Month: June 2020

The President of the Catalan Association of Family Businesses (ASCEF), Amadeu Jori, and Jaume Alisa, the Secretary of the ASCEF Board, were interviewed by Crónica Global to discuss #DamosLaCara (We show our resolve). This is a citizens’ initiative promoted by employees and employers from all over Spain that enhances the engagement of employees and employers with the whole of society, in addition to publicising the effort and important work that family businesses are undertaking throughout the country through their economic and social contributions.

“Family businesses are committed to the country’s recovery from the pandemic. We want to make ourselves visible and press the different public administrations into taking us into account at the present time and implementing strategies that activate the world of work,” Mr Jori said.

He added that “90% of Spain’s business community are SMEs and this 90% provides 76% employment in Catalonia“.

For his part, Mr Alsina told the newspaper that “it is important for things to be made easy so that SMEs can grow because many laws do the opposite.” He expressed his support for public-private collaboration, and for its projects not to be linked to a “four-year horizon“. “If we extend the vision to beyond one parliamentary term, we will be making great progress,” he added.

ASCEF is an entity established in 1998 and comprising over 100 companies representing the Catalan business community. Its members play an important role in the country’s economy as they are committed to wealth creation, employment, the region and sustainability. The COVID-19 crisis has only reinforced this commitment to employment, sustainability and the well-being of society.

You can read the full news item using this link: bit.ly/2B8g9A6.

Encofrados Alsina is a family business dedicated to offering formwork solutions for concrete structures. Currently run by its third generation, it is one of the companies promoting the #DamosLaCara (We show our resolve) movement. A member of the Catalan Association of Family Businesses (ASCEF), its CEO, Jaume Alsina, has used a video to explain the company’s experience of the current health and economic crisis.

“I was a little incredulous about whether we would be able to react. But really we had a company that was better prepared to undertake telework than I had believed,” Mr Alsina says. “This has made us trust in our teams even more.”

“We have plugged the hole, we have staunched the bleeding a little and the challenge we have as a company is how we face up to the next 24 months,” says Mr Alsina, who provides his recipe for the future: “I believe greatly in public-private partnerships. The idea is to mix the best of both worlds but not so as to duplicate, but the opposite: to multiply. And here family businesses, with this medium-term vision, again play an important role to achieve profitability but, at the same time, to be sustainable and enjoy a much better future in a world that is so volatile, uncertain, complex and so global. ”

“We have to raise our sights and support each other; let’s see ourselves as part of the solution and not the problem, trusting each other, which is what society is asking of us,” Mr Alsina says. “Let’s create a society that can work, where a good living can be earned, where we can have decent wages and where the effect of all this, in the end, is to the good of everyone” he tells #DamosLaCara.

The #DamosLaCara platform is a citizens’ initiative promoted by employees and employers from all over Spain. It enhances the engagement of employees and employers with the whole of society, in addition to publicising the effort and important work that family businesses are undertaking throughout the country through their economic and social contributions.

The Carinsa Group, a member of the Catalan Association of Family Businesses (ASCEF), is an industrial group with a track record of over 25 years. It creates, produces and markets of flavours for food, drinks and animal feed together with fragrances for cosmetics, cleaning products and detergents. The company has participated in the #DamosLaCara (We show our resolve) movement, where it explains how it has experienced the current Covid-19 situation.

Vanesa Martínez and Denia Martínez, the CEO and vice-president respectively of the Carinsa Group, say that “it is really important for us that our employees feel that the company is supporting them at all times“. This is why, when the State of Alarm and the subsequent lockdown were announced, “we decided to ask all the families with children, one by one, if they needed someone to take care of their children at home. This was something that concerned us greatly because we were not only thinking about the company, but also that all our employees’ children needed to be cared for.”

They also emphasise that protecting the health of employees is vital for the company. At the onset of the health crisis, they chose to conduct PCR tests on all their employees to detect positive cases and avoid infections within the company. These tests have been conducted repeatedly in recent months, thereby creating a safe, virus-free environment at their facilities.

The Carinsa Group has also consolidated its position as a consistent partner because, despite the difficulties, it was able to anticipate the situation by equipping itself with raw materials. It also made shipments ahead of schedule so that they arrived on time, thereby ensuring that all its customers received their orders trouble-free.

“How can we contribute to society in the long term?” they asked themselves at the start of the health crisis. “By creating employment“, they replied. “Since March 14, we have added 12 new staff members and we need to incorporate more into the company.”

“At times of crisis you realise that people really are wonderful,” they say. “And we cannot fail, nor do we have any intention of failing. And we show our resolve so that no one loses heart. Together we can all support each other and we have to create value, make people happy. And everyone here must help in this together”, they conclude.

The #DamosLaCara platform is a citizens’ movement promoted by employees and employers from all over Spain. It is an initiative that shows the commitment of family businesses to overcoming the current health and economic crisis by taking into account their contribution to employment and the revival of the economy.

Employees and employers from all over Spain are promoting the #DamosLaCara (We show our resolve) movement, an initiative that shows the commitment of family businesses to overcoming the current health and economic crisis, while noting their contribution to employment and to the revival of the economy. The members of the Catalan Association of Family Businesses (ASCEF) are participating and collaborating with this platform, as in the case of Anudal, a Badalona company specialising in the manufacture of accessories for aluminium carpentry.

“The most difficult time was when you have to tell your parents: stay at home. Leave the company where you have spent every day for over 30 years and accept that control depends much more on the new generation”, explains Eva Hernámperez, the General Manager of Anudal.

However, the company began to buy masks and other personal protective equipment before the state of alarm was declared: “So, when the health crisis arrived, we already had all the material. We also gathered raw materials so we could be in control of all the elements of our production process. Our priority has been to maintain the jobs of the whole team that has been with us for over thirty years”, he says.

Anudal, which has collaborated out of solidarity with healthcare professionals and the Badalona Research Centre over past weeks, has also not forgotten its suppliers: “It is really important not to break the supplier payment chain; the most vulnerable should be paid in advance. It is really important for the companies that can to do so; let’s help the smaller ones: every supplier is necessary”, explains Ana Núñez, company manager.

The company knew how to adapt to the situation and, after assessing “what we can do“, in a few days “we were able to place on the market a stand for separating spaces with partitions,” says Marta Hernámperez, the Commercial Director of Anudal. “Despite the circumstances, we always try to battle through and this will not stop us,” she concludes.

Family businesses that form part of the Catalan Association of Family Businesses (ASCEF) are participating and explaining their experience on the #DamosLaCara (We show our resolve) platform. This is a citizens’ movement that aims to enhance the engagement of employees and employers with society and publicise the important work and effort that they are undertaking throughout the country. One of the members collaborating is Torrons Vicens.

“We have been through good times and bad and we are still here“, they say at the company, which has a long tradition of making turrón, a Spanish sweet resembling nougat. “We are aware of our responsibilities; now is not the time to look away.”

At Torrons Vicens, they note that washing hands “is something that we do thoroughly, but that shouldn’t only involve the physical act. We must take care of ourselves in every aspect; we cannot allow this to stop. And yes, we wash our hands, but we can’t do this when it comes to jobs: it’s time to show our resolve.”

Jori Armengol & Asociados, an insurance brokerage that is a member of the Catalan Association of Family Businesses (ASCEF), has participated in #DamosLaCara (We show our resolve) iniciative. This is a citizens’ movement that enhances the engagement of employees and employers with society as a whole, in addition to publicising the effort and important work that family businesses are undertaking all over the country through their economic and social contributions.

The company’s CEO and Executive President, Ferran Jori, is very clear in his message with regard to the present situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic: “As a family business, we will come through this and emerge even stronger than before. In the long term, full steam ahead, let’s go for it.”

Mr Jori explains that the company, which was founded 130 years ago and now has its fifth generation at the helm, “has withstood wars, world wars, other pandemics etc. thanks to a very strong team.” Regarding this health crisis, he said that “the most difficult time for us was when three parents of our team members passed away. This affected the team badly; and human resources has provided great support and assistance”.

Looking forward, Mr Jori says that “an event like this causes people to worry. Now any activity, at any given time, can be halted by another pandemic and this generates financial and economic risks for which the insurance sector will have to find solutions“. However, he does not hesitate to underline that those in the family business “will show their resolve.“

During the conference “The management of human resources in the time of Covid-19“, Denia Martínez and Vanesa Martínez, vice-president and CEO respectively of the Carinsa Group, explained how their group of companies has experienced the situation. Carinsa is an industrial group with a track record of over 25 years devoted to the development, manufacture and marketing of fragrances and flavours.

For Carinsa, protecting workers’ health has been the key element during the pandemic. They also explained that, as a family business, they are strongly committed to their employees and this means that they pay particular attention to human capital as a vital element for continuing growth and generating employment and value.

The conference was organised by ASCEF in collaboration with Ernst & Young (EY). It boasted the participation of Joan Tubau and Josep Martí, partners in the consultancy, as well as Luis Galí, partner in People Advisory Services.

Santiveri, pioneers in natural health since 1885 in healthy foods, dietetics, supplements and natural cosmetics, is a family business whose board is chaired by Jordi Torres. A member of the Catalan Association of Family Businesses (ASCEF), the company has collaborated with the #DamosLaCara (We show our resolve) platform, a citizens’ movement that aims to enhance the engagement of family businesses and underline their importance in safeguarding employment and reviving the economy.

Being a company that has existed for over 135 years, Santiveri “has had to adapt to a variety of situations in which it has found itself,” Mr Torres explains. “But all this would have been very difficult, if not impossible, without the fantastic support, effort and work of those who have been part of the team over the years.”

“We were in an unthinkable situation just a few weeks ago. Faced with a health and economic crisis of great magnitude”, he adds. “More than ever, we need financial and fiscal aid to keep growing and to create jobs and wealth. And of course, once again we are going to show our resolve. And once again we will come through.”