Cyriel Demot was 56 when, in 1977, he was dismissed from his role as CEO at a construction company following a dispute within management. All 800 workers, most of whom Cyriel knew by name, stood by his side and spontaneously put down their tools – to no avail.

As a father to 3 young children, Cyriel did not lose courage: he sold off his apartment by the seaside for seed capital and together with Frans Houben and Mario Longhi started his own construction company: Democo. Cyriel’s loyalty, integrity and respect for customers and workers paid off: no more than a year later, the company had a headcount of 80 employees and a considerable number of former clients had followed. In the next years, Democo continued to show rapid growth: Cyriel was a strong believer in vertical integration and was keen to work as one company as much as possible. Thanks to this approach, many construction partners became colleagues and the company gathered further expertise in the areas of finishing, technical services and project development.

Today, Cyriel’s sons Philip and Michel Demot are at the helm of the Democo Group family business – while a few grandchildren are hard at work in the company as well. Houben’s sons and grandsons, too, are still active in the business.