Manager of the Year 2018.

Deceuninck Patrick, Editor
10 01 2019

Photo : Belgisch Premier Charles Michel
© DEC

On Wednesday 9 January 2019, the Dutch-speaking and French-speaking Managers of the Year were announced at a gala in Brussels Expo in Palace 10 with more than 1000 invited guests. Both Managers of the Year received their trophy from outgoing Prime Minister Charles Michel of the minority government in current affairs.

In his speech, Prime Minister Michel emphasised that he was confident of continuing to work for our country until the elections in May, and touched on a number of tricky issues. Our country will be a major 'potential victim' in terms of growth in the event of an unfavourable Brexit. He also stressed the importance of maintaining social peace and the safety of all citizens. He also addressed the issue of our country's energy supply. In addition, the Prime Minister rejoiced in the fact that our country has been in the cockpit of the UN Security Council for two years. Furthermore, he called on everyone to take responsibility for safeguarding our democracy. We saw and heard a combative Prime Minister.

The best is yet to come.
The whole event was coloured musically by Novastar's fiercely appetising interludes. The audience was thus assured that the best is yet to come in 2019.

The other speaker noted was Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, the former CEO of Belgian chemicals group Solvay, who has now been chairman of the board of directors of French energy giant Engie since May last year. Engie is the parent company of Electrabel, including the Doel and Tihange nuclear power plants. In that capacity, Clamadieu also has an important voice in the Belgian energy debate and, as former CEO of Solvay, he already has the necessary Belgian experience. Prime Minister Michel was all ears for the manager who ensured that Belgium's energy supply remained secure this winter. In his speech, Clamadieu did not avoid the climate issue. He regretted the poor communication with the population and the rather fiscally driven approach of the government to reach a solution. He also emphasised our country's great dependence on nuclear power in terms of security of energy supply at a reasonable price.

Prime Minister Michel then had the honour of proclaiming Jean-Jacques Cloquet, the top man of Brussels South Charleroi Airport, as the French-speaking Manager of the Year 2018. The award also marks his farewell, as he will become director of the Pairi Daiza nature park.

Afterwards, Johan Thijs, the CEO of the bank-insurer group KBC since 2012, became the 34th Trends Manager of the Year. Eleven years ago André Bergen, then CEO of KBC, was also awarded Manager of the Year. A year later, the financial crisis broke out. For the current 34th Manager of the Year, it will probably not be such a big deal. A manager or entrepreneur always limits risks - knowing that a setback or disaster cannot always be avoided - and tries to stay ahead of crises.

In 2020, we can already look forward to the next Manager of the Year, an esteemed organisation of the business magazine Trends - Tendences.

Tagged with: Management.