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This year, ARV Group celebrates its 25th anniversary. To mark the occasion, a conversation with two colleagues: Jeroen Verheijen, associate partner and one of the three founders of ARV Group, and Bastiaan Boers, who joined in 2022 as the youngest partner.
1. What’s your first memory of starting at ARV Group?
Jeroen: “When our former department was outsourced by Akzo Nobel, we decided to continue as an independent company. Suddenly, together with my co-founders Ted Abrahamsen and Wim Rutten, I was an entrepreneur. The name ARV still stands for the first letters of our last names. I came from the world of building factories and automating industrial processes. Entrepreneurship, providing services, networking, doing acquisition and marketing? We were engineers and had absolutely no idea. That made it all very exciting and challenging. Of course, we had a decent start with our former employer as our first client. But there was hardly any demand yet for our kind of consultancy to help companies with structural change and improvement processes in operations. It really was a leap into the deep end and pure pioneering.”
Bastiaan: “I come from a family with its own transport company. Entrepreneurial stories flew around the kitchen table when I was young. And logistics was something I was practically raised with. I started as a production planner in the chemical industry and moved up through retail to become a supply chain and operations manager in the food processing industry. When I started that job, I told my wife: ‘This will be my last job, after this, I’ll start my own business.’ When I was ready to do that, I met Bartelt Blankenberg and Roelant van Herwaarden from ARV Group through my work. We started talking, it clicked, I quit my job, and began doing various projects as an associate consultant for ARV Group. In 2022, I joined as the youngest partner.”
2. Why did you decide to put your energy into ARV Group specifically?
Jeroen: “I felt it right away 25 years ago: being in control yourself instead of working for a boss is liberating. The first years were tough and uncertain, but we eventually developed ourselves strongly. We stand out compared to traditional consulting firms, especially the big-name agencies that work for the well-known corporations. They also approach us, but we’ve mainly built a strong position in the large SME and family business market. Over the years, I’ve focused on operations in the process industry, strategy and plan development at management level for continuous improvement. Creating ownership across all layers of the organization, down to process execution and the people on the shop floor. Those people know the organization better than anyone. It all starts with their knowledge, experience, and commitment. That’s why the journey that began 25 years ago is still fascinating, challenging, enjoyable, and inspiring to this day.”
Bastiaan: “I had experienced ARV Group’s consultancy from the client side. It felt very good. Providing services to multiple companies, working on varied projects with new challenges each time, that’s what I wanted too. As well as continually gaining new knowledge and experience, which you then bring to other clients and projects. Here I could fully express my passion for operations and supply chain. And with the prospect of becoming a partner, it was a wonderful and challenging step in my entrepreneurial journey.”
3. Two partners, two generations, two faces. Tell us something about each other?
Jeroen: “As an experienced professional, Bastiaan brings a wealth of expertise in operations and supply chain. His knowledge is broad and in-depth. Moreover, he’s a true collaborator, a well-liked, inspiring sparring partner for our clients’ management teams. He’s great at sparring at executive level, managing relationships, acquiring new clients, inspiring others, he’s got it all. At the same time, he knows how to translate things into practice, into implementation: how does it work here, what works best here? And he’s a no-nonsense consultant, a genuinely pleasant person. In that sense too, he perfectly fits ARV Group’s personal and human character.”
Bastiaan: “From the very beginning, Jeroen truly set the standard for the ARV Group we know today. He did many things for the first time, kept raising the bar, and gathered the right people around him. What he just said about me applies equally to him. He doesn’t have that typical consultant attitude, he’s approachable, and he passes on his knowledge and experience to the next generation. He’s really a connector within our company. All of that makes him a valuable and enjoyable colleague to work with. And during team events or company outings, it’s always fun when Jeroen’s around.”
4. What do you think the future of ARV Group looks like?
Jeroen: “Over the years, we’ve found the right people to join us, and as a result, we now have a strong, service-oriented group, from young, promising talent to highly experienced consultants. We have a balanced management team that maintains a broad and solid network at management level in the process industry. We don’t use standard methods but always think from the client’s perspective, their situation, and their goals. We now operate under various labels, allowing us to meet companies’ needs on all fronts, with consultancy, with temporary hands-on support in operations, with interim management, and with the professional development of people, teams, and roles. Through all this, we manage to link strategy and implementation effectively. I can say with confidence that the future looks bright for ARV Group. A great realization, considering how small and inexperienced we once were. Personally, I’m gradually stepping back a little to make time for other activities. The new generation is ready to continue the success and enjoyment. I therefore have every confidence in ARV Group’s future.”
Bastiaan: “Continuing and further developing what has been built and expanded over the past 25 years is, of course, my challenge as ARV Group’s youngest partner, together with our team and our clients. Keeping up with the times and new trends, such as the energy transition, the rapidly growing role of data, and not to forget, the changing international climate. There’s also a new generation emerging in operations and supply chain. We want to help companies take new, successful steps in that entire playing field. New support requests keep coming up, and we can respond to them with our experience. We evolve while staying true to our distinctive strengths, pragmatic and dedicated on the job. You can always call a colleague for a question or to brainstorm an issue. That backup is important. And we’re always there for our clients, working alongside them within their companies. That sometimes means a lot of traveling across the country, from home to the client. We work long days, and that also demands a lot from our families. That’s why it was so valuable to celebrate our anniversary weekend on Terschelling not just with colleagues, but together with our partners as well.”