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Interview with Jonathan Samaras, Managing Director Belux - Partner at Talan Group

Talan Group announced the launch of new operations in Belgium in January 2022. Six months on, we catch up with Jonathan Samaras whos as taken charge of this expansion endeavour in Belgium.

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What are your business development plans in Belgium?

Our current objective is two-fold: organic growth (looking to recruit 15 employees) and  growth through an acquisition (where numbers are closer to 50-100 employees). Organic growth is already under way, with the arrival of Maria Buza, who joined Talan Belgium as Sales Manager on May 1st of this year. Linda Ndjoko, who has been with Talan Academy in Malaga since the beginning of the year, will arrive in Brussels on June 16th to run the Belgian recruitment activities.
We have been screening the Belgiun market since the summer of 2020 for potential acquisitions opportunities. We hope to have some good news to share on this front soon.

What would you say has been the greatest challenge of expansion in Belgium so far?

Definitely brand recognition and recruitment.
 
Introducing a brand to a new market is always a challenge for any business. Recruitment goes hand in hand with the brand. Not easy to attract candidates to a company they don’t know yet. We are working on it closely with the Marketing team.
 
The Talan brand is starting to occupy a good place on the marketplace in Luxembourg, and I am confident we’ll benefit from the same recognition in Belgium sooner rather than later.

And the greatest achievement?

Thanks to our local network connections and the backing of a large group, we have already won a call for tender in the Energy sector relatively quickly. Within one month of Maria’s arrival, we have already signed the first contract!  In addition we are working closely with Talan GAM to quickly open a few major accounts. More details will follow in the coming weeks.

What are your next steps? 

In the last six months, we have laid the foundations for administration, recruitment and sales. Now that that’s been achieved, we need to recruit more consultants in order to meet all our clients’ needs.  We have a new consultant arriving on June 13th, and I’m confident that there will be more to come!

What are the most important skills you are looking for in candidates?

More than anything, we are looking for culturally sensitive and adaptive team players who are devoted to collective success.  As far as technical skills are concerned, we are recruiting candidates with expertise in Data, Smart Automation & Business Analyst.
 

Where is your office located?

We are currently set up in a business centre in Brussels. However, we will move into our own office space this month. As soon as we move there, I will share some pictures of the new office and the Belgian team.