3% 0% 0% 0%

63%

33%

3% 1% 0% 0% 0%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

WHAT PERCENTAGE OF TURNOVER CAME

FROM ONLINE SALES?

2018 2017

22


HORIZONS OF GROWTH

In their bestselling book on business growth, The Alchemy of Growth, Baghai,

Coley and White state that firms must have a continuous pipeline of

business-building initiatives in order to keep the firm on the growth trajectory.8

If a firm wants to achieve sustained growth, they should master “three horizons”

of growth. The main idea is that once a business and its revenue streams mature,

they should have other streams ready to take the place of the current core

business (i.e. Horizon 1). Those other streams may be the result of innovations

around the core business (i.e. Horizon 2), but also from entirely new business

lines (i.e. Horizon 3).

In essence, Horizon 1 comprises the current core business, accounting for the clear

majority of the firm’s profits and turnover. This is needed to fuel the initiatives

taken in Horizons 2 and 3. In Horizon 2, resources are devoted to emerging

businesses that are adjacent to the core business. Horizon 3 comprises those

initiatives that may be quite far away from today’s core business but have been

planted as seeds for the future. Overall, it will become critical to manage the

three horizons concurrently, not sequentially.

Therefore, it is essential that growth firms devote their time and resources

effectively between these three horizons. In the survey, we asked the

respondents to indicate how much of their time is allocated to each of the horizons.

As the questions were asked separately, it was possible for the total percentage to

be higher than 100. This was done on purpose, so as not to force respondents to

manipulate the percentage to a total of 100; we wanted the answers to reflect the

general feelings they held about the time their firm devotes to each type of project

and business line. In fact, Figure 19 sums up to 116%, revealing that the

entrepreneurs are — on average — overestimating the time that is devoted to all

three horizons.

As a rule of thumb, it is often suggested that firms should follow a 70/20/10

rule. Seventy per cent of time and resources should be spent on current core

business activities, 20% should be dedicated to supporting emerging business

from Horizon 2, and the remaining 10% should be devoted to the creation of

genuinely new businesses. From Figure 19, and taking into account the higher total

percentage of 116%, it is apparent that the Belgian growth firms are spending

disproportionately more time on initiatives that fit within Horizon 2.

8 M. Baghai, S. Coley, and D. White, The Alchemy of Growth: Practical Insights for Building the Enduring Enterprise (New York: Basic Books, 1999)

23


Figure 19: Three horizons of growth

KEY TAKEAWAYS

1. A product development strategy, where the firm sells new products or services

in existing markets, remains the most important growth strategy. Selling new

products and or services is also clearly the most commonly undertaken action

to increase turnover. This points to the importance of innovation capacities

within the firm, as the creation of promising new products and services seems to

be at the core of further growth.

2. Recruiting the right new employees remains by far the most important

growth barrier, as three quarters of the surveyed entrepreneurs stated that not

finding skilled people for vacant jobs hampers the growth of the firm.

3. Access to financial resources that are needed to fuel the growth of the firm

is not perceived as an important growth barrier. Apparently, this has become

even less of an issue for the growth entrepreneurs; in 2017, 70% of the surveyed

growth entrepreneurs stated that financing constraints did not prevent the firm

from growing faster, increasing to 81% in 2018.

4. The M&A activity of the analysed growth firms increased from 2017 to 2018.

When asked about the most common actions that were undertaken to increase

turnover, 40% of the entrepreneurs answered that they took over other players in

the industry (compared to 30% in 2017). Moreover, it is shown that 48% of the

firms have acquired a competitor in the previous three years; in 2017, the

percentage was only 40%.

5. Creating more flexibility on the labour market should be the absolute

number one priority for the government when aiming to stimulate growth among

firms. Increasing the availability of subsidies is not considered important.

6. Belgian growth firms are exporting mainly in Europe and not in other

continents. Sixty-seven per cent of the analysed growth firms are generating at

least 10% of their turnover from exporting, but only 25% are generating at least

66%

34%

16%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Horizon 1 Horizon 2 Horizon 3

TIME DEVOTED TO

THREE HORIZONS

24


10% of their turnover outside of Europe. Hence, Belgium has only a few truly

global growth firms.

7. The introduction of new products and services is found to be the most popular

action undertaken to increase turnover. Therefore, it is crucial that firms are able

to rapidly take new products to the market. With this in mind, the survey reveals

that 73% of the growth firms bring new products or services to the market in

less than one year from the moment of spotting an opportunity.

8. Only 5% of the growth firms are not focusing on digitally transforming

the business, and only 28% are coping with the digital transformation process

on their own (meaning that they do not collaborate with other parties, such as

digital agencies or start-ups).

9. 57% of the growth firms are not selling their products or services

online. However, this percentage has dropped from 63% last year.

10. Growth entrepreneurs are spending a lot of their time and resources on

strengthening their core business (Horizon 1), but are also clearly aware of

the importance of looking for adjacent businesses (Horizon 2) and totally new

projects that could boost the firm’s growth further in the future (Horizon

3).

25


WHO ARE THESE HIGH-GROWTH FIRMS?

Numbers and graphs are interesting, but in the end, it is the company and the

entrepreneur and his team behind these figures that make growth happen.

Therefore, in order to give an idea of the different types of firms that qualify as

high-growth firms in the period 2014-2017, and of the CEOs that completed the

survey, we present three short testimonials of Belgian HGFs that are members

of iGMO.

“Skylux: aiming for high-growth in customer satisfaction”

“Our ultimate goal is not to realize high-growth in terms of employees or

turnover, but to achieve growth in customer satisfaction. Therefore, we aim

not to grow too fast as this could lead to growing pains for our organization which

may lead to lower customer satisfaction. Therefore, the most important challenge

is to balance healthy growth and customer satisfaction”, says Jean Glorieux

(photo).

“Revive: purpose-driven people that go for sustained growth”

One of the 820 employment high-growth firms for

the period 2014-2017 is the Kortrijk-based

company Skylux. The producer of skylights and

barrel vaults, formerly known as AG Plastics,

generates a revenue of 70 million EUR and employs

250 people. Today, Jean Glorieux, the grandson of

the founder Albert Glorieux is leading the third-

generation family firm.

Skylux’ main growth driver over the past few years has been

a continuous investment in R&D and digitisation. “This has

led to the development of new products and the optimization

of existing products. In doing so, we partnered with technical

consultants who could leverage our existing in-house

knowledge. Furthermore, we are looking for innovations in

other industries which can inspire our R&D-teams to develop

products that respond to what the end-consumer really

expects.”, says Jean.

Revive, founded in 2009, considers itself as an outsider

amongst project developers. They have established a clear

niche in their sector by focusing on the reconversion of strongly

contaminated sites in urban areas. They have realised high-

growth rates for several years by making a distinctive choice

for this type of niche project.

26


“Tobania: intrapreneurial managers to boost our growth”

Founder and CEO Nicolas Béarelle (photo) states that Revive takes advantage of

a number of barriers to entry that have been built in previous years: “We started

from a strong capital base and did a lot of effort to make our brand visible

in the market. Revive is a purpose-driven firm: by focusing on contaminated

areas, we want to achieve added value for the entire neighbourhood. By having

this philosophy, it became easier to attract high-quality people that were driven

by the same intrinsic values and that have no ‘short-term mindset’. All this has

helped us to create a positive image and credibility with our stakeholders.”

In less than ten years, Revive’s turnover has grown

exponentially. “Today, we come at a point where we see

that the Belgian market has become too small for further

expansion as a niche player. Therefore, we try to broaden

our current offering in the existing market by focusing

on ‘housing-as-a-service’ and to enter new foreign

markets with the initial niche strategy that we have

applied in our home market.”, concludes Béarelle.

Tobania has grown into one of the largest business consulting and

IT companies in Belgium with a turnover of 85 million EUR in 2017

and 900 consultants (of which 600 employees, the so-called

‘Tobians’). CEO Lode Peeters: “Our organisational structure is

decentralized. Therefore, our top managers are given an

extensive degree of freedom to be an entrepreneur themselves,

within the business unit they control. They design their own

strategy and have end-to-end responsibility for sales, business

development, delivery and recruitment and management of

talent.”

“We have a strong management team. On the one hand, there are the relatively

young and highly talented managers who have been given the chance to grow

internally towards positions within Tobania with a high responsibility. On the

other hand, we recruited talent to give us a fresh look on the business. The sum

is that they all have relevant management experience, but we continue to coach

and train them on the job. Contrarily, this brings the advantage that they are

non-judgmental and eager to learn and willing to give the best of themselves

every day. This leads to a very dynamic and entrepreneurial environment.

And since the summer of 2016 we decided to strengthen the corporate

management layer with the aim to guide and service our management team in

an even better way with for example marketing and communication facilities,

sales strategies, budget control, legal and personnel advice.”, states Peeters.

27


ABOUT THE RESPONDENTS AND THEIR FIRMS

KEY FIGURES

The surveyed firms have an average annual turnover of 120 million EUR, with

a median of 50 million EUR. They employ 529 FTEs on average, with a

median of 190 FTEs. The mean of all EBITDA figures is 13.6 million EUR,

with a median of 5 million EUR. Hence, it is clear that the growth firms that we

have analysed are mature firms and surely not to be thought of as a group of

young start-ups.

Average Median

Turnover (last

available year, in million EUR)

120 50

FTE (last available year)

529 190

EBITDA (last available

year, in million EUR)

13.6 5

Figure 20: Key figures

ARE THEY FAMILY FIRMS?

Figure 21: Type of firm

87%

13%

FIRM TYPE

Family firm Non-family firm

Tobania was created after the merger between Tobius and

Saga in 2015. “One of the barriers we currently face in

order to grow faster is the availability of financial

resources needed for new acquisitions. Apparently,

investors first want to see if the merger is a success before

they are prepared to finance. I think we come to the prove

now as we have two years of double digit growth.”, says

Lode Peeters (photo).

28


DO THEY HAVE A BOARD OF DIRECTORS?

Figure 22: Presence of a Board of Directors

WHO IS THE CEO THAT FILLED IN THE SURVEY?

Figure 23: Profile of the CEO

48%

22%

30%

Yes

No

No, but we have a Board of Advisors

20%

64%

11%5%

Founder

Family of the founder

Externally appointed CEO

Because of of a Management Buy-Our or Management Buy-In

Other reason

29


THE VIEW OF THE AUTHORS

THE GROUP IS GROWING AGAIN, BUT …

After four consecutive periods were the number of Belgian employment high-

growth firms was decreasing or stagnating, we now see an increase in the

amount of employment HGFs for the period 2014-2017. Also the number of added

value HGFs finds its highest amount since 2009. However, if we compare the

relative number of employment HGFs in Belgium in the period 2014-2017 – 3,48%

– with the percentage of HGFs in other neighbouring countries like the

Netherlands in the same period – 5,40%9 –, we can conclude that Belgium is

trailing.

A RISE IN M&A ACTIVITY

An increasing number of growth firms have chosen the path of inorganic

growth, meaning that they acquired other firms to make a turnover and/or

workforce leap. This result fits within a general rise in M&A activity. The Vlerick

M&A Monitor10 reports that a continuous surge in the number of transactions has

been witnessed for the past five years. Hence, high-growth firms appear not to be

different than ‘other’ firms when it comes to acquisitions. An important question

may arise if the conclusions that were made about HGFs and their profile

characteristics are still valid if a large amount of the growth should be attributed

to external or inorganic growth. Past research shows11 however, that the

conclusions are similar irrespective of whether organic or inorganic growth is

studied.

SUSTAINABLE GROWTH NEEDS TO BE MANAGED

Very few (eleven) Belgian firms were able to be called an employment high-growth

firm for the entire period from 2009 to 2017. Apparently high-growth is for the

vast majority of firms a temporary phenomenon. However, one potential

recipe for persistent high-growth might be found in the management of

growth horizons. If firms achieve high-growth from the activities that result from

their current core business (i.e. horizon 1), it will be crucial to invest sufficient

time and resources to develop adjacent activities (i.e. horizon 2) in order to

anticipate for the fall-back that might stem from the core business. Moreover, to

anticipate HGFs should also look for completely new and innovative business

opportunities (i.e. horizon 3) that may boost the firm’s growth in the long run.

By balancing the three horizons – for example by devoting 70% of the firm’s

total available time and resources to horizon 1 activities, 20% to horizon 2

activities and 10% to horizon 3 activities – the chances of keeping the firm on

9 Jansen, J. & Luxemburg, M. (2018), ‘Scale-Up Dashboard 2018’, Research report, Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship 10 Luypaert, M. & Spolverato, G. (2017), ‘Vlerick M&A Monitor 2018’, Research report, Vlerick Business School 11 Henrekson, M. & Johansson, D. (2010), ‘Gazelles as job creators: a survey and interpretation of the evidence’, Small Business Economics, volume 35 (2), p. 227-244

30


the high-growth track might increase substantially as the pipeline for growth

is filled in a substantial manner.

DIGITAL IS NOT YET THE NEW NORMAL

A ‘digital first’ mentality seems not yet to be the case for most Belgian growth

firms. Compared to 2017, the relative number of CEOs that think that their firm is

lagging behind when it comes to digitization has increased from 20% to 26%.

However, we witness an increase of 6 percentage points in the number of firms

that are selling their products online. Nevertheless, more than half of the firms

remain selling not at all via the internet. Clearly, the there is an untapped potential

for online sales – even in a B2B environment.

OVERCOMING THE PEOPLE BARRIER

Unsurprisingly, the major growth barrier is not being able to attract the right

people. Only 3% of the entrepreneurs report no difficulties in recruiting skilled

employees. The results are similar to these of 2017. This can indicate that there is

a misfit between the supply side of the Belgian labour market and the type of jobs

that Belgian growth firms demand. Growth firms that struggle to find technically

skilled people such as engineers could reach out to urban areas such as Brussels,

Antwerp, Gent or Leuven on order to have access to ‘tech-savvy’ pools of talent

that are frequently based in urban areas. This might also to a large extent explain

why overrepresentations of HGFs are found in Antwerp and Brussels. Firms could

even go one step further and get inspired by many Belgian start-up companies

who find their technical people abroad, and reach out to countries where many

skilled engineers are based (e.g. Portugal, India, …). In a digital world, distance

has become a vague concept.

DO WE NEED A POLICY FOR HIGH-GROWTH FIRMS?

There is no such thing as a typical high-growth firm with a typical growth

trajectory. Rather, many growth patterns may lead to high-growth. As some

firms will grow in a rather traditional way (i.e. by increasing employment and

turnover at the same time), other firms may go for a higher turnover with less

employeesi. Moreover, HGFs are likely to differ in the speed and consistency

of their growth. Some may grow smoothly in the same pace, other may grow in

one or two large steps. Hence, a policy that is specifically targeted to HGFs as a

homogeneous group is likely to have limited effect 12. If policy makers would

identify high-growth firms as an area of priority, it is crucial to acknowledge that

these different patterns will have different implications for reaching policy

goals. A ‘one size fits all’ approach is likely to be suboptimal given these diverging

patterns.

12 Delmar, F. & Davidsson, P. (1998), ‘A taxonomy of high-growth’, Frontiers of Entrepreneurshio Research, volume 18 (1), pp. 343-399

31


Our finding that the subset of HGFs is generating a more or less stable amount

of jobs – even in times when the overall population of firms is generating few net

jobs – is an important message for policy makers. It may be tempting to launch

a specific policy targeted towards HGFs as such; this may lead to a higher ‘stable’

amount of jobs that are created by the HGF-subset. Nevertheless, one should have

some precaution. Such a policy may have limited impact as high firm growth is

found to be a temporary phenomenon in the life of a firm. Hence, if the promotion

of high-growth firms is an area of priority, it is important to determine what type

of high-growth firms are the most valuable for reaching specific policy targets.

In addition a generic entrepreneurial policy is crucial for HGFs. It effects the

framework conditions that allow companies to grow such as ease of doing business,

macro-economic stability, a well-developed physical and commercial

infrastructure, R&D facilities, access to finance and training and education.

32


APPENDIX: LIST OF EMPLOYMENT HGFs

FOR THE PERIOD 2014-2017

Company Name

Location ! @B CLEAN BRUSSEL

24+ ZWIJNDRECHT

2CC67 MAISIERES

3 T PREFABBETON LOMMEL

4C MECHELEN

A.C.N. IZEGEM

A.I.R.A. CLEANING SERVICES LONCIN

AAK BELGIUM MERKSEM

ABSOLUTE@WORK GISTEL

ABYLSEN BELGIUM BRUSSEL

AC FACILITIES GENK

ACA IT - SOLUTIONS HASSELT

ACTION BELGIUM ASSE

ACTIVE CLEANING SERVICES BRUSSEL

ADIUTUM BRUSSEL

ADM ANTWERP ANTWERPEN

ADVANCE GROOT-BIJGAARDEN

ADVENSYS BRUSSEL

ADVIPRO LILLE

AFAS BELGIUM MECHELEN

AFELIO LIEGE

AG REAL ESTATE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT BRUSSEL

AGIDENS LIFE SCIENCES BURCHT

AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES BELGIUM DIEGEM

AGO CONSTRUCT KORTRIJK

AGORIA REAL ESTATE BRUSSEL

AGRISERT JONCRET

AGRISTO BAVIKHOVE

AGROKOM STADEN

AKKA BELGIUM BRUSSEL

ALARM EN VEILIGHEID VOCHTEN - MYLLE SECURITY MERKSEM

ALDI HOLDING OTTERGEM

ALL SERVICES COMPAGNIE SERAING

ALTAIR GOSSELIES

ALTEN BELGIUM BRUSSEL

ALTISSIA INTERNATIONAL LOUVAIN-LA-NEUVE

AMARIS CONSULTING BELGIUM BRUSSEL

AMBULANCE FIRST CARE HOUTHULST

AMG BELGIUM THIMISTER

ANANKEI HEVERLEE

ANDRE DE DECKER ET FILS SAINTES

ANTWERP CONTAINER TRANSPORT INTERNATIONAL ANTWERPEN ANTWERPS SPORTPALEIS MERKSEM

API RESTAURATION CUESMES

AQTOR! OOSTAKKER

ARENDO HERENTALS

ARGEN-X ZWIJNAARDE

ARIES CONSULTANTS BIERGES

ARTEBIS BRUSSEL

ASIT BIOTECH BRUSSEL

ASSYSTEM CARE HOLDING BRUSSEL

ATALIAN MANAGEMENT SERVICES BRUSSEL

ATELIER VIERKANT ZANDVOORDE (OOSTENDE)

AUTO TERMINUS BRUGGE BRUGGE

AUTOPARTS FLANDERS GERAARDSBERGEN

AVERNA HASSELT

AVERTIM BRUSSEL

AVIOVISION HASSELT

AXIS ANTWERPEN

AXONE PHARMA BRAINE-L'ALLEUD

AXXI4YOU ANTWERPEN

AZALEES BRUSSEL

33


B S X VERREBROEK

BAAC VLAANDEREN BASSEVELDE

BAKKERIJ GIELIS ZICHEM

BAKKERIJ-TEA-ROOM VANALLES & NOGWAT BEERZEL

BARTS POTATO COMPANY VLETEREN

BASALTE MERELBEKE

BASIC-FIT BELGIUM BRUSSEL

BAUCOUBAR BRUSSEL

BAV WOMMELGEM

BBK EXPANSION NAMUR

BE FOOD! BRUGGE

BE NETWORKS MECHELEN

BECHTLE DIRECT NEERPELT

BEKAERTDESLEE INNOVATION WAREGEM

BELCOTEC GEEL

BELFIUS FLERON - VISE VISE

BELFIUS NOORD-BRABANT - BELFIUS BRABANT NORD ASSE BELGISCHE SCHEEPVAARTMAATSCHAPPIJ ANTWERPEN

BELGO HOME CONSTRUCT DUISBURG

BELLE'S POETSBUREAU WAREGEM

BEMATRIX BEVEREN-ROESELARE

BE-MOBILE TECH MELLE

BENVITEC PIPING KRUIBEKE

BENVITEC PLASTICS KOERSEL

BIBLIOPOLIS BRUSSEL

BINHOME BRUSSEL

BIO MINERALS DESTELBERGEN

BIOPLANET HALLE

BISTRO 4 WILRIJK

BJS.SERVICES ESTINNES

BKCS HERENTHOUT

BLAKE & PARTNERS BRUSSEL

BLECKMANN BELGIE KRUISHOUTEM

BNP PARIBAS LEASE GROUP BRUSSEL

BOEHRINGER INGELHEIM ANIMAL HEALTH BELGIUM BRUSSEL BOPLAN GULLEGEM

BOREALIS ANTWERPEN PAAL

BORVAL IEPER

BOSQ MECHELEN

BOUW- EN CONSTRUCTIEWERKEN SWINNEN BALEN

BOUWMATERIALEN DE GROOTE - HOUTBOERKE GENT

BOUWMATERIALEN VAN PELT ZOERSEL

BOUWWERKEN DE RUYCK NINOVE

BOVA ENVIRO+ HEUSDEN (O.-VL.)

BOZARC AARTSELAAR

BRASSE - TEMPS DIFFUSION FROYENNES

BRASSERIE DU GRAND ENCLOS SENSENRUTH

BRASSERIE TROLL & BUSH PIPAIX

BRICOLAGES JARIS GEMBLOUX

BRIGHTNET BRUSSEL

BRYSSINCK SINT-PAUWELS

BUBBLE SINT-KATELIJNE-WAVER

BUILD PARTNER BRUSSEL

BUMACO KOELTECHNIEK ROTSELAAR

BURDOCK CONSULTANTS BELGIUM BRASSCHAAT

BUROCAD PEER

BUSENCO KRUIBEKE

C SYSTEMS HOUTHALEN-HELCHTEREN

C&G OOSTHAM

C. OUTDOOR HASSELT

C.JC.B.M. MONS

C.M.E.CONSTRUCT OREYE

CAMBRE ASSOCIATES BRUSSEL

CAMCO TECHNOLOGIES HEVERLEE

CARE TALENTS KORTRIJK

CAREHO SCHILDE

CARGILL MECHELEN

CARRELAGES GILLET NOVILLE-LEZ-BASTOGNE

34


CARTEC BRUSSEL

CASTEL DE PONT-A-LESSE ANSEREMME

C-DEV BRUSSEL

CEMRE BRUSSEL

CENTR'AUTO CHARLEROI GOSSELIES

CENTRE D'IMPREGNATION DES BOIS DE BELGIQUE VIELSALM CERBA HEALTHCARE BELGIUM BRUSSEL

CERTINERGIE VERLAINE

CF PROXY + BRUSSEL

CFE BOUW VLAANDEREN WILRIJK

CGK GROUP GULLEGEM

CHATEAU CHENOIS GESTION BRUSSEL

CHAUFFAGE ELAERTS ET CIE ITTRE

CHEOPS TECHNOLOGY EDEGEM

CHRISTARLAQUE WASSEIGES

CHRISTY HEIST-AAN-ZEE

CIMENTERIES CBR CEMENTBEDRIJVEN BRAINE-L'ALLEUD

CINESCOPE BRUSSEL

CITY ROCK INDUSTRIALS MECHELEN

CITYSERVICE ANTWERPEN ANTWERPEN

CL WARNETON WAASTEN

CLEAN & CO BRUSSEL

CLEANLEASE OEDELEM

CLIMAWEST WEVELGEM

CMAST TEMSE

COACH PARTNERS BRABANT AFFLIGEM

CODE D'OR GENT

CODIPACK OLEN

CODIT LEDEBERG

COMBELL GENT

COMENSIA BRUSSEL

COMET TRAITEMENTS CHATELET

COMPAREX BELGIUM BRUSSEL

CONCRETEMASTERS GENK

CONFLUENCE INTERNATIONAL ANALYTICS LOUVAIN-LA-NEUVE

CONINCK ET FILS KEUMIEE

CONNECT HASSELT

CONSTRUCTIE DEMYTTENAERE HULSTE

CONSTRUX HULSTE

CONTACT CENTER ALLIANCE ASSEBROEK

CONXION DEERLIJK

COOLBLUE BERCHEM-ANTWERPEN

COOP-APOTHEKEN GENT

CORACO AARSCHOT

CORBIO CORBAIS

COREX PITTEM

CORNEILLIE ASSEBROEK

COSCO SHIPPING LINES (BELGIUM) ANTWERPEN

COSMADE BELGIUM HEIST-OP-DEN-BERG

COUET & ASSOCIES WATERLOO

CRANE REPAIR ANTWERPEN

CREAM CONSULTING BRUSSEL

CRECHE EUROPEENNE BRUSSEL

CRIEE-VAN DE POEL-VERMEULEN-ROOSEMEYERS ANTWERPEN CRISTAL BELGIUM TISSELT

CTG ITS WAVRE

CYMACO WILLEBROEK

D E I HERSEEUW

D&D ISOLTECHNICS RUISBROEK (BT.)

DALEMANS REMICOURT

DANIELI IL DIVINO ANTWERPEN

DARCIS CHOCOLAT ET PATISSERIE VERVIERS

DASSY EUROPE BRUGGE

DATA CENTER KEMPEN GEEL

DATOS WILRIJK

DAUVISTER FRANCORCHAMPS

DAVIDSON BELGIUM LA HULPE

DC RESTO LAARNE

35


DCI IT RESOURCES STEKENE

D-DRINKS ZWIJNAARDE

DE CORBIE II MEERHOUT

DE LIFT EKE

DE MACHINE FABRIEK KASTERLEE KASTERLEE

DE MOLEN-GENK GENK

DE RUYTE MILIEU PUURS

DE VLIJTIGE MIER HERENTALS

DE VREESE LOGISTIC PETEGEM-SCHELDE

DE WAAL SOLID FOUNDATIONS LOKEREN

DECAT ENERGY TECHNICS PERVIJZE

DEDIRES ANTWERPEN

DEKEYZER - OSSAER KOEKELARE

DEKKER TRANSPORT SINT-GILLIS-DENDERMONDE

DELBACO KORTRIJK

DELIMEAL BOECHOUT

DEMA - SHOP ROESELARE

DEMOCO GROUP HASSELT

DEMONSTRATE BRUSSEL

DEMTEC SERVICES HASSELT

DEPLOYMENTS FACTORY BRUSSEL

DEPREST TEMSE

DEQUENNE CHIMIE BAUDOUR

DESPRIET GEBROEDERS KORTRIJK

DESTINY ZAVENTEM

DETRY AUBEL

DEVOS GROUP BEKKEVOORT

DEWAE ZELZATE

DICAR KASTERLEE

DICK FRERES TUBIZE

DIENSTENBEDRIJF EASY LIFE WILRIJK

DILITO SINT-DENIJS-WESTREM

DIRECT SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS BRUSSEL

DISTRILED CENTRE ZWEVEGEM

DISTRILOGISTIQUE ZWEVEGEM

DMG GUARDS ZOERLE-PARWIJS

DOCHY GLAS VEURNE

DOCS INTERNATIONAL BELGIUM HEVERLEE

DOMAINE DE CLERFAYT WAUDREZ

DOMUS BERLAAR

DRAGINTRA KAPELLEN

DSV AIR & SEA RUISBROEK (ANTW.)

DUFAM GENT

DW - ACCENT PAAL

DYMOTEC OLEN

DYNALOGIC BELGIUM SINT-KATELIJNE-WAVER

EASY SYSTEMS BENELUX HERENTALS

EASYFAIRS EVENTS SINT-DENIJS-WESTREM

E-BO ENTERPRISES WATOU

ECE BRUSSEL

ECHO BAY MERCHTEM

ECOPHOS LOUVAIN-LA-NEUVE

ECORYS BRUSSELS BRUSSEL

ECS CORPORATE ZEEBRUGGE

EDC ANTWERPEN

EDMAC EUROPE WILRIJK

EDUARDS TRAILER FACTORY BALEN

EG SERVICES (BELGIUM) EKEREN

EIB INSULATION CONTRACTING SCHOTEN

ELEKTRO SERVICE MOESKROEN REKKEM

ELICIO ZANDVOORDE (OOSTENDE)

ELITE INTERIM BRUSSEL

ELMI MEERLE

E-LOGISTICS HALLE

ELS BELGIUM BRUSSEL

ELUDE DRONGEN

EMZ WERKE MANDERFELD MANDERFELD

EN BORD DE SOIGNES BRUSSEL

36


ENGIE ENERGY MANAGEMENT BRUSSEL

EOLY HALLE

EPC BELGIQUE AMPSIN

ERA BENELUX GULLEGEM

ERNST & YOUNG ADVISORY SERVICES DIEGEM

ERTZBERG LEUVEN

ESAS 3SERVICES WILRIJK

ESAS TELECOM PAAL

ESCURO GENT

ESKATRANS OUD-TURNHOUT

ETABLISSEMENTS JORDAN FARCIENNES

ETEX SERVICES KAPELLE-OP-DEN-BOS

ETS MICHEL C.C.S. FROYENNES

EURO CLEAN SERVICES BRUSSEL

EUROBUSSING BRUSSELS BRUSSEL

EUROFINS BELGIUM NAZARETH

EUROFINS FOOD TESTING BELGIUM SINT-ANDRIES

EUROFOOD INTERNATIONAL HASSELT

EUROGARDEN TIENEN

EUROGREEN TONGRINNE

EUROPCAT BRUSSEL

EUROPEAN AND BELGIAN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT BRUSSEL EUROPEAN CAR AUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION SOLUTIONS TIENEN

EUROPEAN COMBINED REEFERS ANTWERPEN

EUROPEAN PROTECTION GROUP PHILIPPEVILLE

EUROPROMOTION WOMMELGEM

EUROSPED BELGIUM SINT-TRUIDEN

EUROTRANSPHARMA BELGIUM HOUDENG-GOEGNIES

EVERLAM MECHELEN

EVOLUSYS AMAY

EXARIS INTERIM BRUSSEL

EXCLUSIVE NETWORKS DUFFEL

EXTRA VERTES WETTEREN

F & F CONSTRUCT ZELE

FAMIFAMENNE MECHELEN

FAST FASHION PARTNERS PAAL

FASTRAL SERVICES FAMILLEUREUX

FEESTARCHITECT CHRIST SCHEPENS DESTELBERGEN

FERMAX BELGIUM GALMAARDEN

FIABILIS CONSULTING GROUP BELGIUM BRUSSEL

FICHRISTI BRUGGE

FINJAN ANTWERPEN

FLANDERS FOOD PRODUCTIONS LOMMEL

FLANDERS LODGE IEPER

FLYING SERVICES LEUVEN

FORCE 8 CORBAIS

FORCE MECHANICS KAPELLEN

FOUBERT IJS SINT-NIKLAAS

FRESH MUSHROOM EUROPE MEER

FRIGOLOGIX LOMMEL

FRUITPACKERS ASSENEDE

FST FUNDERINGSTECHNIEK OUD-TURNHOUT

FUCHSIACTIVITY BRUSSEL

FULL HOME SERVICES WATERLOO

FULL HOUSE IZEGEM

G.L.D. ANTWERPEN

G4S FIRE & SAFETY BRUSSEL

GAMBIT FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS LIEGE

GAMING1 BONCELLES

GARDEC-V.J. ZEEBRUGGE

GCT CONSULTING BRUSSEL

GEBROEDERS GODDEERIS ROESELARE

GEDEON RICHTER BENELUX GROOT-BIJGAARDEN

GEO@SEA ZWIJNDRECHT

GEO-IT BERCHEM-ANTWERPEN

GF CLEANING & FACILITY SERVICES KONTICH

GFK BELGIUM LEUVEN

GHENT HANDLING AND DISTRIBUTION GHD GENT

37


GIGEMA SINT-TRUIDEN

GL EVENTS BRUSSELS BRUSSEL

GLOBACHEM SINT-TRUIDEN

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT BRUSSEL

GLOBAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS BRUSSEL

GLOBIS EREMBODEGEM

GM COMPANY STORES BELGIE MERKSEM

GMI GROUP OEVEL

GO TEMP KORTRIJK

GO4JOBS (ZUID-ANTWERPEN) ANTWERPEN

GOBERT MATERIAUX GHLIN

GOSSELIN FORWARDING SERVICES DEURNE

GRANCO LETTELINGEN

GREEN LIGHT SECURITY BRAINE-L'ALLEUD

GREENFISH BRUSSEL

GREENYARD FRESH SINT-KATELIJNE-WAVER

GRONDREINIGINGSCENTRUM TESSENDERLO HERENTHOUT

GROUP SUERICKX HERENTALS

GROUPE EXPERTISES AUTOMOBILES BRUSSEL

GROUP-F DIENSTENCHEQUES KONTICH

GUDRUN XPERT BRUSSEL

GUESS BELGIUM BRUSSEL

GUSTUS HASSELT

H - SECURITE BRUSSEL

HABOU HAMME (VL.)

HANA GROUP BELGIQUE BRUSSEL

HARIBO BELGIE KONTICH

HAYS KORTRIJK

HEDERA CONSULTING KONTICH

HENRION JARDINS OHAIN

HERFURTH TRAVEL ANTWERPEN

HET RAMENHUIS KERMT

HIGH SECURITY NIL-ST-VINCENT-ST-MARTIN

HISTOGENEX WILRIJK

HOBBY ET HOME SOUGNE-REMOUCHAMPS

HOLZINDUSTRIE PAULS BOVIGNY

HOME CARE SD BRUSSEL

HOME FOR YOU KNESSELARE

HOME MAID DC HOESELT

HOMESEND BRUSSEL

HOORCENTRUM AERTS HERENTALS

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT ZWIJNAARDE HUUR EEN STUUR GENT

I.R.I.S. SOLUTIONS & EXPERTS CORBAIS

ICOMETRIX WILSELE

IMCYSE LIEGE

IMERYS BELGIUM LA HULPE

IMERYS GRAPHITE & CARBON BELGIUM WILLEBROEK

IMMO TER POEL BRUGGE

IMPACT HASSELT

IMPACT EN EFFECT MOL

INAXTION ANTWERPEN

INDUSTRIAL SERVICE CORPORATION LINT

INFOTHEEK MECHELEN

INGENICO FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS BRUSSEL

INITIO BELGIUM BRUSSEL

INTERGROW AALTER

INTRACTO HERENTALS

INTYS BRUSSEL

INTYS HR BRUSSEL

INUITS BRASSCHAAT

INVENTIV HEALTH BELGIUM BRUSSEL

INVENTIVE DESIGNERS HOBOKEN

IPG IT SOLUTIONS BRUSSEL

IREX VIERSEL

IS4U KONTICH

ISRINGHAUSEN LOKEREN

ITP AGENCY GENT

38


ITZU JOBS HASSELT

J. VAN DER ELST AALTER

J.D.-CONSULT KEERBERGEN

J.R. MANANCIAIS CLEANING BRUSSEL

JACOPS DEERLIJK

JAGUAR LAND ROVER BELUX ANTWERPEN

JAWI ANTWERPEN

JEMILA VLAMERTINGE

JET IMPORT LAUWE

JOB EXPERT ZOLDER

JOB TALENT LEUVEN

JOBCONNECTION LEUVEN

JOEFM VILVOORDE

JTC MICRO ELECTRONICS RIEMST

K & C DIVING KALLO (KIELDRECHT)

KAGEBARO LEFFINGE

KALIFORNIA BOECHOUT

KELLEN BRUSSEL

KELLYDELI BRUSSEL

KENNEDY HUNTER BERCHEM-ANTWERPEN

KESTEMONT SINT-MARTENS-LENNIK

KEYWORKS TIENEN

KINLYS GROUP OOIGEM

KOMMA BOARD MECHELEN

KOMONO ZWIJNDRECHT

KRISTOTRANS KEERBERGEN

KRONES LOUVAIN-LA-NEUVE

KRONOS GROUP BRUSSEL

KRUYSLAND BRUSSEL

KTBA BELGIUM ANTWERPEN

KVG TRANS WILLEBROEK

L&G FRUIT SERVICES ALKEN

L.T.I. NINOVE

LA BUANDERIE THEUX

LA CANOPEE VILLE-POMMEROEUL VILLE-POMMEROEUL

LA GARDE-ROBE MECHELEN

LA PASSERELLE-GRANDHAN GRANDHAN

LA PILERIE MOMIGNIES

LABO. PHARMACEUTIQUES TRENKER THINES LANGE CHRISTIAN SCLAYN

LANNUTTI MORNIMONT

LANTZERATH BELGIUM MECHELEN

LARAMNO SINT-NIKLAAS

LASER ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS ANGLEUR

LAUWERYSEN - KRIJNEN MERKSPLAS

LBC-CEPSA TANK TERMINALS ANTWERPEN ANTWERPEN

L-DOOR RESIDENTIAL LIEDEKERKE

LE MONDE DU PAIN WILRIJK

LE PAIN D'ANTAN WAVRE

LE PARC DE LA CENSE WATERLOO

LE ROY BRUSSEL

L'ECOPAIN D'IGNACE MARK

LEM OOSTENDE - BRUGGE OOSTENDE

LEMON GROUP ANTWERPEN

LENZO ZOLDER

LEODETIM COURCELLES

LEROY IEPER

LES FILLES PLAISIRS CULINAIRES BRUSSEL

LES P'TITES FEES BLEUES BRUSSEL

LES SOEURS RACLETTE HANNUT

LET'S WORK KORTRIJK

LIEGE CONTAINER TERMINAL ANGLEUR

LIMAS FACILITIES SCHELLE

LIMBURGS LOGISTIEK PLATFORM MOL

LINATEX ZELE

LIQUIDFLOORS KORTRIJK

LOGI - TECHNIC INFRA JABBEKE

LOGINET TITRES SERVICES NAMUR

39


LOGISTIMAT CINEY

LONGCHAMPS LIBERTAS BRUSSEL

LOOMIS BELGIUM GENT

LOVANEX ROESELARE

LUMYNI SINT-GILLIS-DENDERMONDE

LUSH BRUSSEL

M INTERIM BRUSSEL

M.D.D. PHARMA WAVRE

M.P.F. EUROPE HARCHIES

M.V.T. TRANS EEKLO

M2Q KONTICH

MAASMEANDER MAASMECHELEN

MACOBO TESSENDERLO

MADAME EST SERVIE HUY HUY

MAES IND. HERENTALS

MAGABEL BRUSSEL

MAINTENANCE TUYAUTERIE SOUDURE INDUSTRIELLE ELOUGES MARELEC FOOD TECHNOLOGIES NIEUWPOORT

MARINE INSPECTION OPERATING SERVICES ANTWERPEN

MARTINIC SERVICES NAMUR

MASTHERCELL GOSSELIES

MAXEL WAVRE

MAXI ZOO OOST TEMSE

MD-BOUW ANTWERPEN

MDCPARTNERS BERCHEM-ANTWERPEN

MDT BELGIQUE WATERLOO

MECHELS VERHUISBEDRIJF BONHEIDEN

MEDACTA BELGIUM NIVELLES

MEDIA CONSULTANTS CY BRUSSEL

MEDICIM MECHELEN

MEDICONFORT HORNU

MEDISCH LABO D. VAN WAES - D. DECLERCK SINT-ANDRIES

MEDPACE BELGIUM HEVERLEE

MERKATOR ZELLIK

MEUBELEN DE ABDIJ NINOVE

MEUBELGALERIJEN GAVERZICHT DEERLIJK

MEUSE ET LESSE ANSEREMME

MFR MULTI SERVICES SAINT-MARD

MI&S ZAVENTEM

MICHAEL KORS BELGIUM EISDEN

MICROPOLE CONSULTING BELGIUM ZAVENTEM

MIFRATEL GENT

MISE EN PLACE BELGIE LEUVEN

MITHRA PHARMACEUTICALS LIEGE

MO KEYSERLEI ANTWERPEN

MOBIS PARTS EUROPE PAAL

MODAL INSTALLATION MARCHIENNE-AU-PONT

MOERBEKO ZELE

MONTAGNY BELGIE BORNEM

MOORE STEPHENS STRATEGY & OPERATIONS DRONGEN

MORDANT ET FILS JUMET

MOSAIC GREZ-DOICEAU

MOTEL DENNENHOF BRASSCHAAT

MOTUS HANDLING MENEN

MULTI INDUSTRIAL DESIGN ENGINEERING SERVICE ROESELARE MULTIPLICOM NIEL

MUTEC WAREGEM

MYECO SERVICES EMBOURG

N.S. WEPION

NALYS BRUSSEL

NDB LOGISTICS SCHELLE

NELISSEN STEENFABRIEKEN LANAKEN

NEO GROUP HERSTAL

NEXTEL WOMMELGEM

NGAGE CONSULTING BRUSSEL

NICKEL KRAAINEM

NIDO ALGEMENE ONDERNEMINGEN ZELE

NIPPON SHOKUBAI EUROPE ZWIJNDRECHT

40


NIROTRANS WESTMALLE

NOODLE BAR ANTWERPEN ANTWERPEN

NOSTRUM SERVICES BRUSSEL

NOVATECH INTERNATIONAL OLEN

NOVID WAARLOOS

N-SIDE LOUVAIN-LA-NEUVE

OMEGA PHARMA INNOVATION & DEVELOPMENT NAZARETH

OMEGA PHARMA INTERNATIONAL NAZARETH

OOSTMALLE CARS OOSTMALLE

OOSTVOGELS LOGISTICS MEER

OPTION TAPE SPECIALTIES TEMSE

OPTIS KONTICH

ORIS GROUP BRUSSEL

ORTHOPEDIE TOUSSAINT FLEURUS

OTHEUS GEEL

OU - QUI - BAT BERTRIX

OXYA CONSULTING BENELUX - OXYA - OXYA CONSULTING KORTRIJK P & H BUELLINGEN

P&V ELEKTROTECHNIEK ZOLDER

PAGE INTERIM (BELGIUM) BRUSSEL

PEETERS MOTORS HERENTALS

PELZER HERSTAL

PERFECT SERVICES GRACE-BERLEUR

PEUGEOT DISTRIBUTION SERVICE BRUSSEL PHARMA INSIGHT ZWIJNAARDE

PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES BELGIUM MECHELEN

PHARMAVIZE MARIAKERKE

PHENIX GROUP PEPINGEN

PHIDANI SOFTWARE BRUSSEL

PINKEYE ANTWERPEN

PIRET (SAINT-GHISLAIN-TOURNAI) SAINT-GHISLAIN

PIZZA DELIVERY GENT GENT

PLANET PARFUM BRUSSEL

POLET QUALITY PRODUCTS BORSBEKE

POLITICO BRUSSEL

POST PRESS DE MELLE TURNHOUT

PRATO HASSELT

PRIMARK LIEGE

PROBUMAT BRUSSEL

PROCOOL PERONNES-LEZ-BINCHE

PRODIGEST ZWIJNAARDE

PROFIELD BRUSSEL

PROMECO KORTRIJK

PROMUT BRUSSEL

PROTIME AARTSELAAR

PROXIMEDIA BRUSSEL

PROXIMUS SPEARIT BRUSSEL

PULP BRUSSEL

PUNCH POWERTRAIN SINT-TRUIDEN

PUUR HALLE

PZ NIEL

Q- FOOD LOKEREN

QNH CONSULTING BELGIUM HASSELT

QUALITY OF SERVICE BERCHEM-ANTWERPEN

R.T.S. INFRA ZEDELGEM

RADISSON HOSPITALITY BELGIUM SPRL/BVBA BRUSSEL

RAGOLLE RUGS WAREGEM

RAILTRAXX BORGERHOUT

RALPH LAUREN BELGIUM BRUSSEL

RBE TRANS TORHOUT

RED HAT BRUSSEL

REESINK CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT BELGIUM HAMME (VL.)

RENEWI BELGIUM LOMMEL

REPASSNET CENTER BRUSSEL

RESIDENCE AU BON VIEUX TEMPS MONT-SAINT-GUIBERT

RESIDENCE DU CINQUANTENAIRE BRUSSEL

RESIDENCE HARMONIA GERPINNES

RESIDENCE LA SAPINIERE MASNUY-ST-JEAN (JURBISE)

41


RESIDENTIE MILSENHOF MECHELEN

RETRIMEUSE SERAING

REVI FOOD OOSTENDE

RE-VIVE GENT

RHEA SYSTEM WAVRE

RIGA NATIE BEVEREN-WAAS

RISK DYNAMICS BRUSSEL

RITUALS COSMETICS BELGIUM ANTWERPEN

ROBERT WALTERS PEOPLE SOLUTIONS BRUSSEL ROBOJOB HEIST-OP-DEN-BERG

RODITO GROENTEN SINT-KATELIJNE-WAVER

ROECOL LOKEREN

ROLATHEL SCHELLE

ROMULUS EN REMUS MUNSTERBILZEN

ROOFCOVER AARTSELAAR

ROSSEL INTERACTIVE MEDIA CHARLEROI

ROTHI HASSELT

ROULARTA MEDIA GROUP ROESELARE

ROUTA GEEL

RR INTERIEUR MALDEGEM

RST MAIN GROUP STREE-HAINAUT

RUNTIME BOOISCHOT

RUTMA BOCHOLT

S.&R.B. LAUWE

SAFETEC INTERIM STABROEK

SAINT-GOBAIN CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS BELGIUM KALLO (KIELDRECHT)

SAINT-GOBAIN INNOVATIVE MATERIALS BELGIUM WAVRE SALES TALENTS KORTRIJK

SAMI ENGINEERING DALHEM

SANIDEL JAMBES

SANTENS GROEP SINT-AMANDSBERG

SBDW BIERGES

SBL SINT-NIKLAAS

SCHAPMANS - CAMPS TESSENDERLO

SCHILDERMANS PLUIMVEESLACHTERIJ BREE

SCHUMACHER EUROPE SPRL HARZE

SCM CLOSSE JOEL RAMILLIES

SD WORX BELGIUM ANTWERPEN

SD WORX GROUP ANTWERPEN

SEALECO BELGIUM BRECHT

SEBAHAT BRUSSEL

SECURELINK WOMMELGEM

SECURITAS DIRECT MANAGEMENT BRUSSEL

SECURITAS EVENTS BRUSSEL

SELECT PROJECTS ANTWERPEN

SEMETIS BRUSSEL

SENIOR SERVICES JUMET

SERTIP JUMET

SERVAUTO BELGIUM BRUSSEL

SERVINTER HASSELT

SHISEIDO GROUP BELGIUM BRUSSEL

SHOWPAD GENT

SIEMENS HEALTHCARE HUIZINGEN

SILOC BRASSCHAAT

SKYLUX HARELBEKE

SMART VALUE LIEGE

SOFT FRUITS BELGIUM WALTWILDER

SOLUTIO BOUWEL

SOLUTIONS 30 FIELD SERVICES MECHELEN

SOLUTIONS4MATERIALS HERENTALS

SOLVENTURE GENT

SONIGRIF ALLEUR

SPB BENELUX ANTWERPEN

SPIE OIL & GAS SERVICES BELGIQUE BRUSSEL

SSW1 WATERLOO

STAF CARS LOMMEL

STAFFABLE BELGIE GENT

STAGNO HASSELT

42


STAR GROUP BELGIUM ANTWERPEN

STARFRESH LIEGE LIEGE

START PEOPLE ABROAD ANTWERPEN

STEAM & CLEAN LILLE

STEFAN BOESMAN OOSTAKKER

STHREE BELGIUM BRUSSEL

STHREE SERVICES BRUSSEL

STRAND ASSOCIATES CONSULTING ANTWERPEN

STRUCTO BRUGGE

STUDIO TELECOM BRAINE-L'ALLEUD

STYLELABS BRUSSEL

SUEZ R&R BELGIUM BRUSSEL

SUEZ TREATMENT & RECYCLING BRUSSEL

SUEZ WATER HERSTAL

SUIT SUPPLY BELGIE BRUSSEL

SUPERDOG NAMUR

SUPERGROUP EUROPE BRUSSEL

SUSHI & ART ANTWERPEN

SYNERGIE SERVICES ANTWERPEN

SYNGENIA BRUSSEL

SYNLAB BELGIUM HEPPIGNIES

SYX GRAPHICS IEPER

T & T DESIGN TERNAT

'T BRIGANDJE MALDEGEM

'T SAS BRUSSEL

'T ZONNEKEN SINT-NIKLAAS

T.C.R. INTERNATIONAL MELSBROEK

TAILLIEU GUY WIJTSCHATE

TAILORMADE TRANSPORT MENDONK

TALI KOERSEL

TASOZ LOKEREN

TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES BELGIUM SINT-STEVENS-WOLUWE

TAVERNE CHOPIN BILZEN

TAXICOLLI KORTRIJK

TDK CONSTRUCT DEERLIJK

TEAM-ONE EMPLOYMENT SPECIALISTS HERSTAL

TEC ICT ZAVENTEM

TELECOM INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGIES BEERNEM

TELENET RETAIL MECHELEN

TENTOO PAYROLL SERVICES ZAVENTEM

TERIBEL HENNUYERES

TERUSUS ZAVENTEM

TESLA BELGIUM AARTSELAAR

TESSILFORM BELGIQUE ANTWERPEN

TF CONSTRUCTION TRAZEGNIES

THALES BELGIUM HERSTAL

THE CREW FLEX ANTWERPEN

THE FRONTLINE COMPANY WILRIJK

THE HOUSE OF MARKETING DIEGEM

THE JANE ANTWERPEN

THE ONES GENT

THE OUTSIDER VLAAMSE ARDENNEN BEVERE

THE PAND BRUGGE

THETRUCKCOMPANY GITS

THEVALUECHAIN KONTICH

THINK AND GO MELDEN

THIRY PAINTS HERENT

TIGER STORES BELGIUM ANTWERPEN

TOBANIA STROMBEEK-BEVER

TOP CLASS PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ROTSELAAR

TOPSALES BRUSSEL

TOTAL CONCEPT SIGNS OELEGEM

TOTAL GLOBAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES BRUSSEL TRADE AND TRANSPORT CORPORATION KRUIBEKE

TRANSMEER MEER

TRANSMISSION BRUSSEL

TRANSNUBEL BRUSSEL

TRANSPORT VERBEKEN DENDERMONDE

43


TRANSPORTBEDRIJF TRANS L&S RUMST

TRANSPORTS FOCKEDEY LEUZE-EN-HAINAUT

TRANSPORTS PIERARD MARCHE-EN-FAMENNE

TRANSPORTS SEMET HERINNES-LEZ-PECQ

TRANSPORTS VERVAEKE SPIERE

TRANSURB BRUSSEL

TRASIS ANS

TRAVEL & CRUISE COMPANY SINT-NIKLAAS

TRENDMINER HASSELT

TRIPLACO HARELBEKE

TRIXXO JOBS HOESELT

TRIXXO WALLONIE HANNUT

TRUYENBERG MERKSPLAS

TURBO TRUCKING GROBBENDONK

TVH EQUIPMENT WAREGEM

UNDERSIDE GOSSELIES

UNIZ.ORG GENK

USG PROFESSIONALS ANTWERPEN

V.D.S.-FOOD BRUSSEL

V.S.M. BRUSSEL

VACANSOLEIL SINT-MICHIELS

VALCKE GROUP WEVELGEM

VALIPAT BRUSSEL

VALUE RETAIL MANAGEMENT BELGIUM EISDEN

VAN DAMME-SCHLOEMER GENT

VAN DE VELDE PACKAGING LICHTERVELDE

VAN DE WALLE WAYAUX

VAN DEN WEGHE ZULTE

VAN DER VALK BEVEREN BEVEREN-WAAS

VAN DER VALK HOTEL BRUGGE-OOSTKAMP OOSTKAMP

VAN DIJCK CARROSSERIE MERKSPLAS

VAN GILS BELGIUM WIJNEGEM

VAN MOER RAIL ZWIJNDRECHT

VAN OSTA HOME SERVICE SINT-NIKLAAS

VAN ROOY FBT BEERSE

VAN TICHELEN GEBROEDERS BRUSSEL

VANROOCO KUURNE

VAREC MECHELEN

VECTRO HERENT

VENNE SHOP DEURNE

VENTE-EXCLUSIVE.COM RUISBROEK (BT.)

VERBRAEKEN INFRA TEMSE

VERHOEK EUROPE ZANDVOORDE (OOSTENDE)

VERKINDERE IZEGEM

VEROUGSTRAETE ZOMERGEM

VERSSUPERMARKT LEFEBRE DAVID ZWEVEGEM

VERTIMAC WAREGEM

VERWATER TANK & INDUSTRIAL SERVICES ESSEN

VINCENT LOGISTICS EYNATTEN

VIND RUMBEKE

VIO INTERIM BEERVELDE

VISION POINT ZONHOVEN

VISTALINK BONHEIDEN

VIVALDI'S CONSTRUCT ANTWERPEN

VLEESWAREN VANDECRUYS GEEL

VLG PACKAGING & SERVICES SINT-TRUIDEN

VNW BEHEERSMAATSCHAPPIJ HOUTHALEN

VOLT EUROPE (BELGIUM) BRUSSEL

VOPAK CHEMICAL TERMINALS BELGIUM ANTWERPEN

VPD LEMBEEK

VTM QUALITY SERVICES EREMBODEGEM

WAASLAND EXPRESS ZANDVLIET

WAASLAND VOETBAL LINKEROEVER BEVEREN-WAAS

WAASLANDIA AUTOBUSSEN VRASENE

WALCODIS ATH

WARNER BROS. INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION PRODUCTION ZAVENTEM

WEAREONE.WORLD ANTWERPEN

WEVER & DUCRE KORTRIJK

44


WH-CULINAIR GRAZEN

WONDERBOX BRUSSEL

X-CARE AFSNEE

XWIFT KRUISHOUTEM

YONTEC HASSELT

YOUR PROTEIN BRUSSEL

YUKSEL TRANSPORTS BRUSSEL

ZARA HOME BELGIQUE - ZARA HOME BELGIE BRUSSEL

ZENNER NORBERT SCHILDERWERKEN ZELZATE

ZIMMER BIOMET WEMMEL

ZORGHOME DE FAKKEL RUMBEKE

ZUM BURGHOF - KELLER - SCHODEN SCHOENBERG

45


Documents

Belgian High-Growth Monitor Edition 2019/media/corporate... · 4 Birch, D. (1979), The Job Generation Process, MIT Program on Neighbourhood and Regional Change, MIT, Cambridge 5 Henrekson,