Vannessa Flamez, marketing & communication manager of the regional airports of Antwerp and Ostend-Bruges, is the new commercial director of Cercle Brugge. She is certainly not averse to collaborating with the port of Zeebrugge.

The latest transfer from first division team Cercle Brugge plays in the field. The ‘Association’ has been strengthened with a new commercial director: Vanessa Flamez (46). From 2018 to 2020 she was marketing & communication manager of the two regional airports Ostend-Bruges and Antwerp. That story came to an abrupt end in May 2020 when the corona crisis curtailed the airports.

Voka and basket

Before that, she was sales manager at Voka West Flanders from 2009 to 2015. From 2015 to 2018 she became the contact person for everything related to sponsoring, hospitality, marketing and communication at Basketball Club Oostende. After leaving the regional airports, she focused on freelance sales projects. For example, she was PR & sponsorship manager for the prestigious Dragon Gold Cup sailing race in Ostend in Ostend and she had a commercial role in the brand new design event ‘Please, have a seat’ branded by Biennale Interieur.

Derby at home

“My motivation is very high. The combination of top sport experience and business is a fantastic fact to work for. I experienced that at Basketball Club Oostende. The Cercle brand is very strong and behind green-black is a good structure and DNA,” says Flamez. Just before the summer, the CEO of the port of Zeebrugge Tom Hautekiet said that he was looking forward to a collaboration with both Bruges first division teams to embed the port feeling more firmly in the local community. “Expecting that will come my way, I’m open to it,” says Flamez.

She was born in Menen but lives a stone’s throw from the Jan Breydel Stadium in Sint-Andries-Brugge. She is married to alderman of economics and harbor manager Pablo Annys (Vooruit), nota bene a … Club supporter. “The derby will be something to look forward to.”

Roel Jacobus