general/economy

Ronald Hollinga, Manager Underwriting Surety Benelux of Zurich Benelux, sat down with Xolv partner Jelle van den Bogerd. Are warranties of interest to your business?

To continuously maintain an edge, you have to keep moving and be innovative. As Xolv grew as an expert in recent years, more and more adjacent special deals came our way, in the Netherlands but also abroad. The Ecclesia Group, of which Xolv is part, entered into a partnership with SRG (Specialist Risk Group) last year and became a co-shareholder alongside Warburg Pincus and Temasek. That partnership allows us to accelerate our international growth. But what does that mean for you as a client of Xolv? 

CreditDevice provides an integrated platform for efficient and secure credit management. From credit information and debtor management to policy management, the software acts as a powerful add-on to the existing accounting package. This gives organisations more control over risks and speeds up payments. Sales Director Olav de Lange of CreditDevice: “There are still a lot of organisations that do their credit management largely manually. With excel lists and notifications in Outlook, for example. Credit management is in our DNA, as is automation.”

You can't open a newspaper these days, listen to a podcast or read an interview without AI popping up. Artificial Intelligence is everywhere. For many SME entrepreneurs, it may still feel abstract, but AI has long since ceased to be science fiction. The goal here is not to replace people, but to deliver more value with the same team. So the question is not whether you should do something with AI, but rather where and how you can already benefit from it. And remember that deploying AI is not a goal in itself, but a tool.

Economically, last year was marked by cautious recovery and stabilisation. After the turbulent period of high inflation, rapidly rising interest rates and geopolitical tensions in previous years, the global economy slowly began to find more balance. By 2025, inflation continued to decline in many developed economies. Central banks were therefore able to ease their tight monetary policy. Although interest rate cuts were made cautiously and in stages, this provided relief to households and businesses. Purchasing power recovered slightly, although price levels remained structurally higher than before 2020.

For many entrepreneurs, January feels like a clean slate. We make plans for growth, new markets or product innovations. But at Xolv, we also see the same pattern every year: the commercial plans are there, but the financial foundations, and specifically the liquidity planning, often only follow when the need arises. A good start is half the battle, especially in financial terms. Don't want to be held back by a lack of working capital this year? Then these are the four pillars you need to start working on now.

We dare to say of ourselves that we are a modern organisation. In a beautiful classical office building, of course. As in all other companies, different generations walk around on our shop floor. From young up-and-coming talent to seasoned experienced professionals. And sometimes we work in different ways. Does that sometimes cause friction? Yes, but you know: without friction there is no shine. On the other hand, we learn just as much from each other. And that makes the mix powerful. 

The global economy is on the verge of a fifth consecutive year of rising business insolvencies. According to the latest Allianz Trade Insolvency Report, the number of insolvencies will rise by 6 per cent in 2025, followed by a further 5 per cent in 2026. This puts the number of insolvencies a whopping 24 per cent above the pre-pandemic average, a historic high that challenges businesses worldwide.

The Netherlands is still experiencing slight economic growth (1.1 per cent). In the coming years too, growth will be limited to just under 1 per cent. This growth is inhibited in particular by huge geopolitical volatility. There is unrest in the Middle East, a protracted war in Ukraine, the trade war between the US and almost every country in the world, immigration problems in Europe and the US, tightness in labour markets... And we could go on and on.

Jan Wiebe Ottink has been active in the metal and aluminium sector for more than 40 years. His career once started at Koninklijke Hoogovens, now Tata Steel, but after years of working for big companies, he decided to change tack. "I was fed up and wanted to start for myself. Just then, I was approached by a persistent headhunter. Two days later, I was sitting at the table with an Englishman who would subsequently be my boss at Amari for 23 years."