What is There specialised in?

Brand strategy & positioning, Marketing strategy, Brand identity & design, Campaign concepts & big ideas, Campaign execution.

Around 3 full-time equivalents (financial year 2026).

Who are the clients of There?

Among others VUB, Aubel, Levis, Arvesta, Bon'Ap, Buurtslagers, Kela.

Review: There

There werkt ruim dertig jaar als creatief bureau uit Leuven. Op de loonlijst staan ongeveer 4 voltijdse equivalenten. Het bureau combineert creatie & reclame, strategie en branding & identiteit. Publiek gekende klanten zijn onder meer VUB, Aubel, Levis en Arvesta.

1

How this agency makes money

Revenue, margin and what an hour of work brings in. Everything on the earning side sits together here.

Revenue trendgross margin per financial year

20222023202420252026

Latest year: € 439.405 gross margin, growth -9,8% against a sector median of -0,2%.

Shrinking

MarginEBITDA / gross margin · value-added coverage

20222023202420252026

ThereSector median

EBITDA margin 47,6%, sector median 21,9%. Value-added coverage 1,91 (median 1,23).

Healthy margin

Revenue per headGross margin per FTE, against payroll cost

€ 146.468

Median (2025) € 78.663

Against a payroll cost of € 76.414 per FTE. The ratio between the two is the coverage rate above.

Above the median

Yield levelYield per hour worked, against payroll cost

€ 112

Median (2025) € 49

3.922 hours worked, 1.307 per FTE. Against that sits € 58 of payroll cost per hour worked, leaving € 54 for premises, equipment, depreciation and profit.

Above the median

No hourly rate follows from this. Gross margin is already net of services and sundry goods, which mixes rebilled production with the agency's own overhead, and the accounts do not say how many hours were billable. Deriving a rate from this systematically understates it.

2

Can the agency take a hit

Buffer, cash position and payment behaviour side by side, so you can see where they disagree.

Bufferequity in months of payroll

Buffer: 21,4 months (median 7,7 mo). Equity in the latest year: € 408.406.

Adequate buffer

Cash positionAvailable cash, and whether it covers short-term debt

Cash € 471.628. Liquidity ratio 2,26: current assets cover short-term debt in full. Solvency 55,8%.

Amply covered

Payment behaviourTowards suppliers and towards the NBB

Trade payables correspond to 88 days of supplier credit, sector median 85. The accounts were filed 218 days after closing; the legal deadline is seven months.

Filed late

3

Signals and strengths

Events from the CBE and the Official Gazette over the past 24 months, plus positive markers derived from the figures.

Continuity

Points to ask about

Signals in the last 24 months

Sharp headcount decline · 31 Mar 2025 · NBB
Average headcount fell by 15% or more in a year. That can be contraction, and just as easily a deliberate choice for fewer but more experienced people. Ask who left and who came in their place.
Board change · 29 Nov 2024 · Staatsblad
Appointments or resignations on the board. Routine during growth, succession or a new partner. Ask about it when several changes follow each other closely.

Click a signal for a plain-language explanation. Each signal is a fact from a public source, without the agency's own context. Best to ask them directly.

What this agency does well

EBITDA margin above the sector median (47,6%)
Strong buffer: 21,4 months of payroll in equity
Value-added per euro of payroll above the sector median (1,91)
Margin per hour worked rose 2 years in a row
Healthy working capital (current ratio 2,26)
Comfortable cash position: 751 days of payroll

Each point is a fact from the filed annual accounts, measured against the same thresholds and sector medians as the signals above.

4

All the figures

Reference material, not a starting point. Expand it if you want to read the series yourself.

5 financial years, 2022 to 2026Result, staff and balance sheet

	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
Result
Gross margin	€ 378.487	€ 333.328-11,9%	€ 315.496-5,3%	€ 487.247+54,4%	€ 439.405-9,8%
EBITDA	€ 63.514	€ 39.612	€ 15.127	€ 190.630	€ 209.356
EBITDA margin	16,8%	11,9%	4,8%	39,1%	47,6%
Staff
FTE	6,4	4,9-23,4%	5,0+2%	4,2-16%	3,0-28,6%
Gross margin per FTE	€ 59.139	€ 68.026	€ 63.099	€ 116.011	€ 146.468
Payroll cost per FTE	€ 49.027	€ 59.517	€ 58.294	€ 70.419	€ 76.414
Balance sheet
Equity	€ 392.031	€ 392.468	€ 391.625	€ 399.788	€ 408.406
Cash	€ 402.374	€ 393.755	€ 190.468	€ 444.318	€ 471.628
Liquidity ratio	2,44	2,76	2,58	2,26	2,26

Payroll cost per FTE comes from the social report where available, otherwise from the Remuneration line. Both are gross costs including employer contributions.

What this factsheet does not know

How good the work is. Figures do not measure creativity, strategy or chemistry.
How the client portfolio is spread. Concentration is not in the accounts.
Freelancers and subcontractors are not in the FTE figures. An agency with 40 staff may in practice run with 70 people.
The figures cover financial year 2026, filed on 04/11/2026. At a fast-moving agency reality today may differ.

Based on publicly filed annual accounts (NBB) and official records (CBE, Belgian Official Gazette). An indication, not financial advice. Sector medians calculated on 2 Nov 2026. Sector medians based on financial year 2025: the last year for which nearly all accounts have been filed.

What the agency actually does 5 services

Strategy & Insights

Brand strategy & positioning Marketing strategy

Branding & Design

Brand identity & design

Advertising & Campaigns

Campaign concepts & big ideas Campaign execution

Sector focus

EducationFood & beverageRetail & e-commerceReal estate & construction

Publicly known clients

VUBAubelLevisArvestaBon'ApBuurtslagersKela

Based on IKAg research and public sources. Incomplete or outdated? Let us know.

1

Seniors or juniors?

Payroll cost per FTE is the best public proxy for a team's experience level. Higher is not automatically better, but it says something about who sits at the table.

Payroll cost per FTE

€ 76.414

+19% versus the median

Team composition

3,0 FTE

€ 76.414

Median Creatief bureau (2025) € 64.418All agencies (2025) € 62.294

Read with care. Directors and partners invoicing through a management company are not in the payroll cost. At small agencies this skews the picture downwards considerably.

2

Will your team stay?

Inflow and outflow from the social report. This series only counts people on the payroll: freelancers who invoice do not appear in it. A low figure therefore means two very different things, a stable permanent team or a small core with heavy outsourcing. A high figure usually points to short contracts. Compare only within the same type of agency.

Exits 2026

66,7%

Median for this type of agency (2025): 34,5%

Inflow 2026

/

20222023202420252026

Exits are clearly above what is usual for this type of agency. That may reflect project-based staffing, but it is a reason to ask in the pitch how much of the proposed team was already here two years ago, and to contractually fix your permanent contacts.

Source: annual accounts and social reports (NBB), collected by IKAg. Financial year 2026. Calculations by IKAg; an indication, not financial advice. Sector medians based on financial year 2025: the last year for which nearly all accounts have been filed.