Namur’s Near-Death Experience – How a 100-Year-Old Confectionery Lost €1.5M, Fought a Family War

Anne Nickels doesn’t mince words. In 2023, her family’s legendary confectionery, Namur, was bleeding cash—€1.5 million in the red. A year later, it posted a €4.43 million profit. That’s a six-million-euro swing that looks like a miracle on paper. But behind the numbers lies a grittier story: debt waivers, brutal restructuring, and a family showdown that ended with a simple ultimatum: “It was either him or Namur.” Anne Nickels sat down to tell the real story of how the sixth-generation heir is fighting to save a brand that almost lost its way. The Numbers Don’t Lie: How Namur Lost €1.5M and Found Its Way Back In 2023, Namur was in trouble. Deep trouble. The accounts showed a loss of around €1.5 million. Shareholders had to step in with debt waivers just to keep the company afloat. But Anne Nickels insists the real turnaround wasn’t just about balance sheets. “We are completely in a restructuring phase,” she says. That means renegotiating contracts signed 20 years ago, scrutinizing every purchase, and, most painfully, watching handcrafted products get thrown in the bin at the end of each day. “Every evening, we throw things away,” she laments. “It’s not just the products, it’s also [...]

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