It is with great sadness that we have learned of the death yesterday, 6 December, of Jacques Delens, Honorary President of the company which bears his name, and which he founded in 1967. The entire BESIX Group wishes to salute the memory of a man who played a major role in the development of the Group in Belgium, and to express its condolences and support to his family and loved ones in this particularly difficult moment.
After supervising the construction of the Tour du Midi (Saint-Gilles, Brussels) for the company of his father Maurice, Jacques Delens founded his own company, Entreprises Jacques Delens (EJD), in 1967. With a firm hand and great energy, he turned it nto a key player on the Belgian market, contributing significantly to the Brussels skyline. Among the major projects undertaken by EJD under his management, we would mention its close involvement in the building of the university city of Louvain-la-Neuve, the construction of several new buildings and renovation projects for the CHIREC (Centre Hospitalier Interrégional Edith Cavell) hospital group, and its participation in the construction of the European Parliament in the Leopold district of Brussels. Les Entreprises S.B.B.M. (which later became BESIX Group) purchased the Entreprises Jacques Delens at the end of 1982, retaining at its head its founder, who then also took an active role in the SBB Group.
For Jacques Delens, construction and real estate (an activity in which EJD was particularly active until its integration into BESIX RED) were above all a human affair. Those working with him were his number one priority: very close to his troops, he was constantly concerned for their well-being. It was his values – trust, respect for people and a collective sense of responsibility – that enabled the company to overcome the economic crisis of the 1970s and the fierce competition on the market at that time. This same human concern helped maintain the trust of clients, many of whom placed repeat orders with the EJD. These include clients like CHIREC and Catala, or neighborhoods like the Boulevard de la Woluwe, along which Jacques Delens built a string of office buildings.
Johan Beerlandt, Chairman of the Board of Directors of BESIX Group: "The death of Jacques Delens affects me deeply. He was a man whose technical qualities were as great as his human ones, qualities which enabled him to achieve undeniable success with his company and to maintain privileged relations, based on respect and trust, with both his clients and his teams. His talent and generosity will be sorely missed."