Annual report 2023: Solid growth, despite challenging labour market
Today, Vebego published its 2023 annual report. Vebego looks back on an intensive year, with internal and external challenges. Developments like the launch of Vebego as a new brand in the market, explicating a new overarching culture and the merger of companies required time, energy and – again – money; over four years Vebego invested €30 million in redesigning the company.
Externally, Vebego had to contend with high inflation rates and labour market shortages last year. But the efforts paid off. Vebego has made great strides in making the organisation future-proof. The commercial performance was in line with a multi-year trend: since 2021, the turnover has grown by 40%. The net result for 2023 is once again positive. This healthy financial result helps Vebego to achieve its goals: creating meaningful jobs based on the belief that everyone has the right to a good job and a fair income.
Solid growth, despite challenging labour market
In the year in which we celebrated our 80th anniversary, Vebego’s turnover increased with nearly 8% to a record high of €1,480 million (2022: €1,371 million). The solid growth was mainly driven by the activities in Switzerland, and landscaping and cleaning services in the Netherlands. Especially the tight labour market proved a challenging factor for further growth. The significant investments to strengthen the organisation, culture and brand are the main -and planned- driver for a lower net result in 2023: €4.3 million (2022: €10.6 million). Net result was also affected by lower margins and higher indirect costs due to wage increases and inflation.
Value for customers, employees and society
An important milestone in 2023 was the successful launch of the Vebego brand. The new logo, the new company names and the updated visual identity exude simplicity, accessibility and people-orientation. Supported by the rebranding, Vebego’s visibility has increased. Customers mention it; they increasingly see the breadth of our services and the strength of our collective. Even better; more and more we are being found on the themes that matter to us, such as meaningful work and inclusiveness. We have stepped up our efforts in value creation, for example by creating a dashboard based on the six capitals of value creation which will guide the board’s decision-making and support transparent reporting.
Outlook 2024
In 2024, market conditions will still be challenging. However, Vebego will continue to work on the future proofing of the company and invest in opportunities to decrease our environmental impact and create a more sustainable and significant social impact. We will maintain our focus on the roll-out of the Vebego brand and our restructuring programme, and we foresee a significant performance improvement in several companies. In 2024, we expect a higher turnover and an improved net result. CEO Ton Goedmakers looks forward to 2024 with enthusiasm and confidence: “Vebego is transforming from a company with many entities to a new, powerful collective that operates under one name: Vebego. Our people-oriented story is landing better and better, internally and externally.”
