On 17 September 2026, Vlerick Alumni Leadership Club hosted an exclusive In the Boardroom event at the Oosterweelcampus in Antwerp. The Oosterweel project is often called Belgium's "construction site of the century".
Set against the backdrop of one of the country's most complex infrastructure projects, the event offered participants a rare look behind the scenes at the project management and engineering challenges involved in completing the Antwerp Ring Road. As always, true to the spirit of Vlerick Alumni Leadership Club, it was an evening "where great people meet and get inspired."
We are particularly grateful to Willemen Group, and especially Tom Willemen and Marc Jonckheere, for their warm welcome, openness, and support in creating a truly insightful experience for our members and guests.
Project Introduction
The evening began with a presentation by the project leaders. With great passion and expertise, they took us through the story behind this exceptional project, the enormous scale of the works, and the project management challenges of running one of Belgium's most complex construction sites.
Site Visit
Despite the rain and wind, we then headed out onto the construction site itself. With our feet literally in the mud, participants got a unique behind-the-scenes view of the technical and organisational complexity of an undertaking of this size.
Keynote Address:
Tom Willemen and Marc Jonckheere
From Family Business to Professional Governance
Following the site visit, Tom Willemen, Chairman of the Willemen Group, and Marc Jonckheere, CEO of the Willemen Group, shared the story of the group's transformation. Their talk covered:
- The evolution from a family-owned business to an organisation with family-based governance and professional external management
- Marc's candid account of guiding the group through challenging times and bringing it back on track
- The leadership lessons he drew from that turnaround:
- The importance of unity of command
- Ownership in each business line
- A clear and simple organisational structure
Did you know?
Building a motorway through the middle of a living city means the traffic has to keep flowing while the road underneath it is being rebuilt. To demolish the Merksem viaduct and lower the Ring, a temporary bypass motorway with three lanes in each direction was built alongside it, keeping traffic out of the residential areas of Deurne and Merksem during the works.
The final result is literally layered: the Canal Tunnels under the Albert Canal consist of four tubes stacked two on top of each other. Stacking them keeps the building site narrow enough for ships to continue using the canal during construction.
Above ground, the city gets space back. By partly lowering and covering the Ring, room is freed up for new Ringparks such as Groenendaal, Lobroekdok and Het Schijn, reconnecting neighbourhoods that were cut off from the city by the viaduct.
Networking Reception
As is tradition with Vlerick Alumni Leadership Club events, the evening concluded with a networking reception. Participants connected over inspiring conversations, exchanging ideas and reflections sparked by the presentations and the site visit, and once again experienced the power of the Vlerick alumni network.
The In the Boardroom event at the Willemen Group was far more than a site visit; it combined a first-hand look at Belgium's largest infrastructure project with an honest account of leadership and governance in a family-owned group. Participants walked away with a richer understanding of large-scale project management, and with valuable new connections.
It was, once again, an evening where great people meet and get inspired.
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