The Netherlands is a world player when it comes to the head offices of multinational companies. But a new report warns that the country must improve its commercial climate or risk losing its position. *By Wendy Braanker.

The Netherlands is a world player when it comes to the head offices of multinational companies. But the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) warns that the Netherlands could lose its position, not just as a result of mergers and takeovers, but also because businesses actively seek out the best location to base their headquarters. And that is not always the Netherlands.

The Netherlands takes second place, right behind Switzerland, when it comes to the number of head offices of internationally operating companies in its cities. According to the report by the Boston Consulting Group sixteen multinational companies have their headquarters in the Netherlands and another fourteen have their European head office here.

This means the Netherlands does much better than Great Britain, Germany and many other large European countries. However, the question is whether the Netherlands will be able to keep its prime position. According to the BCG report:
"The Netherlands relies heavily on the past and has few new top locations on offer."
Mobile employees
The new world players in recent decennia mainly come from Asia. The list of the 500 largest companies in the world increasingly includes businesses from India and China. Within Europe, the Netherlands feels the competition from London and southern European countries. BCG researcher Kirsten Nienhuis says that these places are more attractive to mobile employees.

The data in the report are somewhat out-of-date, as the Netherlands no longer has sixteen, but fourteen headquarters of multinationals. The largest Dutch bank ABN Amro has meanwhile been taken over by bank consortium Fortis, Bank of Scotland and Santander. The head office of steel company Mittal Steel relocated at the end of 2007 from Rotterdam to Luxembourg. Of the sixteen multinational head offices listed in the report two have therefore already left. And BCG fears more may follow.

The departure of these head offices results in a painful "transitional period" according to the international operating consultant BCG.
"People have to look for a new job, buildings are left empty and service companies get into difficulties."

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