# Does this agency still exist?

**Short answer.** A website that is still up proves nothing. The Crossroads Bank for Enterprises says whether the company is still active, and the Gazette says whether it was absorbed, renamed or wound up.

A website that is still up proves nothing. Domain names keep renewing for years and a LinkedIn page rarely disappears by itself. So look at the company.

## The three sources, in this order

**1. The Crossroads Bank for Enterprises.** Says whether the company is still active and, if not, since when it was ceased or struck off. This is the fastest check and needs only the company number.

**2. The Belgian Official Gazette.** Says what happened: a merger, a name change, an acquisition, a dissolution or a liquidation. This is the source with the story attached, and that story determines what would happen to your contract or your work.

**3. The most recent filed annual accounts.** The year is a strong signal. An agency whose latest filing is three years old is not active in practice, even without a formal cessation anywhere.

## The trap in this question

Relying on one source does not work, and the error always runs the same way. A search returning nothing reads as "all fine", while it can equally mean the company is gone. So always confirm a suspicion with a second source.

## Three states that are not the same

- **Absorbed.** The agency was folded into another; the people and clients usually continue under the new name.
- **Ceased.** The company stopped with no successor. What remains of the work depends on your contract.
- **Dormant.** Not formally stopped, but without activity and without a recent filing. This is the hardest state to establish and the most common.

## What the factsheets do

On the [factsheets](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/), an agency absorbed into another keeps its page, with a notice on it and a pointer to the successor. That page is deliberately neither redirected nor removed: the question "what happened to this agency" deserves an answer, and a 404 is not one.

See also: [who owns an agency](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/wie-is-de-eigenaar-van-een-bureau) and [how to know whether an agency is financially healthy](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/is-een-bureau-financieel-gezond).

## Related questions

- [How do I know whether an agency is financially healthy?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/is-een-bureau-financieel-gezond): Four of the five numbers you need are free at the National Bank: EBITDA margin, gross margin per employee, the three-year trend and equity. Only the share of the largest client has to be asked.
- [Who owns an agency?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/wie-is-de-eigenaar-van-een-bureau): Shareholders are not in the annual accounts, but directors and every change to them appear in the Belgian Official Gazette, free of charge. A holding above it tells you the rest.
- [What can I find out about an agency before I make contact?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/wat-staat-er-op-een-factsheet): More than you think, and most of it is public: founding year, address, services, reference clients, awards, group structure and the filed annual accounts. IKAg puts that per agency on a factsheet.

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IKAg is the business consultant for marketing and agencies in Belgium and the Netherlands. Market figures come from the Agency Barometer, calculated on the annual accounts agencies filed with the National Bank themselves. Figures on pitches and satisfaction come from IKAg-guided processes, and are always presented as such.

- All questions: https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq
- Last updated: 2026-08-19