The family combined strict internal governance, religious values, and long-term stewardship with continuous reinvention. Over time, they evolved from a tightly controlled inner circle into a professionalised cousin consortium with more than 500 owners.

The Brenninkmeijer family is the founding dynasty behind C&A and the wider COFRA Holding enterprise. Across six generations, they developed one of Europe’s largest private family investment groups while maintaining an unusually private governance culture.