Share distribution in the Hol family

“I'm mortal too,” father Jan Hol thought five years ago. His heart was acting up, he needed an operation, and he worried about the future. “What if I keel over—what will happen to the company then?”

Now 73, Hol knew the time had come to arrange his succession. He reflected, consulted experts, and drew his conclusion. Three years later he had distributed Holbox’s shares equally among his three children: son Martijn (48) and daughters Anouk and Chantal, 43-year-old twins. In this way, Hol Sr. gradually stepped back from the company he had led for over forty years.

Holbox was founded in 1976. Jan Hol began his career as a marine engineer in the merchant navy. But after meeting Wies, his then girlfriend and now wife, he looked for a job ashore. He started out as an agent for packaging materials, but soon decided to produce cardboard boxes himself.

One thing led to another. Today, Holbox has 400 employees across its sites in Echt, Limburg, and Gliwice, Poland. The company mainly produces display materials that allow brands like Heineken, Douwe Egberts, or AB InBev to showcase their products in German, Dutch, French, or Belgian supermarkets.

In hindsight, the share distribution proved a pivotal moment for Holbox. Whereas the Hol children had previously focused on their own departments, from that moment the interests of the company as a whole took precedence. “I work in sales,” Anouk explains. “If I used to close a contract with an important client, delivery had to be on time, no matter what. The fact that an ad agency had sent the files too late wasn’t an excuse in my book. Production—headed by Martijn—just had to sort it out.”
Production sometimes saw things very differently. “We thought sales should explain to customers what had gone wrong and why there was a delay,” says Martijn. “After all, the situation wasn’t down to us.”

It was not uncommon for the Hol children to get angry and slam doors. Just as often, mother Wies would arrange bilateral talks, sound out the warring parties, and then try to bring everyone closer together with carefully worded compromises.
“Now that we are all co-owners, things fortunately go differently,” says Chantal. “If there’s a problem, we sit down together and discuss all the arguments. That way we understand what everyone is dealing with. As owners we’ve learned to communicate in a business-like way.” It works. “We now know that almost everything is solvable.”

The Hol children were interested in the company from an early age. As kids they often went along with their father. The warehouse was the perfect place for hide-and-seek, and the hand trucks made excellent scooters. Their current roles in the company feel natural to them. Martijn is the managing director, Anouk runs sales, and Chantal is responsible for marketing and the web shop.

“Martijn is and remains the eldest,” says Anouk—a position that was set from the start. “He never hesitated to tell us we were too young for the nightclub and had to report to the youth club.” Father Jan describes Martijn as “the captain of the ship.” “Among other things, he’s responsible for production, the department where everything comes together. So he’s aware of everything and knows the company better than anyone.”

That became clear during the credit crisis. Holbox ran into difficulties, the bank was uncooperative, and father decided to hand the finances over to his son. The debts were paid down, solvency improved, and Holbox’s future was secured—thanks in part to Martijn’s efforts. “That doesn’t mean we’re sidelined,” Chantal emphasizes. “Of course Martijn has final responsibility on a day-to-day basis, but major investments are only made if everyone agrees. If no compromise is reached, it doesn’t go ahead. We wouldn’t want any other arrangement, because we must avoid putting family relationships under strain.”

Source: Het Financieele Dagblad, 27–12–2019