Strong Parasols for Professionals
Biography Pierre Christiaens
Pierre Christiaens is the owner and CEO of Symo Parasols. Previously he worked as a Sales Promoter at Nestlé, then as Sales Manager and General Manager at Mommaerts. Pierre helped to negotiate the sale of Mommaerts to Heywood Williams, listed on the London Stock Exchange.
He wrote the book 'Pick the right Parasol (and your terrace will be packed)'. Pierre also regularly blogs about his passions: parasols, catering, marketing, positive psychology.
The City of Rome awarded Pierre Christiaens the honorary title 'Maestro dell'Artigianato' because at Symo Parasols he keeps alive the centuries-old craft of umbrella and parasol makers. In 2007 Unizo nominated him as Creative Entrepreneur.
Pierre studied Latin & Science at the Sint-Lodewijks college in Bruges (Belgium). He holds a Master's degree in Political Science and graduated with great distinction from the University of Ghent (now Vlerick Business School) with a special degree in Marketing.
He is happily married and father of 3 children.
In his spare time Pierre reads several books every month, mainly about positive psychology and marketing. He travels passionately and supports the local football team Club Brugge.
We have always known that gas bottles are dangerous. Unfortunately, they sometimes lead to serious or even fatal accidents. This became apparent once again last spring when a bottle exploded with tremendous force in Deerlijk, Belgium, resulting in one death and one serious injury. But no matter how risky they are, gas bottles are indispensable in the hospitality industry. So we would like to give you some tips. To minimize the risks as far as possible. Let’s start with the…
On Friday 9 December 2022, we celebrated our 90th anniversary. We invited not only current but also all former employees and the vast majority came to celebrate with us. Time to look back at Symo’s long history. Leopold Van Sieleghem, born in 1833, was already skimming the markets with a wheelbarrow as an umbrella vendor. In 1932, son Theo and his sister Rachel started a company producing umbrellas in Oostkamp. Three years later, they moved their activity to Bruges. During…
"Pick the right parasol (and your terrace will be packed)"
25 years of experience of Pierre Christiaens bundled in 50 valuable parasol tips for the hospitality industry.
Download now temporarily your free digital copy.
