Cold calling in Gelderland: Arnhem, Nijmegen, Apeldoorn, Ede and Doetinchem

B2B calling in Gelderland means working a large province with several economic centres instead of one. CBS counted 298,605 business establishments on 1 January 2026 (provisional), and the provincial employment survey counted 1,145,190 jobs on 1 April 2025, up 0.9% in a year. Much of the work is physical: transport and logistics has 122,240 jobs and manufacturing 115,970, and about 40% of the province's value added is earned on business parks.

The economy of Gelderland

In the Eurostat count of local units for 2024, professional, scientific and technical services lead with 62,981 units, followed by trade (46,360), health and social care (40,725), construction (34,384), education (17,622) and administrative and support services (17,469). Agriculture is not in that dataset. Count by people instead of units and industry stands out: 104,276 people work in manufacturing in the Eurostat data, and CBS puts industry at 14.2% of Gelderland's value added. The economy grew 1.6% in 2025.

The provincial survey tracks six focus sectors. For 2025 it reports:

Energy grew fastest, with jobs up 8.8%, driven by the grid companies Alliander and TenneT. Agriculture is large as well: CBS counts 8,230 farms in Gelderland in 2025, with 16.2 million chickens (18.5% of the Dutch total) and 837,525 cattle (23.0%), mostly on the Veluwe and in the Achterhoek.

Where the companies are

• Arnhem and Nijmegen (171,822 and 189,871 inhabitants on 1 January 2026). The largest region with 412,500 jobs: energy and grid companies, healthcare, the university and university medical centre in Nijmegen, business services, and logistics parks along the A15 and A50. The CBS region Arnhem/Nijmegen counted 104,680 establishments.
• Apeldoorn (169,212) and the Stedendriehoek. Government services, insurers, IT, healthcare and logistics.
• Ede (125,331), Wageningen (42,779) and Barneveld (63,926). The Foodvalley: food research, food companies, poultry and agricultural suppliers.
• Doetinchem (60,466) and the Achterhoek. Metal, machinery and plastics manufacturers, many of them family owned. The Achterhoek counted 54,105 establishments.
• Tiel (42,524) and the Rivierenland. Fruit growing, distribution and transport along the A15. Job growth here was among the fastest in the province in 2025.
• Zutphen (49,292) and Harderwijk. Regional trade, healthcare and smaller manufacturers.

Who to call and what to ask

• Owner or managing director at family-owned manufacturers, transport companies and builders.
• Operations, plant or warehouse manager at logistics hubs and factories.
• Purchasing manager at mid-sized manufacturers, often the gatekeeper for suppliers.
• HR manager at healthcare organisations and larger employers that need staff.

Discovery questions that fit Gelderland:

1. How many sites do you run, and does each site decide for itself?
2. How full is your capacity this quarter, and what holds you back from more?
3. Which vacancies are hardest to fill right now?
4. Who supplies this today, and how long have you worked with them?
5. For food companies: which customer or retailer demands are changing your plans?

Calling in Gelderland

• Language. Business is done in Dutch across the province.
• Long relationships. Family businesses in the Achterhoek and on the Veluwe often work with the same supplier for years. Expect a slower start and keep following up; our follow-up guide shows how.
• Early starts. Owners of production and transport firms are often reachable early in the morning, before the floor gets busy. Plan focused calling blocks for those hours.
• Where owners meet. VNO-NCW Midden has regional networks across Gelderland. Oost NL works with innovative companies in Gelderland and Overijssel, and Regio Foodvalley connects food companies and municipalities around Ede and Wageningen. The KVK runs events across the province.
• Rules. You may call companies with legal personality, such as a BV or NV. Since 1 July 2026, sales calls to sole traders and partnerships such as a vof need prior consent. Respect objections and handle personal data with care. This is general information, not legal advice; read cold calling rules in Belgium and the Netherlands.

A first week of calling in Gelderland

1. Day 1: pick a region and a sector. For example manufacturers in the Achterhoek or logistics firms in the Rivierenland.
2. Day 2: write the script around capacity, staff and the current supplier.
3. Days 3 and 4: call early, in blocks, and log every call-back time.
4. Day 5: follow up with what you promised, the same day.

See how such a week looks in one screen in the demo.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. CBS StatLine: Vestigingen van bedrijven; bedrijfstak, regio (table 81578NED), 1 January 2026
2. CBS StatLine: Bevolking op 1 januari; geslacht, leeftijd en regio (table 03759ned), 1 January 2026
3. Eurostat: Enterprises by NUTS 2 region and NACE Rev. 2 activity (sbs_r_nuts2021), 2024
4. Provincie Gelderland: Uitkomsten werkgelegenheidsonderzoek 2025 (PWE)
5. CBS: De regionale economie 2025, chapter 2 Economische groei
6. CBS StatLine: Landbouw; gewassen, dieren en grondgebruik naar gemeente (table 80781ned), 2025
7. Regio Foodvalley: About us
8. Oost NL

• Call blocks: why focused calling sessions beat calling in between
• Sales follow-up: how many attempts, which channels, what cadence