Farewell letter Timo Huges

Dear members,

After more than seven years, one of the finest periods in my life is coming to an end. On 1 May 2006, I stepped into the flower auction, now FloraHolland, with an open mind. I have found these past seven years to be uniquely exciting and certainly inspiring as well. Many changes have been implemented that were significant for our colleagues as well as for our members and customers, and it was in the cooperative where I ultimately found the support to be able to carry these changes through. There was always one clear goal: to improve our services for our cooperative.

A fusion. A joint venture with Veiling Rhein Maas. Integrating with TFA. 700 international members. Image Auctioning. Product-specific promotion. Virtual clocks. The closure of auction rooms. The process of a changing culture. Top sector and Greenport Holland. The lawsuit with Plantion. Juturna. No branch policies anymore, but 1 FloraHolland. International trading platform. 1 trolley. Retail services. FloristExclusive. Finally the N201. 100 years and the Royal FloraHolland title. Growers' opinions and customer research. Advisory Councils and strengthened FPCs. Changes to governance. And many more matters within your cooperative company too numerous to name now.

With lower costs and fewer people every year, our employees have always worked hard for your cooperative. Occasionally, we had to say goodbye to good people. This was not always easy. In the press or amongst partners in the sector, we were not always popular for the decisions we made. I have always dealt on behalf of the collective good: to get the best price out of the market for the lowest possible cost, and always with pride in your cooperative company and heart for your entrepreneurship. I am fully aware that it has not always been easy on your sense of entrepreneurship, what with high energy costs and sometimes lower margins. It is the entrepreneurs in the floriculture industry that make all the difference. In this country and abroad. With flowers and plants. Large and small. Specialist trade or retail supplier. Your love and dedication for a unique product, makes consumers keep buying your products and FloraHolland employees want to excel and continue to improve themselves.

It was an enormous privilege to have worked for you. I have gotten to know many of you personally, and whether we agreed with each other or not, the cooperative members, the visits to your company here and abroad, as well as your entrepreneurial spirit, is what energized me the most. Thank you for that. Many, many thanks.

Thursday 5 September is my last day of work and between 4:00 and 6:30pm, I will be in Rijnsburg to say farewell to the cooperative, the sector and to colleagues. I hope we can raise a glass together there.