Successful story of:

BouWatch

Facts and figures

2010 Founded in
Market leader Northwestern Europe
Scale-up Phase

Question.

BouWatch

Theft, fraud or vandalism: it is a regular occurrence on construction sites. BouWatch provides solutions for security at places where it is temporarily needed. It turns out to be a gap in the market: its access control, alarm and video systems can be found all over the Netherlands. Construction sites, storage areas, business premises and car parks can be equipped with security systems within 24 hours.

BouWatch is a truly Dutch company. In 2016, Dutch private equity fund Nordian Capital took a stake in the organisation to accelerate its growth. And it succeeded: Maarten de Roos (CEO) led BouWatch from around 50 people in 2016 to 400 in 2023. With healthy profits, foreign adventure beckons. With Haniel’s 2021 acquisition, additional investments in international growth will be made in the coming years.

But growth doesn’t happen overnight. Achieving the firm ambitions will require a professionalisation drive within BouWatch. That will require new leadership. Well-staffed teams. Solid Product Lifecycle Management. Daring to invest in innovation and technology. Only then will there soon be a future-proof product portfolio.

BouWatch went in search of a Chief Product and Technology Officer (CPTO) to flesh out this vision. Newpeople went to work filling the role on an interim and permanent basis.

Solution.

The position filled, Bas Demmink started as CPTO in September 2022. He is responsible for product and technology strategy and drives execution. Within BouWatch, Bas brings more synergy between product, tech and sales.

“Solid Product Lifecycle Management is crucial in this,” he says. “I am really looking forward to taking this professionalisation step together with the product team. There are many opportunities for new use cases based on what is happening in the market now, with customers and competitors.”

Internationalisation is an important spearhead for Bas. As CPTO, he encourages innovation so that BouWatch provides the best possible service for customers. Now and in the future. Bas stresses, “I don’t believe in innovating for innovation’s sake. Of course technology offers plenty of opportunities, but only when we keep our customers’ needs at the centre can we realise our ambitions.”

Bas Demmink has been filling C-Level positions at the intersection of product and technology for over 10 years. Stakeholders, governance, technology: you catch him up with a complex role that involves rapid switching at different levels. “Internationalisation offers a lot of opportunities. I look forward to being able to contribute to sustainable and profitable growth.”

Scale-up

BouWatch wants to accelerate its growth; it is a typical Scale-up. Professionalisation and scalability are key in this growth phase. These are the characteristics for this phase:

Scaling the business across various axes (product across markets, tech backbone, proposition and more)
A focus on customers and revenue
A proven business model that generates revenue and profit
Standardising processes and designing the organisation tightly

Leadership

Upscaler

The leadership most suited for success in this phase is characterized by:

From operational to coaching leadership (you can no longer do everything yourself)
Focus on people – attract, develop and retain the right team of people
Creating scalability through structure and processes, without being entrepreneurial, lose – create resilience
Clarity (communication I expectations) and personal growth (working with A-players).
Continue to refresh and start improving

Look at our leadership model