Meet Nick Bellew, fresh new force in the Lovinklaan board
His name is Nick. Nick Bellew, 38 years old Financial Controller at Arcadis Consulting in Cardiff, UK. One of the younger ones to have joined the Lovinklaan board, but what an experience he already has!
Nick joined Hyder Consulting 10 years ago, and after having worked in Hong Kong, Australia, Middle East, Germany and the UK, he now seizes a next international adventure: together with Cecile Cluitmans, he is the fresh force in the Lovinklaan board since the beginning of this year. When regional CEO Alan Brooks informed Nick that the board was recruiting, he didn’t have to think long: ‘’I first heard about Lovinklaan during an office presentation when Hyder was acquired by Arcadis. I was immediately fascinated. So I thought yes, let’s do this, let’s apply. Although I have to admit, it was still a little mysterious to me how the board operated, and how it was made up. But I was pleased by the interviews and the onboarding days, very professional.’’
Lovinklaan’s programs weren’t at all unfamiliair to Nick, he helped with the roll-out of the pay roll side of Lovinklaan program Global Share Plan, two of his team members are Global Shapers, and Nick himself went on a Quest exchange to Manila, the Phillippines. ‘’This was an enlightening and powerful experience: the Quest enabled two separate teams (from the UK and Manila) to really work together and experience different cultures: there was a different understanding of finance. Due to the Quest the two teams joined up very quickly. I’d recommend everyone to apply, Quest provides a tremendous opportunity and broadens horizons.’’
Pretty surprising – regardless of his lack of experience with the Shelter program, Nick wanted to become the chair of the Shelter workgroup within the board. ‘’It is the one program that supports communities, that’s very special. A few weeks ago, I had a very thorough Shelter onboarding session. It was great to understand how it works and all ties in. The missions stand out and are the most visible parts of Shelter, but it’s way more: workshops, challenges and lunch sessions that allow a wider group of Arcadians to come up with ideas for planning or globalization. I would love to further raise visibility for this within Arcadis. Hopefully you’ll soon see more of it on for instance local office screens.’’
With his financial background, it’s less surprising that Nick’s resposibilities in the board also entail the Global Share Plan workgroup, as well as the workgroup for a new pilot program (more about this later on!). Additionally he is interesting in Lovinklaans’ role as a major shareholder: ‘’I want to make sure we do the right thing as a major shareholder, the right thing for the business and the people. It is important we hold the Arcadis Executive board sharp on strategy and hold them accountable.’’
Nick has only been joining the board for three months now, but it already pays off. ‘’It brings an immediate global perspective: it improves the variety of and brings an international aspect to my role, and increases my global connections. I’m more interested in what happens globally within Arcadis, in terms of a new CEO or new projects for instance. As a major shareholder you should be aware of this, and it’s actually really interesting!’’