Hillewaere Group joins forces with Cambien Insurance from Kortrijk
We are incorporating Cambien Verzekeringen from Kortrijk into our organisation. This partnership will strengthen our presence in the West Flemish market. Following the integration of Groep NBA from Kortrijk in 2022, we are now strengthening our “Kortrijk hub” with the brothers Bruno and Frederik Cambien and their employees. ‘We are delighted to be able to further expand our services in Kortrijk and the surrounding area together,’ says Jochen Blondelle, director of Hillewaere Verzekeringen Kortrijk.
Cambien Insurance has been active in the insurance sector for 80 years. Since 1990, brothers Bruno and Frederik Cambien have been at the helm of the family business. The insurance sector has undergone a changing landscape in recent years, which has necessitated growth and collaboration.
“We are more than just an insurance broker offering ‘traditional insurance policies’. We like to think along with our SME customers and develop tailor-made solutions for them. By sharing our knowledge within the Hillewaere Group and being able to call on an additional sounding board from the Kortrijk region, we will be able to take our services to the end customer to an even higher level. This local anchoring, combined with a strong back office, is more important than ever now that our sector requires ever more expertise and is modernising at an ever faster pace. Thanks to the integration within the Hillewaere Group, we will become even more effective as experts and advisors." - Bruno and Frederik Cambien, directors of Cambien Verzekeringen
Cambien Verzekeringen is therefore starting the new year under the Hillewaere banner. During the first mergers in 2022, Roel Druyts, our CEO and founder of the Hillewaere Group, already indicated that we wanted to use Hillewaere to further consolidate the fragmented landscape of insurance and real estate brokerage. Thanks to this integration, we now have around 275 employees.
“By adding Cambien Verzekeringen to our group, we are continuing our growth story in Flanders. The Cambien brothers focus primarily on insuring SMEs, with a particular specialisation in construction and machinery breakdown for the rental sector. What's more, it's a family business with a hands-on mentality. One that we at Hillewaere also love. We have opted for a partner model, in which the managers of the offices become partners within our group, and we strongly believe in this win-win story." - Roel Druyts, CEO and founder of the Hillewaere Group
In 2021, Rothschild & Co acquired a stake in the Hillewaere Group through Five Arrows Principal Investments (FAPI). This move made it clear that we wanted to continue growing in the European insurance and real estate sector. Following the acquisition of nine insurance agencies across Flanders over the past two years and the acquisition of the master licence from Christie's International Real Estate, we are now realising these growth plans with our Hillewaere Group. A second line of financing was recently made available to enable us to realise a further series of partnerships and projects. The integration of Cambien Verzekeringen is the first of these.
With the addition of a second major insurance player to our group, alongside Groep NBA, which already chose to fly the Hillewaere flag in 2022, we will establish a strong foothold in the local South-West Flemish market and the Kortrijk hub will become the largest part of our entire Hillewaere organisation. In recent years, the insurance sector has faced a number of significant challenges, such as digitisation and competition from the major banks. We have been offering our own products through Hillewaere for a number of years now, and we are also fully committed to new tools, which more and more policyholders will be able to benefit from thanks to these consolidations.
"Two years ago, we were working with Groep NBA, where Cambien Verzekeringen is now located, towards integration within the Hillewaere Group. So we know better than anyone what is going on in the local market and what is needed to take the next steps in growth. We are therefore very much looking forward to joining forces with Bruno and Frederik and their entire team to build a real Kortrijk hub, from where we can serve the market as one big West Flemish family with tailor-made solutions. On the other hand, the Cambien brothers will be able to share their special expertise and specialisations, such as construction and machinery breakdown, with Hillewaere insurance offices throughout Flanders, thereby adding value to the entire organisation." - Jochen Blondelle, director of Hillewaere Insurance Kortrijk
The Hillewaere Group now has 275 employees and a commission turnover of 34 million euros. The strategic plan is to increase this to 70 million euros over the next three years.
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