My first two months as chairman of the Members' Council started with several talks and meetings. These have strengthened my ambition to engage with all members: large and small, immediate and clock, national and international.

Together with her brother Edwin, Karin van der Eijk is the third generation in the family business VDE plant. They run the company together with associate Hein Visser and systematically invest in sustainability.

Barteld van Tuijl is in charge of transport, sales and marketing at Lin Flowers, a family-run spray chrysanthemum company.

When one wave has just passed, another comes along. And no, this is not about surfing, but about the complex world we move in as floriculture entrepreneurs. Big challenges follow one another. How do you sustain yourself? Good leadership is a solution to this, believes professor and consultant Freek Peters (Tilburg University and Galan Group). "In essence, leadership is about getting things done, along with each other."

In this edition, Martijn van Geel (van Geel orchids), Olaf van der Voort (Van der Voort Pot Plants) and Lennart Lekkerkerk (JHL Group) answer the question.

From 1 January, the composition of the Members' Council has changed and there is a new chairman: Marcel van der Lugt.

The world is changing rapidly and, as a result, new forms of collaboration between growers are emerging increasingly frequently. Like Riza Growers, which officially launched on 1 January this year. Is this a trend?

Statement: Without legislation and obligations, most nurseries would not invest in sustainability

The low VAT rate (9%) for floriculture remains under pressure. The current cabinet is looking for money, wants to simplify the tax system and sees too many different rates as undesirable.