His passion for metal was fully ignited amidst the fire and anvils in his uncle’s forge. But his entrepreneurial spirit has been ingrained in him since his youth. Today, Cor Wuijts is at the helm of metal company Wuco, with his ‘Metaalmeesters’ (Metal Masters) as the flagship of his fast-growing business. Yet, for Cor, things can never move fast enough.
If you ask Cor Wuijts exactly what Wuco does, he will tell you that they look for solutions. ‘Designing and developing metal staircases, balustrades, or facade systems is only part of our story. We prefer to focus on the aesthetic aspect, but we also pay great attention to everything you don’t see—to what is happening behind or beneath the metal surface. We like to think further where most people stop. How can we ensure that installation is easier and the result is more durable?’
To bring these assignments to a successful conclusion time and again, Cor relies on his Metaalmeesters. ‘There are now 15 to 16 of us. People I’ve met one-on-one during job interviews. People who I know share the same passion and who want to help pull the weight to move forward.’
Where does that drive to take charge immediately come from? ‘It’s always been in my blood, I think. I remember being about twelve years old and getting 200 “francs” to mow a huge lawn. I didn’t hesitate and immediately started a savings pot. I also always enjoyed helping out on my parents’ or my uncle’s farm: mucking out stables, bringing in the hay… I’ve never been afraid of hard work. My fairly strict upbringing probably played a part in that too. It certainly helped shape me into the type of entrepreneur I am today.’
‘If I had to describe myself as an entrepreneur, I see someone who primarily wants to take action. That was already the case during my studies as a design and production designer. There wasn’t much of a student life where I lived, so I started drawing. I designed a wood-splitting machine, built it myself, and sold it online.’
‘That’s how I built up a budget and, gradually, a customer base. At 23, I started Wuco from my uncle’s forge. In the early years, these were small projects for private individuals, such as a custom garden gate. But suddenly things moved very quickly, and construction companies and architects started knocking on the door. Six years later, we moved to our first location, and another six years after that, we expanded again and settled in Bree.’
‘Today I am 36, and I realize that growing also involves delegating. As someone who has always taken charge of things personally, that remains difficult for me. But we’re working on it. I still prefer to handle certain matters myself, such as product improvement and innovation, simply because that’s really my thing. When it comes to personnel management, I feel a bit less confident. I can really lose sleep if there is disagreement on the work floor or if someone isn’t happy in their job. And then I might carry that with me for too long.’
If he had the chance, would Cor handle certain things from the past differently? ‘I am satisfied with my journey as an entrepreneur and the story of Wuco. Maybe one small thing: I only worked as an employee for barely six months in my career. Perhaps I should have stuck around a bit longer so I could have learned a bit more by observing company structure and management.’
Does time sometimes go a bit too fast for Cor, who has been a young entrepreneur for 13 years now? ‘Lately, I’ve realized that I need to hit the brakes a bit more after working hours. My job is truly my life and passion, but I’ve reached an age where you start thinking about other things too: relationships, children, learning to clear your head every now and then.’
‘My big dream is to one day buy and renovate an old farmhouse. Somewhere out in the countryside. I can totally see myself finding peace there. In the meantime, I try to focus as much as possible on my other passions: cooking and mountain biking. I especially love cooking. I have a regular partner in crime for that, a friend who is a hobby chef. We challenge each other regularly, for example, to come up with a variation on a certain recipe or to try out a new cooking technique, like caveman style—a technique where you place the meat directly on the coals. And then, of course, we taste everything together with our girlfriends (laughs).’
‘But my greatest passion is perhaps flying. I practically grew up next to the Kleine-Brogel airbase, where I constantly saw F-16s flying over. Becoming a pilot was a real childhood dream. A little over ten years ago, I learned to fly a small sports plane myself. For me, that is pure relaxation. In the air, you are forced to stay focused; you don’t have time to think about anything else or to be stressed. It’s just been way too long; it’s time I picked it up again. That’s my new ambition (laughs).’
‘We originally only approached Expliciet to recruit new colleagues. But more than ever, we notice that we especially need to take the first step toward the right talent—presenting ourselves as a company and getting people excited. Expliciet literally blew us away with the rebranding around the Metaalmeesters. Despite the fact that we had just overhauled our corporate identity, we were completely convinced by the story you wanted to tell. A story written after one-on-one conversations with all our employees. They now carry the Metaalmeesters title with great pride. And we hope our new colleagues will do the same.’