PIA Group strengthens its presence in Limburg with LCA-Accomed.

LCA-Accomed was founded in Hasselt in 2000 by Chris Vanoppen. As the agency grew, Pierre Klassen, Jurgen Elsen, Wendy Brems and Francesca Rugiero joined Chris as new partners. The agency is 20-strong and together they advise and provide accounting support for some 1.000 enterprising Limburg residents. LCA focuses on SMEs whereas Accomed specialises in liberal professions. The importance of quality is the red thread that binds both divisions.

“That pursuit of quality was what instantly appealed to us”, says Steven Brouckaert. “We could also guarantee that PIA Group would not compromise those quality ambitions. On the contrary, we only want to stimulate them. PIA Group offers its partners the best of both worlds: economies of scale with respect for local identity. We do not interfere with the name of the agency or its fundamental approach. We will emphasise the individual nature of the agency even further by providing support in HR, IT, Finance, Operations, Sales & Marketing and Advisory. This way our people can focus even more on advising and guiding our customers.”

It is that combination of economies of scale and respect for local identity that makes PIA Group unique in the Benelux. To date, more than 30 local brands with more than 60 branches in the markets where the group is active have chosen to adopt this concept. Chris Vanoppen and the other partners have now also taken that very step. “We have been monitoring the consolidation wave in the accountancy sector for a while now and in any case we were favourable to the idea of joining a group”, says Chris Vanoppen. “The fact alone that you can outsource non-core tasks and have more time for your customers is a tremendous asset but we also wanted to continue our entrepreneurial activities. When we got to talking with Steven Brouckaert, we immediately felt there was room for such ambitions within PIA Group. From then on things went really quickly.”

For the customers of LCA-Accomed nothing has changed, really. “We have access to more knowledge since the team of LCA-Accomed can now also call on the specialists of PIA Group”, says Chris Vanoppen. “The presence of PIA Group in the Netherlands is also an added value as a growing number of entrepreneurs in Limburg are becoming more internationally active and that includes the Netherlands. There is also the fact that we now have more time to dispense advice and that is especially important to our more affluent customers. Financial advice and succession planning are among our specialities.”

Pia Group CEO Nathalie Calle is extremely happy to welcome LCA-Accomed to PIA Group. “They are the perfect example of an accounting agency that carries the PIA DNA”, Nathalie explains. “High-quality entrepreneurship but with a partnership spirit. The latter is key because we respect the identity of every agency within PIA Group while fostering mutual collaboration. This way our local brands reinforce each other. Chris, Pierre, Jurgen, Wendy and Francesca have understood this message perfectly. They have already submitted their first advisory questions to our experts. However, on the other hand, their expertise will also contribute to our know-how.”

PIA Group already had a number of agencies in Limburg, such as Fineko. With LCA-Accomed the Belgian-Dutch group bolsters its presence in the province. Talks with other agencies are ongoing as well. “I spent a great deal of time here in recent months and have experienced the dynamic character of the region first-hand”, Steven Brouckaert confirms. “To be able to offer all those ambitious Limburg entrepreneurs our advice closer to you, we are looking to welcome a number of additional agencies to the fold. But also in the rest of the Benelux there is no shortage of agencies that are interested in writing their next chapter together with PIA Group. You’ll be hearing from us.”