Jan van de Kraats
Financial Director
Jan started working for Gilde in 2018. Before that, he worked as financial director at several of the companies in Gilde’s portfolio, such as Peijnenburg, De Banketgroep, Johma and Bakker Bart. He launched his career with the Netherlands’ tax office and worked as a controller at RAET. Jan has been a chartered accountant since 1987 and he completed a postgraduate controller course at the VU (Free University of Amsterdam) in 1991.
Interview
What brought you to Gilde?
From 2000 I worked as a financial director for several companies in the Gilde portfolio, and since September 2018 as financial director of Gilde itself. Gilde’s personal approach and culture have always appealed to me: no-nonsense, decisive and down-to-earth. It’s fascinating to experience the other side of private equity. The processes and challenges are new to me, as is the opportunity to share my experience with creative entrepreneurs.
Looking back, what gives you the most professional satisfaction?
Between 2000 and 2007 I worked for Royal Peijnenburg. It was a period in which we reinvigorated the brand with new products and fun TV commercials, such as the one in which some gingerbread is dangled in front of a cycling child like a carrot on a string, with a payoff line that translates to “gasping for Peijnenburg”. Good times. The success we enjoyed was definitely down to it being a team effort, under the leadership of a strong CEO. We still hold a management-team reunion every year.
And what gives you the most satisfaction outside work?
A six-week motorcycle road trip I did in 2018 through Turkey and Iran. Unforgettable.
