The ASCEF Forum, a group made up of about 300 young members directly linked to ASCEF family businesses, is working on the design of its new action plan, which will drive initiatives related to the topics that most interest their associates like training, digitizing, use of AI in family business, social and corporate responsibility and generational renewal among others.
Ricard Oller has recently taken over Albert Campabadal’s position as president of the Forum. Campabadal remains in the board, which is also formed by Miriam Pujol, Olga Carbó, Anna Guixà, Guillermo Vidal, Marc Morillas, Albert Borràs, Juan Enrique Yxart and Carles Alsina. “Albert has left a high bar, and it is building upon his work that we will keep going forward with a board made up of great people and friends“, concedes Oller.
As part of this action plan, they intend, as soon as the pandemic-driven situation allows it, to invigorate the activity schedule and relaunch successful events like the Speed Company Speed Company Networking Event or the Summer Dinner, for which we always count on prominent lecturers from the civil society and the entrepreneurial community. The ASCEF Forum has also planned to set up collaborations with other entities having similar action groups.
The European Union has made a special effort to convey to both citizens and companies that its long-term budget, along with Next Generation EU (European funds for recovery), will be “the largest stimulus package ever funded through the EU budget“. It is a total amount of €1,8 trillion which, according to the political-economic organization, will help restore a post-COVID-19 Europe “which will be greener, more digitized and resilient“.
The economic sphere is experiencing a historic moment since institutions and the civil society in general are laying down the foundations for a mid to long term process of change.
Next Generation EU is an eventual, limited time emergency tool used exclusively for response and recovery measures, which will advance €750,000.00 million, of which over €140.000 will be allocated to Spain: €72,700.00 million as subsidies and 67,300.00 million as loans. An economic injection representing more than 11% of our country’s GDP.
These funds will be mainly poured over two large transformation vectors: green transition, with 37% of the aid, and digital transformation, with 33% of all the resources. Gender equality and social and territorial cohesion are included as transversal axis.
Next Generation EU funds will be materialized through the general government budgets following the approval of a Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR, acronym in Spanish). The Government’s General Administration will transfer the funds to the autonomous regions and local entities by means of agreements and subsidies which will be linked to public sector policies from one of the priority axes.
Experts say that missions to transform the economy should be implemented. Some examples include generating new industries out of research centers like the design of the European chip, transforming tourism to make it more productive, a more cost-effective health-care system, transforming the automobile industry to produce electric and autonomous vehicles or strengthening the environment for startups in the digital and biotechnology industry.
Entrepreneurs think that a solid government is essential for an agile and efficient management of the Europeans recovery funds.
Almost 70% of family businesses believe they face a weak growth this year, and 53% do not expect improvements until next year.
In 2020, 85% of entrepreneurs saw their turnover reduced.
Barcelona, 03/18/2021 – The Catalonian Family Business Association, ASCEF, asks the political parties represented in parliament to work hard towards an agreement to propose a candidate to preside over the Generalitat de Catalunya and not to delay the president’s investiture, because enterprises need a stable and solid government in the face of a situation caused by a year of pandemic. “It is time to pool forces, think about the good of society and enterprise as a whole, work so that the European funds become a real transformation tool“, stated Amadeu Jori, ASCEF President.
For the family business sector, Catalonia is risking its economic future under these circumstances, therefore it is critical to reach a consensus to form a government and that the parties can reach agreements to decide “which projects are to be propelled and how to manage that funding. We have a big challenge ahead of us and the political class should be up to it“.
According to ASCEF, the response of the political class is often confusing and contradicting” and the essential aspects that drive progress and competitiveness are set aside among the different political groups’ priorities. “The turbulences between Madrid and Barcelona, as well as the tensions among the different Catalonian political parties, cannot rein in the recovery we need. In a crisis situation, it is necessary to act with utmost responsibility and focus on common priorities“, asserts Jori. For the Catalonian enterprise sector, it is not only necessary to have a facilitating agreement for the arrival of the European funds, but also to focus on tax reform and the increase of aid packages.
In this sense, family business entrepreneurs demand again to be taken into account in order to identify and lower barriers that put companies’ survival at risk. Based on the data available to the Catalonian family business sector, entrepreneurs rate the current recovery scenario at 4 out of 9. For 68% of them, businesses face, in the short term, a feeble growth without job creation, and 53% don’t expect improvements until next year. During 2020, 85% of entrepreneurs saw their turnover reduced.
The Catalonian Association of Family Business is an entity made up of over 100 companies that represent the Catalonian business fabric and play an outstanding role in the country’s economy thanks to their commitment to wealth creation, employment, sustainability and the region. Family business in Catalonia constitute 88,3% of private enterprises, provide 69% of the Net Value Added (NVA) total and create 76% of the private sector jobs.
Both organizations agree on asserting that there is no competitiveness without diversity and on the need to generate enabling initiatives.
Barcelona, March 8th, 2021.- The Catalonian Family Business Association(ASCEF) and the largest European network of business leaders, Netmentora Catalunya, collaborate to propel female entrepreneurship and normalize its involvement in business. For both organizations there is no competitiveness in business without diversity; we should continue to demand that administrations carry out actions that facilitate reconciliation and further an egalitarian education; it is also important to promote female paradigms to overcome restrains and stereotypes enduring in society.
Netmentora Catalunya, a high-impact international business organization that, free of charge, walks entrepreneurs through the process of strengthening their business, has had the initiative of putting together a decalogue to propel and support women entrepreneurs valuing female talent and a different management approach. This decalogue has been subscribed by ASCEF, which will disseminate the proposal among its associates.
On the other hand, ASCEF, a body consisting of over 100 family businesses representing their own activity lines, has been one of the first business organizations to put into action a work group made up of 30 companies in order to bring about initiatives to help provide exposure for women entrepreneurs, both by sharing personal and business experiences and by favoring their active involvement in the public sector.
According to the head of the ASCEF group “Anem a compartir”, Ana Fisas, “promoting gender equality in entrepreneurship, is not only limited to empowering women by strengthening their capabilities, confidence and leadership, but it also involves generating enabling initiatives and acting proactively towards positive changes for society as a whole.”.
In the opinion of Beatriz de Vicente, Director General of Netmentora Catalunya,“we need more women on the network and more female paradigms within the business world. We want to bring the knowledge and interest of business entrepreneur women, because we think that helping future businesses and making an impact should be based on diversity and equality.”
Based on a variety of studies, the gap between entrepreneur women and men has been narrowing over the last years, although we still fall behind other European nations.
Putting an end to all forms of discrimination is essential for a sustainable development. An adequate management of diversity transforms differences into a source of opportunities in any environment and allows for a responsible management that ensures equality. This is a challenging reality that we should address from an institutional compromise at every process and level.
The Catalonian Association of Family Business (ASCEF), has adhered to the manifesto “It’s enough. Let’s focus on recovery“, along with over 300 entities representing the Catalonian economic, entrepreneurial, social, cultural and sports spheres.
The underwritten manifest demands a Catalonian Government (Govern) that can advocate for productive economy, employment and welfare status, with social cohesion as its main goal. In addition, a Nation Agreement is proposed for the economic and social recovery of Catalonia while urging the Spanish Government to provide direct aids for companies, self-employed workers and the sectors most impacted by the pandemic.
The joint statement was motivated by the acts of vandalism that occurred in Barcelona and other Catalonian cities late past February, and it comes as a clamor for non-violence.
On Thursday, March 4th, a reading of the manifest took place during a joint act at Estació del Nord, in Barcelona, attended by the ASCEF President, Amadeu Jori, on behalf of the Association. Among the Catalonian organizations that subscribed the manifest are Foment del Treball, Pimec (both promoters of this initiative), Barcelona Oberta, the Economic Circle, Femcat and Turisme de Barcelona.
In the current context, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) figure is taking on a new role within the family business having a direct impact on decision making about implementing a strategy. This new role was the focus of the session organized by the Catalonian Family Business (ASCEF) in collaboration with KPMG, called “The New Role of the Chief Financial Officer in the Family Business Strategy”.
During the welcoming address, ASCEF‘s President, Amadeu Jori underscored the importance of a customized financial department embodied in the figure of its leader: “The Chief Financial Officer is becoming a standard for the family business; finances are already a backbone for the company’s strategy“.
Throughout the session, Alfonso Junguitu, Eduard Pereira and Fernando Ramos, associates and director respectively from KPMG’s Turnaround, Transformation & Working Capital Department, explained how and why the Chief Financial Officer, beyond their traditional role, is assuming a new role as the CEO’s ally when making decisions on strategy implementation.
Fernando Ramos reminded that the CFO “is a figure that always gains size in time of crisis, since he knows the strategy and knows how to calibrate liquidity“, who, in the current context and circumstances, is someone who “takes into account the lessons learned from the previous crisis, which help today’s companies be more resilient.”
Amadeu Jori, during the welcome to the session
“It is important that the Chief Financial Office gets involved in what it is being done and may be able to take part in decision making about all areas and departments“, explained Alfonso Junguitu, who noted that “the cashier is not something intangible.”
Meanwhile, Eduard Pereira stated during the session that “it is important to be able to be more efficient in management,” for which the CFO figure is essential. “At an operative level, the Chief Financial Officer has an impact on 4 spheres: demand forecast, stock management, production planning and production management,” revealed Pereira, who afterwards proposed different financial solutions for each of the spheres.
However, in most cases the solution involves a transformation plan for which “there is no unique recipe, but that needs to be adapted to each case” while following 5 key points: revisit mid to long term strategies, evaluate talent, completely reassess cost structures, resilience in supply chains and capital structure. Just as Junguitu highlighted, these changes in the company “need to be sped up by the CFO, since he knows the strategy using liquidity and turnover control and preparing for different temporary scenarios.”
Wrapping up were Joan Griñó and Fernando Pérez, Corporación Griñó‘s CEO and Chief Financial Officer respectively, who explained the company’s experience at integrating financial teams in order to reach a strategy.
