Queen Máxima paid a working visit to CSU, a cleaning business with headquarters in Uden, on Tuesday to celebrate the company’s win in the Large Business category for the Koning Willem I Awards.
CSU has eleven offices throughout the Netherlands and employs over 15,000 people. Given the focus on hygiene and cleanliness, all social distancing and health protocols were followed, and, where possible, staff and employees appeared virtually to talk to the Queen about their work.
The company noted that Queen Máxima learned about their “innovation initiatives, such as training cleaning employees via virtual reality,” as well as how the company balances hospitality and automation in pursuit of a “more fun, more efficient and safer” venture for employees and customers.
During her visit, Queen Máxima also heard about sustainability practices in place, including circular clothing lines and clean roadside initiatives.
CSU was presented its Koning Willem I Award last fall, in a ceremony presided over by Queen Máxima. At the time, she said, “CSU is a company that has shown excellent entrepreneurship through its agility during the COVID-19 crisis. A company where social profit counts just as much as financial profit.”
The Koning Willem I Awards are presented every two years to small- and medium-sized businesses in the Netherlands. Queen Máxima is the honorary chairman of the Koning Willem I Foundation, which presents the awards.
“The Koning Willem I Award proved to us that our focus is the right one and that our strategy works,” said CSU’s chairman, John van Hoof, in a blog post on the company’s website.
“Our employees are the most important ingredient of our success formula, so we want to take the best possible care of them. The fact that we and our employees can now show the working method to Queen Máxima ourselves is an honor and makes us proud. We hope to inspire more organizations with the Koning Willem I prize.”
The Koning Willem I Award is the most prestigious entrepreneurship prize in the country. The 2020 winners were announced last November and, in addition to CSU, included Von Gahlen Nederland BV and Gulpener Bierbrouwerij BV.
