30 YEARS OF BIJL PR
Thirty years ago, Friday the first of March, 1991. Ruud Bijl started his own PR agency. In a sixty square meters office he made his dream come true. Looking back on that day, he says: “I was very proud to be in my own office. I didn’t have any furniture yet, because it hadn’t been delivered. Fortunately I had two moving boxes: one box I used as a chair, the other box I used to put my computer on. This allowed me to work a little.” A week later, Ruuds’ furniture arrived, allowing him to really get started. From this moment on, Bijl PR was official.
Thirty years of Bijl PR? That thought didn’t cross Ruuds’ mind when he started. “You don’t think about things like this in advance,” says the founder. He still enjoys his PR agency each and every day. The developments of the past thirty years make him proud: ‘’We found our position as an agency. We know which clients are a good fit for us. These are organizations that are at the heart of society, that are involved with social issues, that are very concerned with their role in society. It’s great to be able to work with them.”
Fast, faster, fastest
When asked about the most impactful development in the communication industry over the past thirty years, Ruud doesn’t need to think for a second: “Speed. It’s remarkable how fast everything is going nowadays compared to the past. If I sent out a press release thirty years ago on Tuesday, with a bit of luck it would be in the newspaper on Thursday. At the earliest. Nowadays everything goes much faster, which makes it a lot more fun.”
Developing talents
Bijl PR’s founder is most proud of the agency’s clients and employees. “It’s fantastic that clients trust us to think about their identity, their campaigns, their promise to society,” he says. “But I’m most proud of the people who work or have worked for the agency. It’s great to see how people develop here, getting better and discovering and using their talents.”
Future plans
The Bijl PR team currently consists of 18 driven, enthusiastic and ambitious colleagues, or ‘Bijlers‘ as they call themselves. Every day they are all working on inspiring projects and all with an enormous passion for their profession. Since 1 January 2021 the organization also has two new partners on board, Marjoleine van Klaveren and Sophia Weavers. They will eventually take over the agency from Ruud. They are both proud of the 30-year anniversary as well. Marjoleine: ‘What Ruud has built in the past years is a huge achievement. A beautiful company with a great team and great clients. The recognizable agency culture and way of working will certainly be retained in the future. We are very proud of Ruud, our team and the fact that we will take over the company in a few years.” Sophia adds: “The Bijl DNA that employees and clients feel comfortable with, is something we cherish. 30 years of Bijl PR has created this, but we like to keep it going for the next 30 years!’’
