Facilicom Belgium is “on a roll” thanks to Grant Thornton's advice

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Facilicom Belgium on a roll

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Facilicom Belgium was forced to say goodbye to Grant Thornton as an audit partner in 2022 on the orders of its parent company. Financial Director Fabrizio Santoro seized the opportunity to bring in Grant Thornton to provide legal advice and a host of other services. ‘Again and again I try to challenge their advice, but to no avail.’

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Love of numbers

Fabrizio Santoro became financial director at Facilicom Belgium in 2019. ‘Facilicom wanted to take over my previous employer’, Fabrizio says. ‘From the other side of the negotiating table, I got to know Facilicom as a great company. So after the acquisition, I decided to make the switch.’

The originally Dutch group established a Belgian branch back in 1974. Since then, Facilicom has emerged as the country's largest and most trusted name in facilities management. Catering, reception, security, building management, cleaning, etc. Facilicom Belgium provides an average of 85% of all facility services required by clients.

‘Without qualitative inputs, you can't drive results.’

Fabrizio Santoro Financial Director at Facilicom Belgium

‘I have a deep affection for numbers’, Fabrizio explains. ‘I love improving bad contracts and using insights to boost results. I like to find out what adjustments need to be made to increase returns.’

Fabrizio is not only responsible for Facilicom's Finance department. ‘I also cover procurement, IT, legal, the fleet, calculations, financial control, invoice management and more. Pretty much everything except HR and Operations. I'm not a specialist. What I do have is common sense that I check with people who've got more technical expertise. If they know how to respond to my critical curiosity, then I trust them.’

Accumulating knowledge through experience

In 2022, the Dutch parent company decided that the entire group should work with the same auditor. This put an end to 30 years of cooperation between Grant Thornton and Facilicom Belgium for audits.

‘Actually, it wasn't a bad thing’, Fabrizio thinks. ‘It's not healthy to stay with the same auditor for years. But most importantly, since Grant Thornton no longer does our audits, we can call on other services.’

According to Fabrizio, Grant Thornton knows his company better than he does himself. ‘Because Grant Thornton has been working for Facilicom Belgium for a long time. For instance, they know the history of some of the shareholders much better than I do. Grant Thornton also prepares our financial statements, advises us on tax issues and Ellen's team provides legal advice. She really knows us inside and out!’

Goodbye audits, hello Ellen

When Ellen Van Ingelgem, Tax & Legal Manager at Grant Thornton, was asked to prepare legal advice for Facilicom Belgium, a bell immediately rang.

“My father worked for one of their subsidiaries, so I was familiar with the company. At first, we mainly helped them with compliance work. But when our audit engagement ended in 2022, the amount of legal work increased significantly.”

“We still regularly assist Fabrizio with compliance tasks, such as publications in 'Het Belgisch Staatsblad' (the Belgian Official Gazette). We also frequently review powers of attorney so that Facilicom Belgium can correctly participate in public tenders.

We also supported the company with legal formalities when the headquarters moved. We provide legal advice during mergers and amendments to the articles of association.

And we are the point of contact for the Dutch parent company when they have questions about Belgian legislation.”