Breakfast with the Boss

Great-grandfather Warson already had a construction company in the 1930s, with a truck and a telephone. Today, Marc Warson builds a thousand units – “never call them containers” – per year in Zutendaal, where we work, where our children go to school, and where we might even live in the future.

Source: HBvL: https://www.hbvl.be/cnt/dmf20230330_93039250?fbclid=IwAR0ACBf9opL0GeL53CuZrBJkRvgilvkZBC1RdDhYhoHp0_7lLrQQJ4mGzbQ

When we are on our way to breakfast with Marc Warson, the morning news on the radio announces a new agreement within the federal government regarding additional reception places for asylum seekers. 700 people will temporarily live in containers. So, our first question for Marc Warson is whether the phone at Warsco rings because of this. “Yes, but we can’t do much right now. Our production capacity for new units in Zutendaal has been completely full for several years. The same thing happened during the earthquake in Turkey or after the floods in Wallonia. There was a request to deliver 750 units to restart the economy. Local bakers and butchers could then sell from our units. In the end, only 50 were delivered. However, we did build the emergency village for Ukrainian refugees in Mechelen.”

The obligatory coffee at breakfast is absent from Warson’s table. He sticks to a glass of water. Not coincidentally, as it turns out. “I never drink coffee and never alcohol. Simply because I don’t like them. At a reception, I might sip a glass of champagne for appearances, but no more. When I used to play volleyball, after a victory, a tray of beer was always brought in. I would drink half a pint to quench my thirst and pass the rest along.”

Did you play volleyball at a high level?

“Indeed. That was when there were seven Limburg clubs in the first division. I played in the school team in Maaseik alongside Vital Heynen. My club was Maasmechelen. Vital also played there for one year. I was the second setter after him and didn’t play much that season.” (laughs)