The excitement was palpable in the meeting room at Callens’s HQ one January evening, where guests were treated to a panoramic view of Waregem business park. Callens is a well-established name. Currently, the company, with revenue of 100 million euros and more than 500 industrial projects, is led by Annick Callens and Windy Moerman, formerly married and the second generation at the company helm. Windy was going to reveal how Callens had survived the transition from the first to the second generation and how the company is already preparing the transfer to the third generation. He started by looking back at the early years.
"Annick was just 16 years old when her father asked her to take over the reins. Higher education was never an option for her", Windy emotionally explained. “I was her boyfriend, and even though I came from a working-class family, her father Willy urged me to join the company. After completing a Bachelor’s in commercial sciences, I gave in. We were just 23 years old and already held 100% of the shares. Far too young obviously, but we set an example for many.”
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"Four types of CEOs"},{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"The succession was taken care of. The leadership succession, however, was a different matter, as Windy revealed. “Books about family businesses describe four types of CEOs when it comes to leadership succession. You have the Governors who, when they turn 65, say, “Guys, that’s it, I’m relocating to Spain, don’t ask me anything anymore.” Obviously, this is not optimal because you lose all that valuable knowledge. Monarchs, meanwhile, think they will live forever and continue to sign off on all the invoices until their last day on earth. The third type is the Ambassador. That’s the CEO you want on board. But we had a General. Someone who never failed to tell everyone how proud he was, but who was secretly jealous when everything went too well. As a result, he unconsciously undermined us.”
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"Surround yourself with the right people"},{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"They settled on a solution by establishing an advisory board. "We are on our fourth advisory board," says Windy with a laugh. “I definitely recommend getting external advice, in any form you can. Reading books is important, but there is a lot of experience that you simply can’t find in books. You need to ask other people: “How did you do it? You’ll soon realise that all family businesses have the same problems. While the company size and industry may be different, the challenges are the same.”
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"Leadership succession vs succession"},{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"Windy and Annick turned to other companies for advice about their leadership succession. “We realised early on that we wanted to draw up a family charter. We started by visiting six renowned family businesses in the region. One thing we noticed during these conversations is that the discussion immediately turned to the legal aspect and succession, whereas for us the leadership succession came first. The succession and the legal framework for it are the logical consequence.”
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"Family charter"},{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"So what are the provisions of the Callens family charter? “People often think that a family charter is established to secure the family’s assets. We almost made the same mistake. But the main purpose of our charter is to ensure that our children can fully enjoy their youth before they join the company. They need to get a degree and have the option to take a sabbatical year abroad if they want. We missed out on this because of the company. It even cost us our marriage. We don’t want our children to suffer the same fate.”
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"Points to consider for a seamless transition"},{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"Hilde Laga, chair of ING’s board of directors, also reminded the attendees of the pitfalls and success factors for a generational transition in a family business.
"}},{"componentType":"highlight","richBody":{"value":"The three pitfalls
1. Starting too late
“Many business leaders put off discussing their succession because they find it too difficult to choose between their children or because they think they’re immortal. But if you don’t start this dialogue on time, the standstill may develop into a conflict.”
2. Holding to succession planning
“People often think that everything hinges on good succession planning. But it’s the leadership succession that is crucial for a seamless transition, not the succession planning.”
3. Blind reliance on legal structures
“A legal structure provides a framework, but it is not the foundation. Without trust and dialogue, the law can at most be used to enforce a truce.”
Three success factors
1. Family relations
"The majority of failed leadership successions can be attributed to what I like to call the three Es: Ego, Emotion and Escalation. Good family relations are essential.”
2. Gradual introduction of externals
“External advice helps you look at things more objectively. Start with an advisory board and gradually work towards establishing a board of directors or external management.”
3. Respect for non-active shareholders
"There are three ways you can show respect: with a lot of communication, by offering them a real dividend, or giving them the opportunity to trade their shares on an internal market.”
"}}]},"hasMacro":false,"id":"08e18b07-08f8-4ed7-b889-17146c22f8d1","localeString":"en-GB","mainHeaderZone":{"backLink":{"textLink":{"text":"Our integrated expertise for entrepreneurs","url":"/en/private-banking/family-business"}},"componentType":"editorialHeader","coreHeader":{"body":"Only about 30 per cent of family businesses transition successfully to the second generation. Callens, based in West Flanders and an expert in the installation and maintenance of thermal solutions for industrial processes, is one of the lucky few. So it is easy to see why such a huge audience signed up for the ING talk by joint CEO Windy Moerman about Callens’s leadership succession strategy.","headerImage":{"extension":"jpg","original":"https://assets.ing.com/m/025d7de301e32bc4/original/Event-Callens.jpg","transformBaseUrl":"https://assets.ing.com/transform/9ce24ed4-ae98-45c8-8151-c5858fa3381e/Event-Callens","type":"image","width":8256},"subtitle":"Succession planning in family businesses","title":"A glimpse behind the scenes of the generational transitions at Callens"},"date":"2026-01-26","readingTime":5},"publishDate":"2026-01-29T16:30:09.100+01:00"}}