Kuijpers deploys eco-friendly technology to make environments healthier, greener and smarter. The key point here is sustainability. Kuijpers aims to make developed environments future-proof and healthy at a faster pace. Together with its 1,500 employees, the company is committed to passing a better world onto the next generation. The family business celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2021 although the pandemic unfortunately meant there was no party for all the colleagues. Partly for this reason, the company chose to use the launch of its new corporate identity as the ideal opportunity to stage a big get-together. How? By having breakfast with all its employees at Jaarbeurs' Beatrix Theatre.
New Year's breakfast for 1,100 employees: Kuijpers chooses Royal Jaarbeurs for its sustainable character
It’s the first week in your new job and you are immediately tasked with organising a New Year's breakfast for more than a thousand colleagues. That’s what happened to Ruben van den Nieuwenhof, Marketing & Communication staff member at Royal Kuijpers. The brief for the breakfast was to combine the launching of the new corporate identity and bring all the company’s employees together.
Ruben was told that a key requirement when selecting the venue should be sustainability. This topic is high on Kuijpers' agenda and the event location had to fit seamlessly. Royal Jaarbeurs meets that stringent requirement. Together with colleague Kim Flach and manager Angela Petrillo, Ruben staged a tasty New Year's breakfast in Jaarbeurs' Beatrix Theatre: 'Everyone was extremely enthusiastic.'
Sustainability as a requirement
Ruben had just started his new job at Kuijpers and was given responsibility for selecting the event venue. 'Sustainability is very important to us and we therefore wanted a venue that shares this vision. We selected five locations but felt an immediate connection with Jaarbeurs.' Angela adds: 'Jaarbeurs' sustainable ambition fits so well with how we look at the world. It just fell into place. And when we fed this back to the other venues, they understood our choice. Jaarbeurs is clearly known as a pioneer in this field.'
'Sustainability is very important to us and we wanted a venue that shares this vision with us. In this respect, we felt an immediate connection with Jaarbeurs.'
Theatre show full of experiences
It was more than 'just' a breakfast for all employees. Kuijpers also organised a complete show full of experiences in the theatre. Chair for the day Tiemen Smit led the event while director Aukje Kuypers gave an inspiring speech. The new corporate identity was launched and international breakdancer Redouan Ait Chitt (Redo), who has multiple physical disabilities, talked about what you can achieve with perseverance. Angela: 'This was another nod to sustainability. Ensuring the next generation inherits a better world will not happen automatically, but with perseverance you can achieve a lot. Redo's story was really inspiring in that respect.'
Thinking along for the best results
All in all, it was a fantastic show for the many enthusiastic colleagues in the hall. Ruben: 'Together with Artishock events & marketing, we put a lot of time into the programme. Our people came from all over the Netherlands early on a Monday morning and we had to make sure it was really worthwhile. The location helped enormously, because of the theatre setting, of course, but also because of the Jaarbeurs team itself. The people really thought along with us creatively to flesh out the programme.' Angela adds: 'We regularly organise events and also see how other companies do this. For example, there are venues that don't think along with you and basically just rent out a space. The people at Jaarbeurs, on the other hand, are very knowledgeable and really guided us to make the best use of the theatre. Their advisory role and enthusiasm helped us connect the dots.'
Open to discussion
The Kuijpers team looks back on its (first) collaboration with Jaarbeurs with satisfaction. Ruben: 'It's the way they communicate and are open to discussion. Thinking along with us and helping us get the most out of the programme. That doesn't necessarily mean that everything will run flawlessly, of course, because something unexpected can always happen. But it's how you deal with that. Our buses with staff were half an hour early and all arrived at the same time. The foyer was full right away, which was a bit chaotic. Jaarbeurs found a solution on the spot and was open to an honest evaluation and a good conversation afterwards.'
A fine collaboration
If it is up to team Kuijpers, this will be the start of an ongoing collaboration: 'Admittedly, this breakfast was unique because of its size; we won't be doing that again anytime soon. But Jaarbeurs has lots of other conference and meeting spaces and we used different facilities the same day, for example, for a meeting with new employees.'
Do you want to organise your event at Beatrix Theatre?
Accountmanager Corry
Want to know more about Beatrix Theatre? Contact me for possibilities.
events@jaarbeurs.nl +31(0)30 295 58 81
