Our history

Armonea has existed since May 21, 2008, but has a much longer history. The company arose when the groups Van den Brande and Restel Résidences, two family companies with then almost thirty years of senior care experience, decided to join forces.d

That is the year in which both the Van den Brande and Restel group

Résidences arose. Restel Résidences starts with seven service residences in Brussels and Antwerp, and continues to grow under the wing of investor Verlinvest.
The history of the Van den Brande group begins with the acquisition of the small rest home Huis Keiheuvel in Balen-Wezel by Mrs Van den Brande and her son Dirk. Mrs Van den Brande has been involved in the company for several years now and is also involved with her busy family for the seniors in her area. First she takes them to her own family, but later it appears that the emergency is so high that she opens her first rest home in 1979 in Balen. In the following years, the number of rest homes is growing steadily. They all combine professional care with a human approach.

Two of Mrs Van den Brande's sons, Dirk and Lode, have been involved in the daily care and service in these rest homes, and now - more than thirty years later - their mother's vision continues: until after 2010 as members of the executive committee and now as a member of the board of directors.

In early 2008, Lode Van den Brande (former managing director of the Van den Brande group) and Frédéric de Mévius (director at Restel Résidences) meet for the first time. It soon appears that they have the same vision of the future of senior care and that their companies are complementary in terms of service & care, supply & expertise and regional spread. They decide to beat hands: Armonea was born.

Based on research into the needs and expectations of seniors, Armonea defines an all-encompassing definition of good care and service to seniors: happiness is no age. The belief that you can be happy at any age is further elaborated on four pillars: a home feeling, family and friends, enjoyment and excellent care. Each of the four pillars defines what must be realized within an Armonea house to contribute best to the happiness of the resident and the peace of mind of his family. For this purpose, over 3000 ideas were collected from our 5000+ employees. The best ideas were highlighted and bundled in an all-encompassing quality program called the Armonea Experience.

In the autumn of 2015, Armonea will take care of Soprim®. After the acquisition, Armonea employs 5,700 employees, which provide more than 9,000 senior citizens. Both companies continue to be called Armonea, creating a larger, strong and stable care company that can contribute to the care offer in a sustainable, qualitative and impactful way.

In the summer of 2016, Armonea will take care of DPUW (Germany) and La Saleta (Spain). After the acquisitions, Armonea manages 132 healthcare sites (83 in Belgium, 17 in Germany and 32 in Spain, respectively) and 29 daycare centers. Armonea will count more than 9,800 employees after the acquisition, which will take care of more than 15,000 senior citizens.

In addition, Armonea is working on many new projects that provide additional shelters for care-deprived seniors.