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Anneleen Martens is a Relationship Manager at Trinity Purchasing, covering West Flanders in Belgium. As she celebrates ten years at Trinity, she looks back at where she started in the hospitality industry – and what’s changed over time.  

Hospitality industry experience

Initially, I worked for a group of franchised hotels and started at the front office in the Holiday Inn Express in Antwerp. I did the opening there, so we started from scratch, which was a good experience, and I grew into the role of front office manager.

I then spent some time on the sales team, looking after four hotels in Antwerp and managing corporate accounts. The general manager of the Holiday Inn Express in Antwerp, who launched Trinity, asked me to come and work with him.  

Over the years, I have seen plenty of change. When I started at my first hotel, we still used fax machines to order supplies and confirm bookings! Technology has since changed quite a bit.  

Growth of Trinity Purchasing  

Seeing Trinity Purchasing’s membership base grow to over 2,000 members across Europe has been exciting. We started in 2011 by providing our services in Ireland and Belgium and now we have members in France, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria, and more! 

We have also broadened the range of our supplier partners and now have more than 120 in Belgium. Our suppliers now offer solutions to hospitality operators in F&B and non-food categories, covering everything from fresh food and catering suppliers to hotel amenities, maintenance, to refurbishments.  

And, of course, with an increased number of members comes a larger support team! In the beginning, I was the sole person covering the whole of Belgium – I did a lot of kilometres! Now we have grown to a bigger team of experts. I became a Senior Relationship Manager, training many of my colleagues, and today we each cover separate regions of the country.  

Passions and hobbies  

Three years ago, I took a step back from training and management, to return to what I really love – being in hotels and helping our clients as a Relationship Manager. I’m also a keen chef, and one of my hobbies is giving cookery lessons, which I have been doing for the last ten years for a women’s association. I have a lot of experience with food, which is one of my strengths when looking at food pricing.  

Colleagues share their stories

Paula Daenen, General Manager, Continental Europe shares, “Anneleen was there since the start of Trinity and helped to expand the business in Belgium. Without Anneleen, Trinity’s business would not have grown as swiftly as it has!  

Anneleen is always there to give advice and help. She brought her experience and knowledge due to her long history within the hospitality business. Next to being a great colleague, she’s always willing to have a collegial glass of wine!”  

Tony Dierckens, Senior Relationship Manager in Belgium, says, “When I started working for Trinity Purchasing in April 2014, Anneleen mentored me and showed me the ropes of the role.  

We visited different clients together, which helped me gain a lot from her industry knowledge. During the past ten years, Anneleen and I continued to work together, and we are still sharing our experiences and having fun whilst doing so!”