Eveline Buter and Wouter Bijman proposed as new directors of Witteveen+Bos

During a meeting for all employees on 13th February 2020, the board of directors of engineering consultancy firm Witteveen+Bos announced that they will propose Eveline Buter as new director and Wouter Bijman as new managing director at the upcoming General Shareholders Meeting in April. The current board of directors consists of managing director Karin Sluis, who is resigning, and director Stephan van der Biezen, who will be continuing his current role. 

After consulting the senior partners, Supervisory Board and various internal and external stakeholders regarding the profile for the 'board of directors 2020', the board suggested appointing a third director. This is good for the general robustness and ensures extra scope for proactiveness, including more participation in the societal debate relating to knowledge-intensive dossiers such as the energy transition, climate adaptation and circular building. It also fits with the strong growth of the company in recent years, from over 900 employees when Karin Sluis was appointed in 2013 to more than 1250 today.

Karin Sluis will continue working at Witteveen+Bos, focusing among other things on developing investment propositions in the field of energy, infrastructure and water. 

About the new directors 
Eveline Buter (1975) studied civil engineering at Delft University of Technology and has a wide background in water management, societal cost-benefit analyses and energy (transition). For five years, Eveline Buter was head of our office in Jakarta and in recent years led the Product-Market-Combination (PMC) Industry and Energy. She is involved in the continued development of our share participation scheme and the promotion of diversity, inclusion and shared impact. As branch ambassador with Koninklijke NLingenieurs, Eveline Buter also focuses on the societal debate regarding the energy transition, and sees a lot of potential: 'We can use the expertise we have at our disposal as engineers and consultants of Witteveen+Bos more frequently and effectively - always taking the overall picture of the surroundings and all our stakeholders into account. Adding value in this way to decision making is something I would like to develop further in the coming years.'

Wouter Bijman (1976) studied civil engineering at Delft University of Technology and has a wide background in hydraulic engineering, infrastructure and mobility, digitisation and safety. He has headed our offices in Rotterdam, Kazakhstan and Dubai. Since 2018, Wouter Bijman has been business line manager of Infrastructure and Mobility. As member of the committee of leading experts on Governance Code Safety in Construction, his main concern is to improve safety in the construction chain. He is also a member of the steering committee Intelligent Infra, in which he is working on the transition of the construction sector into an economically stronger and smarter business with more societal value. Wouter Bijman: 'Two subjects I particularly want to focus on are further incorporating sustainability in our projects and ensuring optimal talent development among our employees. Witteveen+Bos is a fine, professional company which offers opportunities for people to develop and contribute to a better society!'

Stephan van der Biezen (1970) will continue his role in the board of directors. He looks forward to expanding the board of directors: 'This expansion of the board fits in with the substantial international growth of recent years, creates more scope for both internal and external initiatives and offers an opportunity to present our work more visibly in society. We also form a strong team.'

Background
The statues of Witteveen+Bos stipulate that directors must resign from the board of directors in the year that they turn 55. This age is derived from the vitality curve for directors by Dr A. Twynstra. Witteveen+Bos has been applying this rule since 1992.

During the General Shareholders Meeting on 9 April 2020, the shareholders of Witteveen+Bos will be asked to approve the appointment of Eveline Buter and Wouter Bijman. Witteveen+Bos is known for its unique share participation scheme (1992) through which the employees own 100% of the shares.