EY Family Business award winners 2019-20 - Netherlands

A commitment to innovation and cooperation spans three generations.

We are delighted to celebrate the recipients of the EY Family Business Award of Excellence 2019-20, an honor that recognizes excellence in family businesses. Congratulations to this year’s winners for Netherlands:

Family Van der Leegte, VDL Groep

In 1953, Pieter van der Leegte founded VDL Groep with just five employees. Today, it is an international, industrial family business, operating 104 companies in more than 20 countries, with 16,000 employees. VDL operates four divisions: Subcontracting, Car Assembly, Buses and Coaches, and Finished Products.

VDL successfully combines the clout of a multinational with the flat organization and open, informal working atmosphere of a family business, where priority is given to growth opportunities and continuity. Each generation of the family has built on the core value of “strength through cooperation."

In November 2016, after 50 years of entrepreneurship, Wim van der Leegte passed the reins of the family business onto the management team, which includes his three children, Pieter, Jennifer and Willem. They will continue the company’s heavy investment in R&D and innovation in order to bring the very latest in technical solutions to their clients.