The beginning

The first attempts to publish a Catholic, Flemish daily newspaper in Brussels can be traced back to 1914 when nv De Standaard was founded by F. Van Cauwelaert, A. Van De Perre and A. Hendrix. Wartime upheaval meant that the first issue of De Standaard did not appear until 4 December 1918. It contained two pages and cost ten centimes.

In July 1919 the company acquired a building in Jacqmainlaan, Brussels, where the first copy of the paper printed on its own presses appeared one year later.

An Antwerp edition of De Standaard was launched in 1921 called De Handelsbode, later renamed De Morgenpost. To increase the profitability of the printing presses, in 1922 the company started printing for third parties.

These expansions required additional money, which was provided by Gustaaf Sap who joined the board of directors in 1919. In 1927 Sap acquired a majority of the shares, and two years later he launched a stablemate with a more popular tone to run alongside the De Standaard: Het Nieuwsblad. Het Nieuwsblad was a success right from the start, and in 1939 took the very popular Sportwereld under its wing.

Post-war development

The Standaard group emerged from the war in a battered state, and it was 1947 before Het Nieuwsblad-Sportwereld and De Standaard could roll off the presses again. The newspapers regained their old vigour, and De Standaard was once again the authoritative voice it had been before the war. At the end of the fifties, the Standaard group started to expand and took over a number of other papers.

In 1957 it acquired the Antwerp-based publisher of Het Handelsblad. Following the takeover, from 1962 onwards Het Handelsblad developed into a local edition of Het Nieuwsblad, before disappearing altogether as a title in 1979. In 1957 the group acquired its main Brussels competitor, Het Nieuws van den Dag, which was likewise combined with Het Nieuwsblad in 1965.

The expansion was rounded off in 1959 with the acquisition of the papers De Gentenaar and De Landwacht together with their printing presses.

De Landwacht, unlike De Gentenaar, disappeared following the takeover. To this day, De Gentenaar has its own core news team responsible for local and regional reporting, while the general news is the responsibility of Het Nieuwsblad. After the death of Sap’s widow, the shares were distributed among their children.

During the sixties and in the early seventies the newspaper grew into a giant in the market for newspapers, magazines, printing and books. The company invested heavily in new publications and machinery. Chairman Albert De Smaele also diversified into non-media ventures, particularly in the tourism sector.

The bankruptcy

In the mid-seventies these investments proved over-ambitious for the Standaard group which, like many other businesses, could not avoid the fatal consequences of the economic crisis unfolding at that time.

As early as 1971, it had difficulty in meeting its social security liabilities, and later in paying its VAT and tax bills. Even the sale of its interests in the tourism sector and the bookseller Standaard Boekhandel was not enough to save the business.

The printing works NV Periodica was declared bankrupt in May 1976, followed by the rest of the Standaard group on 22 June. A couple of weeks before the bankruptcy, the editorial staff founded the non-profit organisation ‘Redactie De Standaard’, to safeguard the traditions of the group against outside buyers.

“These traditions are rooted in the promotion – through information and comment – of Christian principles, the legitimate interests of the Flemish people, pluralistic political democracy and a free economy …”

To this day, the journalistic independence enshrined in these beliefs is central to our philosophy and a core value within our news business.

De Vlaamse Uitgeversmaatschappij (VUM)

On 26 June 1976, André Leysen together with a number of Flemish entrepreneurs founded the Vlaamse Uitgeversmaatschappij (VUM), which took over De Standaard, Het Nieuwsblad and De Gentenaar following the bankruptcy.

The newspaper market was in a poor state at the beginning of 1976. VUM sold off the weekly publications, focused all its efforts on the newspapers and in 1979 moved to Groot-Bijgaarden where new buildings and presses were commissioned. Through its journalistic efforts and by increasing the number of pages and matching the newspapers more closely to their respective target groups, VUM succeeded in sharply increasing its share of a stagnating market.

The group’s flagship publication, De Standaard, stood as the very epitome of high-quality, informative journalism. Het Nieuwsblad continued to be developed into a popular, quality paper whose particular strengths lay in regional news and extensive sports coverage. De Gentenaar was developed along the same lines, but targeted specifically at the Ghent region.

The commercial department secured an excellent position for the papers in the advertising market: Personeelsgids, Woongids and Notariële Gids proved to be successful products.

Takeover of Het Volk

The takeover of Het Volk in November 1994 was an important milestone in the history of VUM.

Het Volk: the beginning

The roots of Het Volk date back to the congress of Catholic politicians in 1890, when it was decided to found a daily newspaper in Ghent as a counterweight to the successful socialist paper Vooruit. The first issue of Het Volk rolled off the presses on 22 June 1891 and was sold after Catholic church services as the ‘Anti-Socialist Daily’.

However, the enterprise soon ran into problems, and in 1894 it was moved to the capital where, besides publishing the newspaper, the company began commercial printing for third parties.

By 1920 the newspaper had a circulation of 30,000 and in 1925 the magazine Zondagsblad was launched.

In 1930 Het Volk was given a new subtitle: the ‘Catholic Democratic Daily Newspaper for Flanders’.

However, the financial problems were never resolved. Although the Christian labour movement supported the paper, this was not enough to deliver a healthy balance sheet. At the end of 1939, Het Volk moved back to Ghent. By that time the circulation had fallen to 19,000 and at the end of October 1940 the presses finally ground to a halt.

Het Volk: the period of success

After the war, the former managers of Het Volk resumed negotiations with the leadership of the Christian trade union ACV. Het Volk reappeared on 18 December 1944, and made an immediate impact with a spectacular piece of war reporting about the Ardennes offensive. The reborn newspaper thus got off to a flying start. Within a very short time Het Volk developed into a popular newspaper and the new formula caught on with the public. During the fifties it grew into Belgium’s second largest newspaper.

The Ghent-based paper devoted a lot of attention to sport, and cycling in particular. The Het Volk Cycle Race was held for the first time in 1945.

In November 1952 the newspaper business took over De Nieuwe Gids and so became the owner of weekly publications such as Spectator and the comic ‘t Kapoentje. This portfolio was later expanded to include the monthly Eos (1983) and TV-Gids (1989).

Het Volk: the takeover

By the end of the 1980s, Het Volk was in trouble again. Between 1992 and 1994 a capital increase was implemented for Het Volk Printing (Erpe-Mere) and the printing works in Ghent. Despite efforts to attract new readers, sales continued to fall and advertising revenues stagnated. Radical changes to the newspaper and the editorial structure and a new layout failed to turn the paper around.

In September 1994 the leadership of the ACV union confirmed that Het Volk was looking for a buyer. Almost every Flemish media group expressed an interest, but in November 1994 VUM emerged as the winner.

Het Volk’s printing operations and newsroom were moved to Groot-Bijgaarden in November 2000.

VUM in the new millennium

The growth of VUMmedia received another major boost in 1999 when it acquired an interest in Mediabel, the parent company of Editions de L’Avenir and Passe-Partout, which has now grown into a network distributing more than four

million freesheets every week.

In that same year, work started on building a completely new printing works in Groot-Bijgaarden which was commissioned in the year 2000.

After years of constant growth, from 2001 onwards an economic slowdown ushered in a difficult period, not only for VUMmedia but also for the whole publishing world. With the arrival of a new chairman Thomas Leysen, who took over the reins from his father André Leysen in 1997, and a new ceo Jo Van Croonenborch (from November 2000), the VUMmedia story entered a new and lively chapter, driven by new dynamism and a new vision.

The turning point

A programme of restructuring started in 2001 finally bore fruit. In 2003, after two difficult years, VUM reported its best ever result with a net profit of € 10.6 million. In 2004 the group consolidated and even slightly exceeded this result. With this performance, VUMmedia succeeded once again in building on a tradition of growth and renewal.

The media group currently achieves a turnover of € 340 million and employs around 1700 people.

With so much innovation going on, VUMmedia also attracted recognition from the business world. In 2004 the successful transformation of the business led to a nomination for the ‘Enterprise of the Year’ award.