46 years of activity ...
Our company commenced operations in Belgium in March 1963 when the Compagnie Générale de Chauffe (France) set up in that country, under the same name, a subsidiary company dedicated to the upkeep and maintenance of heating installations in large buildings and large complexes in the tertiary sector.
In 1966, Elf Belgium took a 15% share in the capital of CGC Belgique and 4 years later, in 1970, Fabricom, a subsidiary of Electrabel (which was not yet known as Electrabel!), one of the most powerful Belgian holding companies in electricity supply, took out shares amounting to 42.5 %.
For over 20 years, this combination of shareholders worked together perfectly, and in 1991, the CGC BELUX turnover cracked the ceiling of two billion Belgian francs (50 million €). In the same year, Fabricom which had become a temporary subsidiary of Tractebel (as a result of the merger of Traction and Electricité and Electrabel), bought 57.7 % of the capital from its partners, and it was for that reason that CGC Belgique changed its name and became known as AXIMA as of March 1st, 1992.
During the first 30 years of its existence in Belgium, AXIMA grew strongly : despite the oil crises between 1973 and 1977 staff numbers rose from 4 pioneers in 1963 to 650 strong in 1992 ; this necessitated two relocations of the company headquarters, which since 1983 have been located at various different places in the prestigious World Trade Center in Brussels.
AXIMA's activities have also developed strongly. As time passed, moving away from the simple maintenance of heating installations, AXIMA had learned to master other techniques, such as ventilation and air-conditioning, refrigeration, high and low voltage electricity, plumbing, sanitation, water treatment, steam generation, compressed air, power generation, etc., and was now offering its services as much to office buildings as to care institutions (homes, hospitals, etc), sports complexes and swimming pools, military bases, commercial and IT centres, and the hospitality sector.
The change in shareholding arrangements in 1992 gave additional impetus to Axima's development, and it then became the unchallenged leader in maintenance management in the Belgian market. With an eye to expanding the range of its activities, AXIMA positioned itself as a specialist in technical management in the widest sense of the word, gradually extending its activities into industry and purification stations, as well as at Brussels National Airport, not only at the level of building techniques but also at the level of airport techniques on the occasion of the opening in 1996 of the new terminal. AXIMA also developed in security techniques as applied to goods and persons, fire detection, electromechanical and electronic equipment, etc. Towards the end of the nineties, AXIMA began to be seen as operating in partnership with enterprises at the facilities services level, and as such gained the trust of large customers, such as Electrabel, IBM, Janssen Pharmaceutica or Borealis.
If growth was strong during the first 25 years of its existence, what can one say about AXIMA's spectacular growth during the past few years? From 73 million € turnover in 1995 to over 209 million 10 years later…
Also at the international level, AXIMA established itself in neighbouring countries (France - Netherlands - Luxembourg), in the UK, in Greece, etc. In these countries it developed subsidiaries which rapidly became important players in their own markets. Axima thus gained the status of front-runner in the Benelux countries.
In 1998, AXIMA was awarded ISO 9002 certification, the natural consequence of a perpetual process of quality upgrading. Axima was similarly granted other certifications and awards such as VCA, BOSEC and STEK. Always with the goal of customer satisfaction, in order to meet the demands of a constantly changing professional environment and to remain au fait with the latest professional requirements, technologies and market needs, in April 2001 AXIMA opened its own training centre, called Axi-Academy. AXIMA staff thus enjoyed considerable advantages in the way of ongoing training.
Furthermore, having long been concerned for the protection of the environment, AXIMA has developed an environmental plan and strategy whereby it can guarantee to its customers that it finds responsible solutions for the rational use of energy or the elimination of the waste products of maintenance - or from other sources - in accordance with strictest norms in force in Europe. AXIMA has also settled upon a sensible response in the question of the management of the problems of asbestos found within buildings.
Because of the changes and reorganisations that have taken place within the Tractebel Group, the "energy" pole of the SUEZ Group, AXIMA changed its name as of 1 July 2001 and is now known as AXIMA Services.
Today, our company is part of the branch Energy Services of the GDF SUEZ Group and is called COFELY Services since 15 june 2009.
