Doing business in Waalwijk, from port to head office

On 1 January 2026 Waalwijk had exactly 7,060 business locations1. Big names such as De Mandemakers Groep, Van Mossel Automotive Group and Bol have a head office or a large logistics site here. On Haven 8, between the A59 and the Bergsche Maas, the municipality wants to build a new insteekhaven (a port basin cut into the riverbank).

Rijksmonumentaal bakstenen pakhuis met luiken en een grote schuifdeur aan de Gedempte Haven in Waalwijk
Photo: Johan Bakker, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

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The reference date for this page is Friday 16 October 2026.

How many businesses are based in Waalwijk?

The number of business locations has been rising for years. CBS counted 6,540 in 2023, 6,895 in 2025 and 7,060 on 1 January 20261. That is growth of more than 500 locations in three years, in a municipality of 51,635 residents.

For jobs, the most recent CBS figure is from 2024. Waalwijk then had 32,200 employee jobs, slightly fewer than the 32,900 of a year earlier1. Set against that year's 50,302 residents, this works out at just over six jobs for every ten residents.

Which large companies are based in Waalwijk?

De Mandemakers Groep

De Mandemakers Groep (DMG) sells kitchens, bathrooms and furniture under a range of retail brands. Its own recruitment portal lists Keuken Kampioen, Mandemakers Keukens, Brugman, Montèl, Piet Klerkx, Riant-Stoutenbeek and Woonexpress, among others10. The head office is in Waalwijk, according to RetailDetail (2013) and the company profile on Magnet.me1918. DMG also owns the woonboulevard (furniture and home retail park) in Waalwijk, Omroep Brabant reported in May 202615.

Van Mossel Automotive Group

Van Mossel did not start in Waalwijk, but it did grow up there. In 1954 Wim van Mossel became a Volkswagen dealer by the port of Waalwijk, and on 12 April 1958 the car business opened on the Grotestraat, the company writes in its own history7. Today the head office is back in Waalwijk, at Jan Vestersstraat 18. In 2022 construction began on a new head office with a logistics centre on almost 13 hectares7. Property investor Cain International describes that complex on Haven 8 as a head office, logistics centre and car storage facility, with a BREEAM "Very Good" certification16.

Bol

Online retailer Bol has its own fulfilment centre in Waalwijk. The first pile went into the ground in February 2016 on the Haven Acht business park, trade magazine Twinkle reported at the time17. According to Bol itself, more than 500,000 parcels a day leave Waalwijk during the busy December period, including for more than 45,000 sales partners who use Bol's logistics9. These are the company's own figures.

Castelijn & Beerens

Leather goods maker Castelijn & Beerens is a family business in Waalwijk. The company's story is on our page about shoes and leather.

EPS Automotive

EPS Automotive on the Spuiweg in Waalwijk imports parts for cars, lorries, buses and racing cars11. The company was founded in the 1980s by Aad Blankestijn and started out as a brake specialist11. The second generation now runs the family business11. According to its own website, customers include lorry manufacturers, wholesalers, racing teams and public transport operators11.

What is the Haven business park in Waalwijk?

Haven is the collective name for the business parks Haven 1 to Haven 8 in Waalwijk. The province of North Brabant counts the area as part of its Grote Oogst (Big Harvest) project, in which thirteen Brabant business parks are making a fast-tracked switch to sustainability6.

Haven 8 lies between the A59 and the Bergsche Maas, so it can be reached by road and by water5. The municipality has reserved about 35 hectares there for very large-scale logistics, according to the project description under the Crisis- en herstelwet (Crisis and Recovery Act)5. Companies that settle there must bring in or ship out goods by water5. Roofs must be almost entirely covered with solar panels, generating more than the company itself needs5.

Zanddonk is Waalwijk's oldest industrial estate. The municipality wants to buy land there to turn the area into a mixed neighbourhood, with room for local small businesses, amenities and homes4. The wider policy for the business parks in Waalwijk, Sprang-Capelle and Waspik is being revised4.

Where does the new port basin stand?

The new port basin is on hold for now. On 11 December 2025 the Rechtbank Oost-Brabant (East Brabant District Court) annulled the nature permit, because the province had not sufficiently justified the nitrogen capacity212.

The plan is ambitious. According to the municipality, the Hart van Brabant region does not yet have a port for the larger class V container ships2. In March 2024 alderman Frank Spierings and project leader Harald Wouters told Omroep Brabant that two 115-metre container ships would be able to moor one behind the other13. The terminal is to be fully electric13. According to Omroep Brabant, the project would save around 1,700 tonnes of CO2 a year13.

Preparations go back a long way. In 2014 business owners from Waalwijk and Heusden signed an agreement to contribute €2.5 million over thirty years, through a levy per container and per tonne of bulk goods14. At the end of 2025 Omroep Brabant mentioned a price tag of around €30 million12.

So what now? The municipality is looking with the province and the Omgevingsdienst Brabant Noord (regional environmental agency) at whether an appeal to the Raad van State (Council of State) makes sense, and is at the same time looking for alternatives within nature legislation, such as extra emission reductions or different phasing2. The outcome was due to go to the municipal council in the spring of 20262.

A separate procedure is running for Haven 8 Oost. After an interim ruling by the Raad van State on 10 June 2026, the municipal council adopted a remedial decision for the development plan3 on 17 September 2026. The documents are open for inspection for six weeks from 30 September 20263.

Frequently asked questions about doing business in Waalwijk

Where is the Haven 8 business park?

Haven 8 is part of the Haven business park and lies between the A59 motorway and the Bergsche Maas. The municipality reserved about 35 hectares there for very large-scale logistics. Companies must transport goods there by water and cover their roofs almost entirely with solar panels. Bol and Van Mossel, among others, have large sites here.

When will the new port basin in Waalwijk be built?

There is no date. On 11 December 2025 the court annulled the nature permit, so construction cannot start for now. The municipality looked into an appeal and alternatives, with an outcome due to go to the council in the spring of 2026. Ask the municipality of Waalwijk for the current position.

How many businesses are there in Waalwijk?

On 1 January 2026 CBS counted 7,060 business locations in the municipality of Waalwijk. That number rises every year; in 2023 there were still 6,540. It covers all registered locations, from sole traders to head offices, spread across Waalwijk, Sprang-Capelle and Waspik and their business parks.

Which companies have their head office in Waalwijk?

Two well-known examples are De Mandemakers Groep, with brands such as Keuken Kampioen, Brugman and Piet Klerkx, and Van Mossel Automotive Group, based on the Jan Vestersstraat. Leather goods maker Castelijn & Beerens and parts importer EPS Automotive are Waalwijk family businesses. Bol has its fulfilment centre here, not a head office.

Sources

  1. CBS, Regional key figures for the Netherlands (70072ned), accessed 16 October 2026: www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/cijfers/detail/70072ned
  2. Gemeente Waalwijk, Insteekhaven, accessed 16 October 2026: www.waalwijk.nl/insteekhaven
  3. Gemeente Waalwijk, Haven 8 Oost afronding, accessed 16 October 2026: www.waalwijk.nl/haven-8-oost-afronding
  4. Gemeente Waalwijk, Ondernemers (business owners), accessed 16 October 2026: www.waalwijk.nl/ondernemers
  5. IPLO, Crisis- en herstelwet, Waalwijk Haven 8, accessed 16 October 2026: chw.iplo.nl/projecten/waalwijk-haven-8
  6. Stichting Waalwijk CO2 vrij, Grote Oogst, accessed 16 October 2026: waalwijkco2vrij.nl/grote-oogst
  7. Van Mossel Automotive Group, Our history, accessed 16 October 2026: www.vanmossel.com/en/about-us/our-history
  8. Van Mossel Automotive Group, Contact, accessed 16 October 2026: www.vanmossel.com/en/contact
  9. Bol, news release 25 November 2025, accessed 16 October 2026: over.bol.com/en/news/bol-showcases-the-beating-heart-of-its-logistics-operation-in-new-video-from-bol-to-bell
  10. De Mandemakers Groep, Dit zijn wij (this is us), accessed 16 October 2026: www.werkenbijmandemakers.nl/dit-zijn-wij
  11. EPS Automotive, homepage, accessed 16 October 2026: www.epsautomotive.nl
  12. Omroep Brabant, 12 December 2025 (secondary): www.omroepbrabant.nl/nieuws/6000790/vergunning-van-groene-haven-door-de-schredder-door-stikstofprobleem
  13. Omroep Brabant, 12 March 2024 (secondary): www.omroepbrabant.nl/nieuws/4433803/eerste-elektrische-binnenhaven-van-europa-waalwijk-kan-niet-wachten
  14. Omroep Brabant, 11 March 2014 (secondary): www.omroepbrabant.nl/nieuws/1729360/ondernemers-in-regio-waalwijk-betalen-miljoenen-mee-aan-nieuwe-insteekhaven
  15. Omroep Brabant, 20 May 2026 (secondary): www.omroepbrabant.nl/nieuws/6009987/woonboulevard-waalwijk-na-brand-volledig-herbouwd-eind-dit-jaar-weer-open
  16. Cain International, Van Mossel Haven 8 (secondary): cainint.com/projects/van-mossel
  17. Twinkle, 17 February 2016 (secondary): twinklemagazine.nl/2016/02/bol.com-slaat-eerste-paal-van-eigen-dc
  18. Magnet.me, De Mandemakers Groep (secondary): magnet.me/nl-NL/bedrijf/de-mandemakers-group
  19. RetailDetail, 9 January 2013 (secondary): www.retaildetail.be/nl/news/wonen/mandemakers-neemt-belang-keukenhuis

All sources accessed on 16 October 2026.

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