Belgium Brings New Life to ERA Group in France
Wim Vermeersch and Johan Van Delm have been tasked by ERA Group headquarters with breathing new life into their sister company in France, in queue with their “Value through Insight” philosophy. Meanwhile, 12 years have already passed since the two consultants founded ERA Group in Belgium …
We spoke with Wim Vermeersch and Johan Van Delm, both Co-Country Managers of ERA Group Belgium and France, about this.
Is ERA France truly ready to stand on its own two feet?
The current team of 10 partners will double in size over the course of the year. The current partners work in 7 regional offices spread across the country, including in Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Paris (Vendôme), and Strasbourg. But this is just the beginning. France offers enormous opportunities. The goal is to build a solid regional network based on these “local offices” to provide the best possible local support, in queue with the “Value through Insight” philosophy. And we have ambitious plans: we aim to reach 60 partners within five years.
Do France and Belgium work closely together?
There is indeed very close cooperation 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. This applies to both business development and the actual implementation of consulting assignments. Many companies have offices in both France and Belgium. Within ERA Group, we also have many international clients with a presence in France.
In any case, we are accustomed to working together across borders. The French team receives strong support from colleagues in all neighboring countries (including Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom). In practice, we often collaborate with international experts in other countries where ERA Group operates. This allows us to offer clients our specific expertise and experience in the various areas where they seek support to work more efficiently and/or achieve cost savings.
How did this relaunch of the French business actually unfold?
ERA Group’s headquarters in the United Kingdom asked us to get the French operation back on track, as it was struggling to get off the ground. The key factor was adding the necessary experience and expertise to the existing team so that we could also offer our clients in France the solutions they needed for cost control. We are gradually expanding the team. In the meantime, we are drawing on neighboring countries to provide the skills that are not yet present within the current French team. We have also ensured that the operational French team is fully integrated into the ERA Group.
What is ERA’s ambition in the French market?
We aim to reach in France the level that the ERA Group currently holds in Germany and the United Kingdom. Initially, this involves significant team growth to reach 60 partners within five years, followed by gradual expansion to achieve a turnover of approximately €20 million.
The team will consist of sales representatives and specialists across 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 disciplines. These experts contribute their expertise and solutions based on their prior professional experience or develop customised solutions within the ERA Group, applying the principle of “Value through Insight.”
In doing so, the goal is to maintain a strong presence both in Paris and across the regions, and to be able to manage international projects as well as handle client relationships from France.
How are things going in Belgium in the meantime?
ERA Group’s Belgian business is on the rise! We now have 18 partners, each of whom has developed specific expertise, often with experience as a C-level executive, just as in France. Thanks to this strong team, we will deliver on our promise to create “Value through Insight” more than ever over the coming year. The roster of Belgian clients includes names from a very 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 organizations (e.g., the King Baudouin Foundation).
