INTERNATIONAL OFFICE SEARCH

Offices and Office Space in Netherland to Let / Rent – Dutch Office Location Data:

Commerce in The Netherlands:

The country has a market-based, capitalist economy which ranks it 12th out of the 157 countries featured on the Index of Economic Freedom and many business organisations and their directors approach officebroker.com in order to secure office space or corporate headquarters in well-known Dutch locations inc. office space in Amsterdam for rent, offices to let in Eindhoven, Flexible Rotterdam office spaces for renting and Utrecht office space rental.

The country has benefited from an open and prosperous economy with the predominant industries being food processing, financial services, petroleum and chemical industries and electronics with large companies inc. Heineken International, Unilever, ING Group, Phillips and Royal Dutch Shell all prospering globally. The country has the 16th largest economy in the world and the country has been ranked 1st by UNICEF for child well-being. Many business directors and management teams are attracted by the strength of the Dutch economy and as a result there are many different office space options in the Netherlands to choose from. Options range from traditional property sale, conventional leasing terms and sub-lease / sublet office rental agreements as well as the far more flexible serviced business centres which offer flexible, monthly terms of renting.

The business and financial capital of the Netherlands is Amsterdam and the AEX (Amsterdam Stock Exchange – in a central location on Dam Square) is actually the oldest stock exchange in the world and is one of the largest in Europe. Offices in flexible Dutch business centres range in size from one single executive workstation up to large offices with open-plan layouts that are ideal as a commercial or corporate headquarters. Workstations in a serviced office space in the Netherlands usually inc. desks, chairs, broadband, phone system with switchboard services managed by professional receptionist staff. Meeting rooms can be rented on an ad hoc basis and tenants can access additional communal services which inc. reception areas, secretary facilities and onsite property management teams. Executives can also benefit from onsite car parking, cctv security systems and many other commercial advantages that are not available with traditional commercial real estate / realty options. The port of Rotterdam is the largest in Europe and as a result the Netherlands has established great trade links with Germany and the UK and the country also has a thriving tourist trade with roughly 4.2 million visitors annually making it the fifth busiest tourist destination in Europe as well as attracting one of the highest levels of direct corporate foreign investment. The country also has a very strong transport infrastructure which contributes to the commercial success of many different business organisations.

General Information:

Located in North-western Europe, the Netherlands (often incorrectly referred to as “Holland” which is actually an area in the west of the Netherlands made up of North Holland and South Holland) is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy which forms the majority of the area known as the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Although the capital city of the Netherlands is Amsterdam, the seat of Government for the country is actually located in The Hague. To the North and West the country borders the North Sea along with Germany to the east and Belgium to the South. Far more than just clogs, tulips and windmills, The Netherlands is divided into twelve administrative provinces which are then subdivided into municipalities and the country is a founding member of the European Union. The Netherlands is also part of NATO, WTO, OECD, has signed the Kyoto Protocol and, along with Luxembourg and Belgium, forms the economic union known as the “Benelux” economic union. The Hague is often referred to as “the world’s legal capital” as a result of it being the location of no less than four international courts - International Criminal Court, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice.

The country is situated at the estuaries of three major European rivers which form the Rhine-Meuse – Scheldt delta and, with roughly 27% of its area located below sea level, the Netherlands has paid a lot of attention to its sea defenses with significant areas of land reclamation which is safe guarded by a complicated system of dikes and polders. Three large rivers - the Rhine, the Meuse and the Waal – divide the Netherlands into two main areas and the south west of the country is dominated by the delta of the River Scheldt along with the Westerschelde and Oosterschelde which are the two main tributaries of the river.

20th Century History:

Although the Netherlands remained neutral during World War One, the country experienced street riots triggered by the food shortages in 1917. Following the war, in 1920 KLM launched the first ever scheduled air travel service which operated between London and Amsterdam and in 1928 the Netherlands hosted the Olympic Games in Amsterdam. In 1923 IJsselmeer Lake was created after the Afsluitdijk enclosure dike was built at the head of a large, shallow inlet of the North Sea called the Zuiderzee. The Great Depression in 1934 lead to riots as a result of the widespread shortages and the army was called out to maintain the public order. World War Two saw the invasion of the country by Nazi Germany and the exile to London of Queen Wilhelmina and in 1941 many Amsterdam based workers took part in the February Strike to protest against the persecution of the Jewish community in Amsterdam.

In 1942, Anne Frank and her family took refuge from the German occupation in what became known as Anne Frank’s House and at the same time Japan occupied the Dutch East Indies. Between 1944 and 1945 the Nazi forces blockaded the western Netherlands causing thousands of deaths during what is referred to as the Hunger Winter. Following the Nazi defeat in 1945, Dutch airline KLM instigates the Amsterdam to New York air service and in 1947 the first copies of The Diary of Anne Frank were published. The following year saw the establishment of the Benelux customs union between Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands and then in 1949 the country also joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and, following a strongly fought struggle for liberation, the Dutch East Indies won independence and become Indonesia. In 1953, devastating floods followed intense North Sea storms which resulted in major coastal flooding which resulted in the instigation of the Delta Project whose aim was to seal river estuaries in the southwest of the country. Five years later in 1958 the Netherlands joined the forerunner to the modern EU (European Union), the EEC (European Economic Community) then in 1966 Princess Beatrix married a former German soldier called Claus von Amsberg which lead to protests on the streets of Amsterdam.

In 1975 Amsterdam celebrated its 700th anniversary and in the same year the Netherlands granted the South American country of Surinam independence. In 1980 the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana, Beatrix, acceded to the throne following her mother’s abdication then in 1987 the Jewish Historical Museum was created following the restoration of Amsterdam’s four Ashkenazi synagogues. In February 1992 the European Community became the European Union following the signing of the Maastricht Treaty then in 2002 the country’s currency, the guilder, was replaced by the single European currency, the Euro then in 2003 the International Criminal Court was formed in The Hague.