Hans Wijers, CEO AkzoNobel: the Zuidas’ first major industrialist

‘As a company, we operate worldwide, with more than ninety per cent of our activities outside the Netherlands. If Amsterdam’s 
Rijksmuseum is looking for the original shades for its restoration, they know exactly where to come. But we also painted the reddest building in Moscow’s Red Square. It’s a very special red colour - so they came to us.’ According to Wijers, ‘AkzoNobel’s life-blood is the sale of paints and chemicals’.
 

That’s why Amsterdam’s Mayor Job Cohen was so enthusiastic when Wijers called him. ‘Cohen saw it as a major coup for Amsterdam to have a real industrial company to choose the Zuidas for its headquarters. After that, everything moved amazingly rapidly - the city of Amsterdam was remarkably good to us. A few days later I viewed a few locations for our temporary and permanent headquarters. It was a Sunday and I was wearing dark glasses - we had to keep news of our move from Arnhem secret until it was fully finalised.’ The main thing keeping AkzoNobel in Arnhem had been its old fibres division. ‘We’d sold off the fibres division long ago,’ says Wijers. ‘The international headquarters mainly focuses on financial markets and the various advisors you need for that.
 

That means that Amsterdam, the Zuidas, was really an obvious location. Another key reason for moving was that we wanted to make our headquarters into a proper corporate centre. For this, we need somewhere to meet not only for the Executive Board but also where you can bring people together from all corners of the world. To achieve that, you need to be close to Schiphol airport and not tucked away in Arnhem. There are only 24 hours in a day. Spending three or four hours travelling from the airport to the headquarters is simply too long. ‘The move has proved extremely popular with our people worldwide. Downstairs we have a conference centre for meetings that’s packed full every day. Another thing that people really like is that you’re just a stone’s throw away from the city centre. Compare that to La Défense in Paris or Canary Wharf in London – they are miles away from the centre. Here, you have everything you need in close proximity.’