The British company Clover Group recently inaugurated its European hub in Fleurus – Charleroi Metropolis. An expert in regulated special logistics services for the aerospace and defense industries, Clover Group had been seeking to establish a base in continental Europe since Brexit. After benchmarking neighboring countries, Wallonia was selected as the optimal destination to serve Europe.

In addition to Wallonia's fundamental strengths, "it was AWEX's support that convinced Clover Group to settle in Wallonia, thanks notably to its responsiveness in identifying suitable sites and connecting us with professionals to best handle all legal, financial, HR, and other aspects of such a project. All these individuals, both from AWEX and its partners, played a decisive role," explains Yacin Saadi, Vice President of Clover Group Europe. "Later, shortly after my appointment, I guided Clover Group's decision towards Charleroi and its metropolitan area. It's a region I know well, with great potential and numerous companies setting up there," he elaborates.

The choice of Wallonia was made for several reasons, starting with its perfect alignment with Clover’s core business. "Wallonia is centrally located in Europe, with a highly developed multimodal network. It is ideally situated between France, the Netherlands, and Germany. Regional investment incentives are also an advantage, though not the determining factor," emphasizes Yacin Saadi.

"There is also, and above all, a rich aerospace and defense ecosystem, including companies like Sonaca, Thales Alenia Space, Sabena Engineering, Safran Aero Boosters, Aerospacelab, FN Herstal, Mecar… This ecosystem continues to grow. We have already joined the Walloon aerospace cluster Skywin and the BSDI, the defense branch of the technology federation Agoria," adds Clover Group Europe’s Vice President.

The British group has invested over €2.4 million to refurbish a 1,000 square meter building in the Charleroi Metropolis area in Fleurus. "We primarily have a few offices and large warehouse areas. It was important to have such storage space," notes Yacin Saadi.

The British company Clover Group was founded in 1993 by entrepreneur Bernard Lavery. Over the years, the company has evolved and is now an international provider of logistics services for highly regulated sectors in the space, aerospace, defense, and security industries. Today, led by Paul Lavery, the group has a hub in the United States and now also in continental Europe, in Wallonia.

AWEX's Role

AWEX played an important role in this foreign direct investment in Wallonia. At the end of 2020, with Brexit uncertainties looming, AWEX's specialized partner in the UK, Frenger, detected Clover Group’s keen interest (having already approached them in 2019), leading to initial meetings via videoconference between Christmas and New Year’s… 2021. Subsequent visits to Wallonia, thematic meetings, and crucial connections, including those with the British Chamber of Commerce EU-Belgium and the Walloon Public Service, were organized by AWEX to best prepare for the investment. In May 2023, Charleroi native Yacin Saadi received the reins of the Clover Group Europe project from Bernard and Paul Lavery, and he successfully led it "on time and on budget," as praised by his British boss during the inauguration.

Already, AWEX's regional center in Charleroi has guided Clover Europe’s new sales managers to meet AWEX's Economic and Trade Advisors during the September 2024 Business Days in Wavre, to leverage their expertise in approaching several export markets of great interest for specialized logistics services like those of Clover.

Yacin Saadi acknowledges AWEX's work. "We had monthly meetings to review the progress of the project. From the beginning, the contacts were excellent. AWEX helped us by answering our many questions, especially regarding permits and licenses for dual-use goods," explains the Vice President of Clover Group Europe. "Initially, the first project involved a greenfield, the purchase of land to build a custom-made new building in the Strépy Sud area. This was one of AWEX's proposals, among other land or buildings to be reinvested. As this type of greenfield project would take much more time than renovating an existing construction, we then changed our plans to become operational more quickly and, in perfect coordination with AWEX and its partners, opted for a building in the Fleurus-Martinrou economic park, right in the Charleroi Metropolis area," concludes Yacin Saadi.