The group will focus on the full range of expertise within brand communication, from live events and stands to corporate interiors and experience centres, each with a strong online offering.

Match in offer and DNA

For Creaplan CEO Michael Debaveye, the match between both companies became clear early on. “Where we provide stands, interiors and displays, our customers will now be able to rely on the expertise of For Live for all their needs concerning event interiors, audiovisual applications and online broadcasting. Both companies are very complementary. We’ll also reinforce each other geographically: Creaplan strengthens its position in the Dutch market, For Live introduces itself in Belgium.” Both businesses present themselves as premium players with quality firmly rooted in their DNA.

From Eurovision Song Contest to World Cup ice skating

For Live supplies facility solutions — audio, light, rigging and more — for live communication projects. The company from Amersfoort targets production houses, event agencies and inhouse event departments, with a strong focus on the corporate and sport events market. For Live was founded about 10 years ago and has been involved in over 1,000 productions, from the Eurovision Song Contest to the World Cup ice skating in Thialf, as well as in numerous corporate internal events such as shareholder meetings and product presentations for companies like KPN, Amstel, Rabobank, KLM and more.

Ready for the future thanks to integration of technology

Vincent Lievens, COO at Creaplan, explains. “The cooperation makes our offering even more future-proof. As a company, we did not sit on our hands during the coronavirus crisis: our interior solutions and complete furnishings branch has grown massively, at the same time we evaluated our events product offering to see where we could integrate technology, aiming at online and hybrid applications. Thanks to For Live’s expertise in online events, we can answer the market demand even better, future-proofing our stand and interior offer.”

For Ruud van den Berg, founder of For Live, the cooperation fits seamlessly within the giant growth spurt his company has known the past years. “Despite the COVID-19 crisis, For Live is doing great and orders keep coming in, thanks to the traditional (sport) events that still take place on one hand and the growing demand for online broadcasting solutions on the other hand. At the beginning of the crisis, For Live started developing a range of unique products for interactive online events, with which we have now gained a prominent market position.”

Centrally managed

Lievens: “Similar to the acquisition of stand builder Bulik last year, this acquisition feels like the logical next step. For Live reinforces the group concept, in which brand experience is at the centre. Operationally, not much changes: our customers will still receive the same service and our activities in Nazareth will remain unchanged.”

Founder Ruud van den Berg preserves the operational management of For Live; both companies will be managed centrally by the Creaplan management team for optimal collaboration. Ruud will also join the overarching group as shareholder and director.

Solidifying market position with strong group concept

Debaveye: “We keep taking steps in our growth strategy. Our organic growth continues, at the same time we want to strengthen our market position with various acquisitions of complementary companies, both geographically as well as in the field of product and service. Step by step, we want to build towards a full-fledged European group for projects in the live event and brand communication market.”

About Creaplan

Creaplan is a Belgian stand and interior building company with an average annual turnover of 10 million euros, founded in 1994 by entrepreneurial duo Dirk Deleu & Ann Vancoillie who established the company as market leader in the sector. This momentum of growth was continued in 2018 with the reinforcement of external shareholders KeBeK Private Equity & Walter Mastelinck, assisted by an experienced management team. With a team of 50 permanent employees and about 80 freelancers, the company from Nazareth designs and builds stands and interiors for SMEs and multinationals all over Europe.

About For Live

For Live supplies complete facility solutions for events. Every year the company finishes more than 250 projects in the corporate and sport events market, at the request of (technical) producers, event agencies and inhouse event departments. The firm from Amersfoort was founded about 10 years ago by owner Ruud van den Berg. With a team of 15 permanent employees and over 150 freelancers, the company achieves an average annual turnover of 5 million euros.

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Videos for embedding

For Live - Events. Audiovisuals. Broadcast.
Creaplan Jaguar Land Rover Brussels Motor Show
Creaplan - Create. Capture. Connect.

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The acquisition fits in with the growth strategy that Creaplan applies. Walter Mastelinck, director and co-shareholder, explains. “On the one hand we grow organically, on the other hand we want to grow through acquisitions of Belgian as well as European companies with a similar or complementary offer. The takeover of the stand building activities of Bulik is fully in line with this growth strategy.”

Match in vision and approach

Bulik is a fitting complement to Creaplan, says CEO Michael Debaveye. “We consider it a good opportunity to incorporate their customers into our structure. Bulik, just like Creaplan, holds years of experience with clients from various sectors. Their in-house production with talented craftsmen, choice for high-quality materials and innovative approach fit seamlessly with our vision.”

Bulik remains active

Bulik shifts its activities as stand builder to Creaplan but remains active as a creative supplier. “The current situation has accelerated our step but is not the cause of the acquisition. Family circumstances make us want a more structured life, in a less deadline related sector. We will however continue being creative.” Bulik Standbouw becomes Bulik 2.0 and will focus on displays, pop-ups, micro events, marketing and numerous creative activities. “We will gradually discover our new core business and find out for what competences our clients appreciate us the most”, says Sofie of Bulik 2.0.

Strong emergence from crisis

These last few months Creaplan has not sat back. COO Vincent Lievens explains. “Although the corona crisis has had an undeniable impact on the events industry, covid has allowed us to accelerate the further broadening of our activities, particularly in interiors and displays.”

About Creaplan

Creaplan is the Belgian market leader in exhibition stands, interior design and displays. With a team of 50 permanent employees and about 80 freelancers, the company from Nazareth designs and builds stands and interiors for SMEs as well as multinationals all over Europe.

For retail, offices, hospitality and more

The new range is developed for production environments as well as retail and offices. Our products range from health displays with protective materials to protective furniture and teleworking infrastructure. We developed these to support companies in maintaining safety measures at work. Our solutions can be deployed flexibly, have a low entry cost and can also be rented.

Stands, interiors, displays and Safety solutions

Our Safety Solutions join our existing service range of stands, interiors and displays. COO Vincent Lievens explains: "With all the European trade fairs and events temporarily on hold starting from March, our workshop came to a complete standstill. The first weeks we used our resources to develop 2 kilometres of mobile walls available to hospitals and residential care centres, to expand their capacity. After that, we started thinking about how we could support companies during this period as well".

The end result of that thinking exercise is a range of furniture and interior solutions, from partitions over mobile washbasins to, of course, our now familiar health displays and temperature check displays.

Durable materials and neat finish

Chances are that this new caution and prevention in the workplace is part of the new normal. That's why - as is always the case for our stands, interiors and displays - we consciously opt for durable materials and solutions that last a long time. We double down on service at the same time: we not only do installation of the health displays, we also supply the materials. That way, you no longer have to look for mouth masks and hand sanitizer etc. yourself.

Setting up your workspace safely?

You can read all about our interior solutions on the Safety solutions page. You can already find our solutions at Brussels Airport, BMW, EY, P&G, Alpro and more.

EuroShop: the largest retail trade fair worldwide

Every three years in February, the Messe in Düsseldorf is home to EuroShop: the largest retail trade fair worldwide. With a strong focus on the technologies of the future, it presents everything there is to know about retail interior design, visual merchandising, retail marketing and technology, exhibition and event marketing and much more, spread over eight dimensions.

Last edition, the fair welcomed more than 110,000 visitors and over 2300 exhibitors. With over 120,000 square meters of inspiration, you are guaranteed to go home with new ideas and interesting contacts. Especially during the 20th edition of the fair! And as a European stand builder with projects all over the world, we wouldn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to share our inspiration with you.

The Creaplan stand: a sea of inspiration

Day in day out, we build stands and interiors for our customers, anywhere in the world. So when we get to build one for ourselves, we like to think outside of the box as well. A challenge our designers loved to dive into! Come visit the Creaplan stand and immerse yourself in the latest customer experience technologies and design practices.

Who knows, maybe you'll fish up some ideas that are sure to make waves at your next trade fair participation?

Find us at Hall 4

You'll find us in hall 4, booth B32. See you then?

Last week, 80 MS patients overcame the limits of their bodies and climbed the Mont-Blanc together, under the guidance of the Belgian Air Force. A fantastic experience for them to which Creaplan is happy to contribute.

Vandaag werd in de gebouwen van Creaplan de uitbreiding van industrieterrein De prijkels getekend door 13 bedrijven, ditalles in coördinatie van intercommunale Veneco en met de nodige persbelangstelling. In aanwezigheid van de 3 burgemeesters van de omliggende gemeentes Kruisem, Nazareth en Deinze werden alle plannen voor de uitbreidingszone onthuld.

Creaplan gaat naar een nieuwe site langs de E17 van ruim 25.000 m² en verdubbelt zo zijn huidige oppervlakte. Deze nieuwe locatie zal alle mogelijkheden geven om de groei-ambitie van het bedrijf te faciliteren en kracht bij te zetten.

1. Come up with a good story

A stand concept, central theme or good story binds everything together. It appeals to hearts instead of heads. And that’s a good thing, because in a marketing context, emotion convinces twice as much as rational arguments and facts do. In addition, stands with a story linger longer in the visitors’ minds. Make sure your story is in line with your brand and your products - but thinking out-of-the-box might also work surprisingly well.

2. Consider a lead collection tool

Lead collection or lead generation tools help you collect data from stand visitors. This has two major advantages: first of all, such a tool automatically adds this data to your CRM database, so that your sales managers can start using it immediately afterwards.

At the same time, lead collection tools are excellent sources of information. And everybody knows that data is worth its weight in gold. Booth visitor numbers give you an idea of who visited your booth and when. Based on these freshly acquired insights, you can improve your stand for your next participation in order to get more results out of your investment.

3. Think of the customer experience

Exhibition booths allow you to provide information and show products. But so do websites. Where can you make a difference? With interactive applications and compelling experiences at the booth! Make sure your visitors can do more than just look around. At the Van Marcke stand at Batibouw 2020, for example, you could discover products by sliding a large screen back and forth, and on the booth of Jaguar - Land Rover at the Brussels Motor Show 2020 there was a climbing wall for the real daredevils! These experiences are often eye-catchers that lure more people to your booth.

4. Create a clever stand design

At an exhibition you are quite often surrounded by competitors – it would be wise to make sure your booth stands out! Whether it's with a unique story, a striking design or technological novelties, that's up to you.

But you don't just generate impact by attracting attention. Discuss the stand design thoroughly together with your stand builder. Is the visitor flow working? Is there enough storage space for your staff to keep the stand clean? How much room do you provide for hospitality? Tie all the loose ends together to form a strong unity.

5. Utilize your marketing tools

Comprehensive brochures or short flyers? The choice is yours. Start creating your booth content in time, and consider videos for screens, live sessions and interactive workshops. Gadgets are nice to have as well, so visitors can take something that bears your brand name home with them. Consider matching your marketing tools to the theme of your booth.

6. Go the extra mile

A classic booth doesn't work like it used to, and quick and dirty is completely out of date as well. Create impact by going the extra mile, on every level. Think of unique catering, original activities for visitors, a warm welcome by hospitality staff, ...

Don't forget the details. Choose furniture that suits your concept and decorate your stand with unique accessories. High-quality workmanship and sturdy materials are also important: your stand will look good until the end of the fair, and visitors will link this sense of quality to your company or brand.

7. Make sure you can rely on a partner

As you can see, there's a lot involved in preparing for a trade fair. A reliable partner who can relieve you of all your worries across the board is a huge help. Remember that you can perfectly outsource all of the above, from catering to concept to content creation. Choose a partner with impressive reference cases and a proven track record in various sectors. Tip: since a trade show is often an international event, it's a good idea to look at the international expertise of your partners.

Creaplan: expert in stand construction

Still on the lookout for a reliable partner for your next exhibition participation? With more than 25 years of experience, Creaplan is ready to take care of your next project, while guiding you from A to Z. Contact us for an introductory meeting without obligation, we would love to hear all about your trade show plans.

Oprichters Ann Vancoillie en Dirk Deleu: “Het Belgische investeringsfonds KeBeK Private Equity biedt extra middelen en knowhow. Walter is een entrepreneur in hart en nieren. Als CEO kan hij zich volledig focussen op de opportuniteiten van Creaplan met respect voor de familiale en open bedrijfscultuur. Wij blijven als medevennoten wel nauw betrokken bij de werking van het bedrijf. Daarnaast kunnen wij ons verder focussen op Aluvision, dat oplossingen voor de standenbouw en eventsector wereldwijd ontwikkelt en produceert.”

Ondernemer Walter Mastelinck richtte in 1991 Transics op, Europees markleider in fleetmanagementoplossingen voor de transport- en logistieke sector. Hij stond tot einde 2016 aan het hoofd van Transics. Vanaf 11 juni wordt Mastelinck medevennoot en de nieuwe CEO van Creaplan. “Ik word voor één derde medevennoot en neem de dagelijkse leiding voor mijn rekening. Ik ben een gepassioneerde ondernemer en vind het fantastisch om actief met een team van gemotiveerde mensen te bouwen aan een succesvolle toekomst. Creaplan is sinds de oprichting een dynamisch bedrijf van ondernemers, voor ondernemers. Een onderneming met een ervaren & geölied team en een open, familiale spirit waar ik van hou. Ik kijk er enorm naar uit om dagelijks met alle medewerkers en partners mee te schrijven aan een creatief en succesvol groeiverhaal.”

De tweede extra aandeelhouder wordt KeBeK Private Equity, een onafhankelijk Belgisch private equity fonds dat investeert in solide, kleine tot middelgrote ondernemingen met een aantoonbaar potentieel voor verdere waardecreatie. KeBeK Private Equity ondersteunt actief het managementteam van Creaplan, zonder tussenkomst in de dagelijkse bedrijfsleiding. “Creaplan heeft een sterke positie in een gefragmenteerde markt. We zijn onder de indruk van de ontwikkeling die het bedrijf tijdens de afgelopen jaren gerealiseerd heeft onder leiding van de bestaande aandeelhouders. Het bedrijf slaagt erin om voor haar klanten een betrouwbare, waarde-genererende en creatieve partner te zijn in standenbouw. We kijken ernaar uit om samen met Walter, Ann en Dirk het bedrijf zowel nationaal als internationaal verder uit te bouwen”, zegt Gert Van Huffel, managing partner van KeBeK Private Equity.