Anheuser Busch InBev, the Leuven-based largest brewer in the world, caused shock waves last week when it announced its plan to move a complete layer of senior management to New York. Following an unspecified transition period, 116 management jobs will move from Leuven to Manhattan. The jobs concerned are currently held by 89 Belgian staff and 27 other nationalities in departments such as finance, personnel, legal and marketing.Full story
Certainly, it must be something that has flown over from the United States, where you can contract out virtually any task: walking your dog, picking up your groceries, parking your car or shopping for a new wardrobe. Now, small companies are popping up all over Flanders, willing to take over the agonising chore of scrutinising this season's trends and picking out only those items that are perfectly right for youFull story
In the mid-1990s, French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand embarked on an ambitious project: to create an image bank of aerial photographs of the earth. The remarkable book that resulted – The Earth from Above – was published in 1999 and translated into 24 languages. It is one of the world’s best selling illustrated books with more than six million copies in print. Unsurprisingly, it stimulated publishers around the world to consider similar books.Full story
From the early 15th century, Flanders was renowned for its huge, beautiful, tapestries. Through sumptuous fabrics of wool and silk, threaded with gold and silver, they brought to life contemporary events such as decisive battles, as well as stories from the Old Testament, the life of Christ and the saints, romances of chivalry and ancient myths and legends.Full story
The board of Fortis Bank this week declined to put its weight behind any of the candidates for the chairmanship of the company, instead sending a list of six names of candidate-directors to the shareholders’ meetings in February in Brussels and Utrecht. Shareholders at those meetings will have the opportunity to choose one of the candidates as chairman.Full story
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The cost of dienstencheques, or service cheques, used to pay household help, went up from €7 to €7.50. The lower price cheques will still be valid until expiration.
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Ten criminals involved in four major cases of organised crime, including drugs and human trafficking, were released from prison last week after an appeal court found that there had been serious procedural errors in their prosecution.Full story
Act I, scene1: Panic in the streets
The board of Fortis in September denies rumours that the bank is facing liquidity problems. Worried shareholders withdraw €20 billion and the three Benelux countries step in with a cash injection totalling €11.2 billion. The move is intended to stop the share price crashing, but it fails.
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