Just Moved!
CSO Ben Jansen says goodbye to Alychlo
Ben Jansen has announced his exit after five “exciting” years as chief strategy officer at Alychlo, the investment holding firm of Flemish entrepreneur Marc Coucke.
“It was an absolute pleasure to be part of the unique Alychlo team: one by one absolute toppers, experts, and above all, extremely nice colleagues with whom I have spent a lot of time,” he recalls his time with the Belgian investor.
He explains that his collaboration with the many entrepreneurs, investors, managers and fellow board members he worked with (at RSC Anderlecht, La Reserve Resort, OKU Hotels and Sanglier Durbuy Adventures) during this time has sharpened his own passions over the years.
“Special thanks, of course, also to Marc,” he adds. “Belgium is more beautiful in every way thanks to personalities like Marc. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to help build the Alychlo dream.”
Helping build Belgian businesses
Ben has also amassed decades of commercial leadership experience; first in FMCG at Unilever, in various sales and marketing roles between 1997 and 2004 and as head of category management from January 2005 to December 2006, then as commercial director at Medialaan from the start of 2007 to the end of 2017.
Later, he became chief commercial officer and Belgium & Netherlands (BENE) executive board member at DPG Media, following Medialaan’s merger with De Persgroep.
Ben stepped down from his roles at DPG Media in early 2021 specifically to join Marc at Alychlo, where he would apply his deep operational and strategic background across the firm’s broad portfolio of Belgian mid-market growth companies.
Family, friends and fun
Ben’s departure marks the second major executive change at Alychlo within weeks. It follows long-standing CEO Pieter Bourgeois announcing he would be leaving at the end of August to join Koramic Investments as co-CEO alongside Christian Dumolin.
“Alychlo is undoubtedly one of the most dynamic family offices in the country, where laughter and tears go hand-in-hand with ‘fun’ and ‘hard work’ – as life is,” he shares. “To say there is never a dull moment is a huge understatement.”
In the coming months, Ben will enjoy some well-earned fun with family and friends, as well as tick a few things off his bucket list. At the same time, his commitments and responsibilities at Bargoens will continue.
