Jaap van Rhijn has resigned as CEO of property adviser Colliers International’s Dutch business after 12 years with the firm.

jaap van rhijn

Jaap Van Rhijn

He is leaving to take up a position outside the real estate sector, Colliers said in a press release issued on Wednesday.  The resignation takes effect from 31 August. Van Rhijn’s responsibilities will be taken over on an interim basis by Dirk Bakker, currently head of EMEA Hotels, until a successor is found.

Under Van Rhijn’s leadership, Colliers Netherlands has grown from a company employing 40 staff in January 2005 to a business which now has more than 300 employees.

Van Rhijn led the integration of Amsterdam-based brokerage firm Boer Hartog Hooft into the international Colliers organisation in 2010, followed three years later by the addition of Urban Properties. The AOS Group was taken over in 2014, followed last year by the addition of WPM Group.

Commenting on his move, Van Rhijn said that following this period of strong growth, the time had come for a new phase in Colliers Netherlands’ development, and a new chapter in his own life.