Future forecast

Late in 2012, Wereldhave decided to specifically focus on medium-sized shopping centres in northwest Europe. ‘We conducted an extensive review of our portfolio and came to the conclusion that this market offers the best prospects for our company,’ says Smink. ‘At the same time we decided to work in a different way. We wanted to share knowledge within our company, to encourage more interaction between peers.’

What kind of company do you want to be

The office in The Hague was not the right set up for us. ‘It was a beautiful old embassy building with high ceilings and separate rooms for everyone, complete with a fireplace. It was nice but did not fit with the company we wanted to be.’ Therefore it was time to look for a new location. ‘We put a number of important criteria on paper that the new office needed to meet.’

Your employees and market determine location

‘We were looking for a central location in the Netherlands,’ said Smink. ‘We looked at where people are who will help us grow the company live, which is mainly in greater Amsterdam. And if you look at a place with the best accessibility by public transport and by car, the airport fits the bill. In addition, it is an ideal location for a company that focuses on the European market. The gates are literally within walking distance.’

Transparency and entrepreneurship

‘The World Trade Centre at Schiphol offered us everything we were looking for,’ says Smink. ‘Although it was not immediately clear when we first came here. This office had three different rooms that we pulled together to create a single office. It's nice to have a good landlord who cooperated with us to make that possible.’

‘For our office plan, we made a clear decision to incorporate the new cultural values of Wereldhave, such as transparency and entrepreneurship. This open environment has many advantages over our old office environment in The Hague. There is more interaction, which helps speed processes and improve the quality as well. It has become better in every way.’