Formation and structure·FindingLess often

Companies that change the purpose in their articles are less likely to move their registered office

Of the 6,584 companies with a change of business purpose, 1.3% also had a move of the registered office within nine months, against 2.2% among similar companies.

Registered office move within nine months of the event

Both measurements combined · 6,584 companies

0.56×

Less often than among similar companies.

95% interval
0.45× to 0.70×
Companies
6,584
Measurements
2, independent
Source: Hunch Lab, cohort study of 1,141,228 Belgian companies. Compared within sector, size and age, with companies active in the same period.hunchleads.com/en/lab

Does it hold up?

Each measurement uses different companies and a different period. A link only counts if it shows up in both.

MeasurementPeriodWith the eventSimilarFactor
Measurement 1event Feb–Jun 2025, outcome Jul 2025–Mar 20261.3%2.4%0.55×
Measurement 2event Jul–Dec 2025, outcome Jan–Sep 20261.2%2.1%0.57×

How often does this happen?

Belgian companies with the event, per month, over the last twelve complete months.

New business purpose571 a month on average
Registered office move3,570 a month on average

Technical note

Methodology
Design
Retrospective cohort study
Population studied
1,141,228 Belgian companies (the full business register)
Comparison group
Companies without the event that had another publication or event in the same entry period (active group), from the same stratum: NACE section, size class and age class; indirect standardisation
Cohorts
event Feb–Jun 2025, outcome Jul 2025–Mar 2026; event Jul–Dec 2025, outcome Jan–Sep 2026
Observed and expected
83 cases, 147 expected
Factor (95% interval)
0.56× (0.45× to 0.70×)
Multiple testing
q < 0.001 (Benjamini-Hochberg)
Second measurement
p < 0.001
Other comparison groups
economically active companies 0.44× (0.36× to 0.55×); all companies 0.38× (0.31× to 0.48×)
Absolute difference
-1.0 percentage points
Size of the groups
active 120,261, economically active 370,738, all 1,141,228 companies
Strata
131 strata of at least 300 companies (section × size × age; smaller strata merged)
Data up to
September 2026
Cite this findingFree to reuse with attribution (CC BY 4.0).
Hunch Lab (2026). Companies that change the purpose in their articles are less likely to move their registered office. Data up to September 2026. https://hunchleads.com/en/lab/doelwijziging-zetelverplaatsing

Figures for this finding (CSV)

About Hunch Lab

Hunch Lab is the research programme of Hunch. Every finding is free to reuse with attribution. Questions are welcome.

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