Spectacular opening of our new office in Amsterdam

Preparations had begun months in advance, expectations were sky high, the opening of our new office had to match the grand scale of our new building. One word that describes the opening: Spectacular!

The successful ingredients for the gala opening were all present; an elegant office space, a football hero, an aerobatics plane, a dancer, and abseilers. Added to that was appetizing food and plenty of drinks. Even the sun smiled on us – we enjoyed the event on a glorious summer afternoon!

2:00 P.M. onwards, our guests started arriving. They were greeted with coffee, tea, designer mini tarts, and delicious cakes. Soon after arrival, we escorted our guests to the first floor. Still under renovation, this floor gave them a glimpse of the previous state of the building. They could easily understand the effort that went into converting the building into the current stylish office space.  This floor housed a stage – to organize a management session by Guus Hiddink.

For this occasion, he was interviewed by Elsemieke Havenga, TV presenter and former top hockey player. Guus Hiddink shared some interesting stories and insights from his extensive career. The session was concluded by Con Zwinkels and Laurens Rosenthal, our founders, joining Hiddink on the stage to share some of their experiences and to take his advice on our move into Asia.

After this inspirational session, we all went outside and were joined by all employees for the spectacular part of the opening. What a spectacle it was!

The first thing we noticed was the DJ playing some groovy summer tunes from the roof of the new building. Soon, 3 abseilers came down the side of the building, revealing our banner: “Leaseweb, hosting your growth”.

Directors Con and Laurens shared the story of how they founded the company 16 years ago and how proud they are to be where we are right now, thanking the key people who helped us grow throughout the years. Their story was interrupted by the Leaseweb Extra 330 Aerobatics airplane doing great stunts and maneuvers – enthralling the audience.

The speech was followed by the actual opening action, where the directors and Guus Hiddink had to kick a ball through a window. The glass window posed a tough challenge as a goalie, but in the end, we scored and officially opened the new Leaseweb building! Streamers exploded and a dancer, hanging upside down from a chandelier, poured champagne for the directors and our customers – a toast to the opening of our new office. Champagne flowed freely, wine filled up the goblets, sushi and snacks filled up the plates, the DJ switched to new beats  – it was indeed a grand opening!

Pictures of the opening on Flickr.