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Largest employers in Essen

NBB annual accounts · KBO

This ranking lists the companies in Essen with the most staff, according to their latest annual accounts.

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Municipalities with the most companies with a balance sheet

Rankings by province

Essen

municipality in the province of Antwerp, 19,630 inhabitants
Largest employers
  1. 1CHOCOLATERIE ICKX140 FTE
  2. 2SCHRAUWEN119 FTE
  3. 3VALERON STRENGTH FILMS62.6 FTE
122 companies with this figureLargest balance sheets
  1. 1ARGENTUM CEDIT VIRTUTI€2.3bn
  2. 2Société d'Exploitation du Pioneering Spirit€1.8bn
  3. 3Solitaire Transport Chartering€659m
854 companies with this figureHighest equity
  1. 1ARGENTUM CEDIT VIRTUTI€2.2bn
  2. 2Société d'Exploitation du Pioneering Spirit€1.7bn
  3. 3PIONEERING SPIRIT MARINE CONTRACTORS€635m
774 companies with this figureFastest staff growth
  1. 1ODS Belgium+16.9% a year
  2. 2MUYS REIZEN+15.6% a year
  3. 3BAKKERIJ VAN THILLO+11.4% a year
37 companies with this figureOldest companies
  1. 1Meubelfabriek Theuns1964
  2. 2Slagh1968
  3. 3Algemene Veemesterijen1969
851 companies with this figureHighest staff cost per FTE (Antwerp)
  1. 1Palo Alto Networks Belgium€401,500
  2. 2VMware Belgium€387,100
  3. 3Nutanix Belgium€371,100
5,424 employers Sectors with the highest staff cost (Antwerp)
  1. 1Water transport€105,600
  2. 2Chemicals€96,100
  3. 3Computer and electronic products€94,100
median per sector, from 20 employers

Largest employers in Essen, over the years

today's top 10 and DE BOSRUST, annual accounts filed 2017 to 2025
04080120160201720182019202020212022202320242025bankrupt 2025CHOCOLATERIE ICKXSCHRAUWENVALERON STRENGTH FILMSINNOV ADAVT EUROPEA.C.D.Meubelfabriek TheunsTHERMOPOL KUNSTSTOFTE.BAKKERIJ VAN THILLOFacim0408012016020172019202120232025bankrupt 2025

Positions in 2025

  1. 1 CHOCOLATERIE ICKX 140 FTE
  2. 2 SCHRAUWEN 119 FTE
  3. 3 VALERON STRENGTH FILMS 62.6 FTE
  4. 4 INNOV AD 62.4 FTE
  5. 5 AVT EUROPE 60.1 FTE
  6. 6 A.C.D. 53.5 FTE
  7. 7 Meubelfabriek Theuns 40.2 FTE
  8. 8 THERMOPOL KUNSTSTOFTECHNIEK 33.8 FTE
  9. 9 BAKKERIJ VAN THILLO 32.2 FTE
  10. 10 Facim 27.4 FTE

DE BOSRUST still had 30.9 FTE in financial year 2019 and went bankrupt on 15-05-2025.

The full list

Essen

Top 25

Largest employers in Essen

Staff (FTE) · 122 companies with a plausible staff figure

Financial year 2025 for 97.5% of the companies

Average staff in full-time equivalents from the social balance of the latest annual accounts. Method and sources

  1. 1 CHOCOLATERIE ICKX EssenFood products 140 FTE financial year 2025
  2. 2 SCHRAUWEN EssenLand transport 119 FTE financial year 2025
  3. 3 VALERON STRENGTH FILMS EssenRubber and plastics 62.6 FTE financial year 2025
  4. 4 INNOV AD EssenWholesale trade 62.4 FTE financial year 2025
  5. 5 AVT EUROPE EssenMachinery and equipment 60.1 FTE financial year 2025
  6. 6 A.C.D. EssenFabricated metal products 53.5 FTE financial year 2025
  7. 7 Meubelfabriek Theuns EssenFurniture 40.2 FTE financial year 2025
  8. 8 THERMOPOL KUNSTSTOFTECHNIEK EssenRubber and plastics 33.8 FTE financial year 2025
  9. 9 BAKKERIJ VAN THILLO EssenFood products 32.2 FTE financial year 2025
  10. 10 Facim EssenFabricated metal products 27.4 FTE financial year 2025
  11. 11 ARGENTUM CEDIT VIRTUTI EssenHead offices and management consultancy 27.3 FTE financial year 2025
  12. 12 MUYS REIZEN EssenLand transport 24.7 FTE financial year 2025
  13. 13 ODS Belgium EssenComputer programming and consultancy 23.5 FTE financial year 2025
  14. 14 ML Transport EssenLand transport 23.4 FTE financial year 2025
  15. 15 Bouwbedrijf Menbo EssenConstruction of buildings 22.9 FTE financial year 2025
  16. 16 SPORTINFRABOUW EssenCivil engineering 22.6 FTE financial year 2025
  17. 17 ABBIN natuursteen EssenWholesale trade 21.1 FTE financial year 2025
  18. 18 COOLS TUINAANLEG EssenBuilding services and landscaping 21.1 FTE financial year 2025
  19. 19 DE CAIGNY EssenRetail trade 19.4 FTE financial year 2025
  20. 20 Innovative Cleaning Equipment EssenFinancial services 18.4 FTE financial year 2025
  21. 21 Schot's Vishandel EssenRetail trade 18.0 FTE financial year 2025
  22. 22 ICKX VERKOOP EssenWholesale trade 15.8 FTE financial year 2025
  23. 23 DENIES JURGEN EssenRetail trade 15.4 FTE financial year 2025
  24. 24 VAN DEN BERGH BOUW EssenConstruction of buildings 15.2 FTE financial year 2025
  25. 25 BODEN EssenRental and leasing 14.9 FTE financial year 2025

97 more companies with this figure are not in the top. Every company has its own dossier with all its figures.

Pick 2 to 6. This ranking as CSV All companies in the analysis workbench

The CSV holds the rows shown with place, sector, figure and financial year. The analysis workbench shows the same place and sector, sorted by this figure, with every registered company. Companies without recent accounts, which this ranking leaves out, are included too.

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Method and sources

Average staff in full-time equivalents from the social balance of the latest annual accounts. Only figures where staff costs fall between 10,000 and 400,000 euro per FTE; an implausible figure is left out.

Source
Annual accounts at the National Bank, KBO
Financial year
The latest per company. For 97.5% of the companies that is 2025.
Companies
122 companies with a plausible staff figure
Not included
Sole traders, companies in bankruptcy, liquidation or another abnormal situation in the register, and companies without accounts for 2024 or later.
Over the years
The lines show the figure of every filed standalone account of today's top 10, up to 9 years back. A company that stopped in those years is shown when it once filed at least today's tenth figure. The year is that of the financial year end.
Updated
11-11-2026

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