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Home / About us

About us

An experienced transformation team, built on lean principles.

A European team around one kitchen table: three offices, one team and three convictions that have not changed since 2011.

Line drawing of the Veehof, the HazelHeartwood office in Kortenberg
Our name

Why HazelHeartwood.

The heartwood is the core of a tree: the oldest, hardest wood, laid down over years of growth, and what gives the tree its strength.

In our name, it stands for our most experienced consultants: people who treat consulting as a craft rather than a template copied from client to client, and who bring the deep thinking that only comes with years of doing the work.

Around the heartwood are the outer rings, younger and still growing. They are our junior consultants, who bring the energy, curiosity and fresh eyes that keep a team, and a craft, alive.

What holds the rings together, from the core to the bark, are our four values. They drive our kitchen table, and they are why we work fact based, context specific and focused on the long term. That is the foundation for long-term partnerships with our clients.

Our values

Simplicity

We keep things simple: complexity is often a sign that nobody challenges the assumptions.

Mutual trust & respect

We foster strong, collaborative relationships.

Social commitment

We make a meaningful impact beyond business.

Deep thinking & long-term focus

We ensure sustainable transformations rooted in facts rather than assumptions.

Since 2011

Since our start, our convictions have not changed.

01

Consulting is a craft, not an industry.

Our approach and tools are specific to each customer, and that is what turns projects into long-term relationships.

How we work
02

A kitchen table, not an employment office.

Our values drive our kitchen table: simplicity, mutual trust & respect, deep thinking & long-term focus and social commitment. That is how we attract and keep the best consultants in the field.

Our values
03

A sustainable future, for our company and for society.

We use our time and assets to build a company that lasts, and to contribute to a sustainable society.

Beyond business
Beyond business

Profit is not an objective. It is an instrument.

Periods of transformation are opportunities for progress. Our mission is to deliver lasting value to our clients while fostering a positive impact on society, and to build a sustainable, resilient future for our colleagues and their families. The old Japanese merchants called it sanpo yoshi: good for the seller, good for the buyer, good for society. All three, or it is not a real deal.

Read our CSR policy
Social impact stories

The social fund

A dedicated fund that provides material support to partners addressing complex societal challenges, education or social cohesion, with full transparency on how the money is deployed.

Dedicated time

Protected working time for every colleague to contribute to a defined set of social projects, treated with the same professional rigour as client work, so our expertise drives real outcomes.

Profit as an instrument

Profit is the instrument that secures our continuity: financial health protects the firm, our people’s careers and their families. We decouple growth from exploitation, and we reinvest surplus in the development of our people, the robustness of the social fund and the refinement of our methods.

Projects we support

Experience@Work
Experience@Work

Keeps the experience of employees in the final part of their career working for society. We co-created a mobility centre.

Read the story
City Pirates
City Pirates

An Antwerp football club that works as a social platform: sporting and social skills for young people in six city districts. We are building the application that supports its social workers.

Read the story
TWERK
TWERK

A social enterprise where people with autism work. We built the coaching app that gives employees a structured way to communicate and coaches a real-time view of their team.

Read the story
Tribe & Thrive
Tribe & Thrive

Burnout prevention. We co-created their platform.

Read the story
Vrienden van het VeehofOAK - Oude Abdij Kortenberg
Vrienden van het Veehof & OAK

The community around the old abbey of Kortenberg, our home base. We developed the masterplan for the abbey and support its implementation. The Friends also run a community garden that supports people in their reintegration into society through gardening, working alongside members of the local community.

Intec Brussel - meer kansen op werk
Intec Brussel

Creates opportunities for people looking for change. Training and development of marketing automation.

Girleek
Girleek

A community that supports women in tech. Training and development of marketing automation.

The HazelHeartwood office in Kortenberg: brick facade, stepped gables and the garden in front
Careers & culture

Consulting as a craft.

Consulting is about helping people solve difficult problems. That takes curiosity, humility and a willingness to keep learning.

We keep our teams small because meaningful responsibility accelerates growth. We grow our own people at the kitchen table, where learning goes both ways: experienced consultants share what they have learned with young graduates, and new colleagues bring fresh perspectives and challenge established thinking. People learn by doing, thinking and collaborating, and by working with AI as a daily colleague rather than a threat.

Tell us about yourself

Let’s talk

Come and sit at the kitchen table.

Client, colleague or partner: a first conversation costs nothing but an hour.