More than most people think, and almost all of it is public. A Belgian agency is a company, and a company leaves a trail anyone may read for free.
The four sources
IKAg's factsheets. One page per agency with services, sectors, reference clients, awards, the group it belongs to, and key figures from the annual accounts next to the market medians. You reach them through the overview or by expertise, sector, location and group.
The National Bank. Every Belgian company files annual accounts, freely searchable on the company number. They show revenue or gross margin, headcount, equity and result.
The Crossroads Bank for Enterprises. Says whether the company is still active, since when it has existed, and which activities it declares.
The Belgian Official Gazette. Publishes director changes, name changes, mergers, capital changes and wind-ups. This is the source that tells you what happened over recent years.
What a factsheet holds
- Overview: who the agency is, since when, where, and the group above it.
- Expertise: which services and sectors they state.
- Financials: the figures from filed accounts, with the sector median beside them, so a number has a benchmark.
- People: who works there, as far as that is publicly findable.
- Awards & Partners: award-winning work and official partnerships.
What you will not find there
What an agency would charge you for your assignment, how it works under pressure, and whether the people you met are the people you get. Those are exactly the three things to extract in a meeting, and it is why a factsheet is preparation and not a replacement.
See also: how to know whether an agency is financially healthy, who owns it and whether an agency still exists.