Just six years after Atlanta (US) and Brussels became sister cities, UPS, the Atlanta-based global express delivery company, expanded its family by creating UPS Belgium in 1989. Since then, UPS has said ‘yes’, ‘oui’ and ‘ja’ many times to Belgium, and the company quickly grew to around 1,000 employees.
The attractive investment climate made Belgium a logical choice to also establish the company’s European headquarters. UPS Europe’s President and his team run the European business – 400 facilities, including more than 500,000 m² of warehouse space and close to 50,000 employees across Europe – from Brussels.
Many of UPS’s senior management and their families have called Brussels and Belgium ‘home’ at one point in their career. They said yes to Belgium, yes to Belgian schools, Belgian healthcare, Belgian cuisine, Belgian shops and products, yes to Belgian friends and yes to exploring Belgium.
In fact, the growing economy and the central role Belgium plays for logistics in Europe led UPS to open a second facility in Lummen in 2018, to join their existing facility in Diegem. This $4 million, 6,000 m² facility is capable of sorting 5,000 parcels per hour and created more than 160 jobs for the wider region.
So why does UPS continue to say ‘yes’ to Belgium?
For their Belgian customers, of course! Belgian companies are eager to expand and explore new horizons. Offering a broad range of solutions, UPS Belgium makes it easy for Belgian companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to reach new markets and customers.
The growing importance of e-commerce for companies only increased the need for working with a reliable leader in logistics with a global reach, such as UPS Belgium. The company’s recent Smart Ecommerce Report (available in Dutch and in French) shows some of the drivers behind e-commerce decisions for consumers in Belgium, helping companies to tailor their logistics to the market demand. For Belgian SMEs, international e-commerce is the shortest way to increase their customer base and UPS Belgium is ready to support them on this journey.
The COVID-19 pandemic did not only demonstrate the lifeline e-commerce can be for local shops and SMEs, but also demonstrated the need for safe, secure and efficient healthcare logistics. UPS is proud to be part of Belgium’s ‘Digital Health Valley’ through UPS Healthcare, and to be able to support Belgian-based companies to transport life-saving vaccines across Europe and the globe.
Global supply chains are constantly shifting and adapting, but the central role of Belgium in European logistics has been a constant.
There’s a reason many companies moved their entry point into the EU’s Single Market from the United Kingdom to Belgium. By adding extra sorting capacity and hiring local customs brokers in Belgium, UPS helped customers to navigate the new reality without interruption. The UK remains an important export market for Belgian companies, and the demand for Belgian quality continues to run strong. With UPS Belgium, there is no reason not to export to our neighbors across the Channel.
As you can see, 30 years after establishing in Belgium, the story continues. Customers can count on 1,000 UPSers in Belgium to continue to move the world forward by delivering what matters!
About the company in this story...
UPS
1000 employees in Belgium
25 million
PACKAGES DELIVERED GLOBALLY
EVERY DAY
UPS delivers for Belgium