20 years already for Jan

There is probably not a single gate to an exhibition hall anywhere in the Benelux that Jan hasn’t seen swing open for him, always with a smile and a joke, and enthusiastically greeted by the guards. As a team leader of the field staff, Jan is a walking encyclopedia: How can I avoid that traffic jam on the E313? Near which hall should I park the trailer? How many refrigerators go in a van? Where is the service entrance of that hotel? ... Jan knows it and he gladly shares his experience with his colleagues.

Jan joined the team of Van Os-Sonnevelt in January 1992, in the same period the Maastricht Treaty was signed, the former Republic of Yugoslavia disintegrated, and Boutros Boutros-Ghali came into service as secretary-general of the United Nations. While in the Albertville the Winter Olympics took place, Jan supplied his first Batibouw building show - and while he was at the Foire Agricole de Libramont, the Olympic Games in Barcelona were in full swing.

When Jan entered the premises last Tuesday early in the morning, he was greeted by his colleagues and management. From the hands of manager Gerard van Os, he received a bottle of his favorite bubbles, a voucher for a gourmet week-end in the Ardennes and - for a few hours - the keys to a shiny Porsche Carrera 4S for an extended test drive. In the afternoon he was expected in the gourmet restaurant. Afterwards, he took another test drive, this time with the more modest electric Renault Kangoo ZE. As a passionate pigeon-fancier, he had a slight remark about the Porsche racing machine at the end of the day: "All-round driving pleasure and power, but ... I could never stow my pigeon basket in it."