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 the Second World War, production virtually stopped. However, it restarted after the war and sales improved to such an extent that the company had to move to a larger factory.

In 1956, production of parasols, Symo’s current core business, began. Well ten years later, fishing umbrellas, sunshades for prams, market umbrellas and advertising sunshades were also added to the range. All these products were destined for both domestic and foreign markets.

When Theo died, the company was run by son Jos, daughter Greta and son-in-law Jacques Massyn. In 1979, the company moved to new, more spacious workplaces on the Waggelwater industrial estate, where Symo is still located. When it turned out that the next generation was not interested in continuing the business, a buyer was sought.

On 11 April 1990, Pierre Christiaens took over Symo NV. Under Pierre’s leadership, Symo specialised in parasols for professional use, mainly for the hotel and catering industry and breweries. Meanwhile, people all over the world enjoy terraces in the shade of a strong Symo parasol.