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«Ten years ago we decided to change the business model and make Cieffe an integrated production platform, capable of providing the customer with support in all phases of product creation: from design to quality control. We did this with the intention of protecting the workers and the supply chain and we began to reap the fruits of this decision: 2023 revenues exceeded 50 million euros, up 32% on 2022 and above the initial forecasts, and the Ebitda margin is 14%”. Since 2005 Marco Panzeri has been the CEO of what was once “only” the family business, Cieffe, founded by his mother Enza Gallina, and today it is a group that brings together small and medium-sized high-end clothing producers who work with the largest luxury brands, including French groups, with 300 thousand items produced in 2023.
The genesis of the production hub
The hub is Soncino, in the province of Cremona, where Cieffe was born in 1985: «We are a family company but we have decided to move to managerial management, with figures at the head of the Operations and HR departments who are helping us on our journey of growth with skills and new ideas – explains the CEO -. We then carried out a series of acquisitions of small and medium-sized companies, always within 150 km of our headquarters. The relationship is very important in this type of business.”
Over the last three years, Cieffe has acquired three workshops – Franc’obollo, New Mood and Silvermacs – and a minority stake (35%) in Maglificio Peve which has seen its turnover jump by 48% since Cieffe’s entry. reaching 9.7 million euros. The latest acquisition in chronological order was that of 35% of Manu, a company from Magnago (Milan) founded in 1997 by the Tacchi family which operates in the manufacturing of jersey clothing and has a turnover of 4.8 million euros (2023 data ). «We directly acquire small laboratories, we renovate them to make them more up to date also from the point of view of machinery and to make them more competitive. Even in the largest companies, where control remains with the owner families, we bring innovation”, continues Panzeri.
The focus on the workers
According to the entrepreneur, the focus of the activity remains one: «The workers. In the last year we have hired 45 people, bringing the number of employees to two hundred and the related industries to 350. We also select them in collaboration with schools in the area and then train them internally. But that’s not all: we also try to create an attractive work environment, with high-level equipment and services such as the gym.” In the next few months Cieffe will inaugurate a new 2,200 m2 area of the Soncino factory, in which it has invested 7 million euros. In addition to services, the space will be dedicated to strengthening quality control and automating the final stages of production. With the idea of continuing to grow: «The goal is to close 2024 with revenues rising by up to 10%. Our relationships with luxury brands are stable, but the moment is not easy for the sector. In the future we will also grow with other acquisitions”, comments Panzeri.