Wim Vermeersch and Johan Van Delm were asked by ERA Group headquarters to breathe new life into ERA France. It has now been 12 years since the two entrepreneurs founded ERA Belgium...
We are pleased to hear from Wim Vermeersch, together with Johan Van Delm, Country Manager of ERA Belgium and France.
Is ERA France really ready to go?
The existing team of 10 partners will be doubled within the year. The current partners work from seven local offices spread across the country, namely in Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Paris (Vendôme) and Strasbourg. But this is only the beginning. France offers enormous opportunities. The aim is to build a close-knit regional network from these regional offices in order to provide the best possible local support. And we have ambitious plans: we are aiming for 60 partners within five years.
Do France and Belgium work closely together?
There is indeed a very close collaboration between the French and Belgian teams. For example, we hold annual kick-off meetings with all BeFra partners. We provide concrete support to the French organisation from Belgium, both for business development and for carrying out the actual consultancy assignments. There are many companies that have branches in both France and Belgium. Within ERA, we also have quite a few international clients worldwide with branches in France.
We are accustomed to working together across borders. The French team is strongly supported by colleagues from all neighbouring countries (including Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom). In concrete terms, we often work with international experts in the other countries where ERA is present. This enables us to offer clients specific expertise and experience in the various areas where they need support in order to work more efficiently and/or save money.
How did the restart of the French business actually happen?
ERA's head office in the United Kingdom asked us to breathe new life into the French organisation, which was struggling to get off the ground. The key factor here was to add the necessary experience and expertise to the existing team to enable us to offer our customers in France the solutions they need to control and keep costs under control. We are steadily expanding the team and also calling on neighbouring countries for the skills that are not yet available in the current French team. We have also ensured that the French team is fully integrated into the ERA Group in operational terms.
What is the ambition for the French market?
We want to reach the same level in France that ERA currently has in Germany and the United Kingdom. Initially, this will involve significant growth of the team to 60 partners within five years, followed by steady growth to a turnover of around £20 million.
The team will consist of business developers and specialists in the more than 40 cost categories for which ERA offers solutions to its clients. Our partners are typically former C-level executives from large and medium-sized companies, and experts from various fields. These experts bring their solution-oriented expertise from previous experiences, or develop tailor-made solutions within the ERA group.
The aim is to have a strong presence in both Paris and the regions, and to be able to manage international projects and clients from France.
How is business going in Belgium at the moment?
Business in Belgium is going well! We now have 18 partners, each of whom has built up specific expertise, often with experience as a C-level executive, just like in France. With this strong team, we will more than ever deliver on our promise of creating 'Value Through Insight'™ in the coming year. The Belgian client list includes names from a wide range of sectors, including retail (e.g. Decathlon), media (e.g. JCDecaux), finance (e.g. Bank Degroof Petercam), industry (e.g. Knauf), IT services (e.g. Cegeka), healthcare (e.g. Armonea) and non-profit (e.g. the King Baudouin Foundation).
