News

Finally we could do it again! Our first summer staff party without COVID19 restrictions - for many new staff members the first Summer Party ever - took place on 29 September. An unforgettable evening of enjoyment together, as evidenced by the video below.

Friday 22 September 2023 was a special day for Armonia Benelux: colleagues from Receptel and bouwens& rode together the very first Tour d'Armonia, an impressive bike ride against child cancer.

Solving a complex puzzle is what staff scheduling is most like. For this reason, more and more companies are employing a planner. At bouwens&, Anne-Roos de Vaal (29) fulfils this role. What exactly does a Senior Planner do at our company, and what challenges does this position bring?

Choosing facility service suppliers that are right for your office can be a time-consuming and daunting task. Are you considering separate service providers for each facility task? Or do you favour a single supplier that can offer an integrated solution? This article explores the practice and benefits of the integrated solution, also known as Integrated Facility Management.

On 22 September, both our employees and our clients and partners will swap office chairs for bicycle saddles: together we will ride the Tour d'Armonia!

Pride Amsterdam from the 1st to the 6st of August 2023 is not just any event. It symbolises the open and tolerant city that Amsterdam wants to be. The meaning of Pride - the freedom to be yourself - ties in with what we at bouwens& stand for.

As a host in his father's funeral home, Michael Bouwens discovered the power of personal service at the age of 16. His next side job - driving around business men and women - led him to his own company, a facility service provider with currently 200 employees and an annual turnover of €10 million.

Today is International Childhood Cancer Day - a day when we highlight all young cancer patients.

A Kinepolis cinema hall at Westfield Mall of The Netherlands, one of our most non-typical Dutch clients, recently provided the ideal backdrop for our first Facility Management New Year's reception. Guest of honour André Kuipers took to the big screen for a presentation of stature.

Friday the 13th an unlucky day? Not for our staff, with whom on 13 January we ushered in a year that actually promises to bring us good luck. After covid-19 made the traditional Summer Party impossible three years in a row, we kicked off 2023 in a delightful way together.

The bouwens& team was expanded on 1 September with the qualities and experience of Finance Manager Janneke Vink.

Armonia Group acquires Receptel, the market leader in hospitality and reception services in Belgium. Receptel has existed since 2000 and was owned by RGF Staffing.

Raising and maintaining salaries of security guards and other facility service providers requires agreements with the companies that hire the employees. This need not be complicated, writes Michael Bouwens.

In the modern, challenging labour market, the competition for the best people is fiercer than ever. Talented and well-educated employees often have a wide choice of jobs and expect employers to provide the best possible working environment. In addition, returning to the office after COVID is certainly not a given everywhere. At bouwens&, we know these challenges and know how to create an office where employees and guests like to (return to) come. This is why bouwens& presents several new services, such as Integrated Facility Management, Concierge & Lifestyle Services, and Business Support. So your office too can be a distinctive answer to a changing labour market and the new balance between working from home and the office.

At the end of 2021, Dutch bouwens& and the Belgian-Luxembourg branch of Armonia merged. Since then, bouwens& has been the Benelux brand of the Paris-based multinational. An excellent time to speak with Guillaume Amar (CEO of Armonia) and Michael Bouwens (Director in the Benelux). They discuss the family business, its strategy, and European developments.

The Princess Máxima Center for pediatric oncology recently renewed its contract for security services with bouwens&. Since 2018, the Security Hosts from bouwens& have been supporting the doctors, nurses and researchers at the centre in their mission: to cure every child with cancer, with optimal quality of life.

We are moving into a new office! And it is a characteristic, historic building in the heart of Amsterdam-South.

The Dutch bouwens& and the Belgian-Luxembourg branch of Armonia have merged. The combination will continue as bouwens& in the Benelux and will be led by Michael Bouwens, CEO and founder of bouwens&.

This year, Bram (75) took his leave as an executive chauffeur at Bouwens Chauffeursdiensten. For the past 13 years, he drove the CFO of a Dutch multinational at home and abroad practically every day of the week. When the top executive retired, Bram also felt it was time to quit. "We left together," he says.

At Bouwens Chauffeurdiensten, we certainly did not sit still during the corona pandemic. On the contrary, we have a new website, a new online reservation system and offer 100% climate-neutral executive transport.

The office is becoming a meeting place, that much is clear. For this reason, COO Tessa de Grijff explains the Multifunctional Desk: “It's the reception of the future.”

At bouwens& they like to invest plenty of time in finding the right people. And they do so for a reason: the employees are the company’s main asset. COO Tessa de Grijff spoke with psychologist and advisor Guus Mannaerts, who has been supporting bouwens& since forever in the field of human resources.

In a digital meeting we spoke with the facility management of the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) about the impact COVID-19 is having on the world of facility services. What happened, what changed, and what will the future look like? Here’s a review with some of our findings.

Om te voorkomen dat organisaties - denk aan kantoren, ziekenhuizen, winkels en musea - in de avond, nacht en het weekend gevaar lopen en hun - bedrijfskritische - activiteiten niet kunnen voortzetten, biedt bouwens& een team van Avondbeveiligers.

Facto is Holland’s leading facility management and corporate housing platform. They asked Michael Bouwens to discuss the trends for 2021.

This summer, Facto Magazine presented the results of its 'Partner of Choice 2020' survey. With a listing in the top ten, bouwens& is one of the best facility service providers in the Netherlands.

More and more companies are gradually opening up. This means that guests must be received again in the office building. But how does that work at 1.5 meters? Presenter Bas van Werven talks about this with Michael Bouwens.

Anderhalvemeterwerktbeter.nl (‘six feet works better’) helps anyone who works at the office to deal with the reality of collaboration in the six feet economy.

Joey de Bruin, Security Host and Team Leader for Mall of The Netherlands, is nominated for the V-factor security agent of the year award.

In the second week of September many Dutch organizations participated in the so called Nationale MeewerkWeek (“National Cooperation Week”). For one or more days, managers and boards joined employees on their shifts. Bouwens& also participated this year. What did founder and director Michael Bouwens learn?

From Monday 9 to Friday 13, 2019 the fourth edition of the National Cooperation Week will take place in the Netherlands. Management teams of numerous companies - committed to being a good employer - work side by side with their employees in the field. Bouwens& is a proud participator in this annual event.

During the biggest nautical event in the world, over 50 hosts and hostesses of bouwens& are present at SAIL’s four primary locations, including SAIL-Village.

A larger turnover, more employees, new markets, higher profits; in BNR Groeihelden, a Dutch national radio show, entrepreneurs are asked about the rapid expansion of their company. Michael Bouwens speaks about the success of his company bouwens&.

Het is bijna 2019. Een goed moment om eens vooruit te kijken. Wat gaat er volgend jaar gebeuren in de facilitaire sector? Wat zijn opvallende ontwikkelingen en trends?

Op vrijdag 31 augustus 2018 kwamen onze mensen bij elkaar voor de 3e editie van de Summer Party.

BeveiligingNieuws.nl published an article about the bouwens& vision on the security market.

Hospitality specialist bouwens& is trots op bijzondere opdracht.

Actie 'Doneer een lampion' groot succes.

Met de hercertificering van ISO 9001 laat bouwens& zien te voldoen aan de hoogste kwaliteitsmanagement norm.

Mooi weer, fantastische locatie en een geweldige avond!

“Een bezoek aan de nieuwe recruitmentsite is een beleving".

Bouwens& presenteert haar visie op receptiediensten 3.0.

Meerdere functies in een nieuw type hospitality professional.

Proactieve beveiliging staat centraal in speciale trainingen van Pinkerton.

Klanten kunnen de kleding zelf samenstellen via de online kleding configurator.

Een van de nieuwste ontwikkelingen in de markt van kantoorbeveiliging is predictive profiling.

Nadat onlangs het Keurmerk Beveiliging werd behaald, voldoet bouwens& nu ook aan de kwaliteitsnorm van ISO 9001:2008.

Op het online platform Insights publiceerde ABN AMRO vorige maand een analyse van de facilitaire markt.