The Business of Heritage

[Music] good afternoon everyone asalam alaykum and I should say or actually because it's after midday because I'm joined by these two illustrious Italian Soro and Andrea bonomi who are going to delve into the delicate balance of tradition and transformation Legacy and Innovation my name is Louisa baldini I'm a co-founder of a communication and presentation training business composure media I'm a former BBC correspondent and as my name Louisa baldini may suggest I also have Italian Heritage my father's Italian I'm half Italian half British and so I am delighted to formally introduce to you our two guests firstly we have arildo zenya who is the force behind one of the world's most iconic luxury Brands under his leadership zenya had redefined what it means to scale a family business in a modern world while staying deeply connected to its Heritage his vision not only brought the company to the Forefront of the luxury Market but also he took it public marking a new chapter in its storied history I'm also delighted to introduce to you Andre bonomi a Trailblazer in the world of investment and private equity and a driving force behind many transformational stories as the found and chairman of invest industrial Andrea has worked with family-led and Heritage Brands like zenya and ducatti to unlock their potential while ensuring their values and traditions remain intact so firstly Senor zenya I had a look at the zenya store in the gallery's mall which is somewhere here beneath us maybe some of you have been to that store as well I spoke to my hanet who was overseeing the store at the time he said you'd already popped in to have a look find everything as you liked in in the store yeah I think so I think that this Market is extremely interesting and you have to offer a variety and the product The Innovation the personalization of the product it's very very important so we value the clientele of this of the G very much well to that point I actually spoke to one of the customers as well a a young man probably about 28 in traditional th but I asked him why he liked your products well he liked the brand and he said best quality so that's all I needed to know and that was my some of my research done before coming today thank you but but listen you are the third generation of a family that's really evolved from what was a wool Mill some 114 years ago in a small village in the Italian Alps to one of the top luxury groups in the world it must be incredibly important to you that the business is run by the family yes indeed we were saying in the family strong families make strong businesses strong business make strong strong families this is very important because we go back to the value and the roots of the founder and we take a longterm view uh for the business which I think that is important that's why the family is still in control and very United from a young age was it just ingrained in you growing up in it did you grow up in the business or is it something you came to a bit later listen you you you wouldn't believe it at the young age I wanted to become a ski professional a ski professional well you were in the right place up in the Italian house I I changed I changed my view and I started in the business as a young man with apprentices in different different countries and different business and then you know I think it it came natural but I think that the important thing is meritocracy in big family is the name of the man so you you have to earn what you get and so probably I I try to do most of it and I try to instill the same values to my children which are already in the business which are the four generation four generation so meritocracy so it wasn't something that you just expected to come to you you work really hard to gain your position there a new leadership there to raise the bar I think that we have to keep raising the bar and compete ourself to the world scene and we have many competitor that are better than us and we have to gain scale and we just have to do what's right for our brand and being authentic and respecting the DNA of the brand and today we are not only Jaa we are a group J group list in New York with Tom Ford and Tom Brown and each brand has to stand for each on Merit authenticity you say really important Andrea bonomi you've supported zenya with your business invest industrial which is based in Milan you've actually recently opened an office here in Abu Dhabi as well so firstly I just want to ask why Abu Dhabi why now Abu Dhabi for Zia and for all the companies in in in in the group we have about 50,000 employees in all the various the various companies is very very important Middle Eastern is going to be headquartered from here it's a it's a it's a financial center but a center to base the businesses it's not a center for fundraising Etc this is a real real important uh uh part of the world so that's that's why it's strategic for us and what have you been able to offer the family businesses you work for like zenya like to catti just what can you do um and how is it important that families are still involved in the running of the business uh the family is very important the DNA the the people who understand the DNA of a company is the family the people who created it is the family what we have to do as private Equity investors is support them in achieving the full potential they have a lot of wide space in the Middle East in Asia and that's what we do but the core needs to remain uh based on the family values and Italy is Italy and the Middle East is is a place where families relationships are very valued so we are the perfect country to pair up with Abu Dhabi and the Middle East to build these businesses and Senor Zena your business is all about luxury what does luxury and made in Italy mean for you and the zenya group first made in Italy and I'm very pleased that our ambassador is in front of us to testify that made in Italy is authentic because we are the best country to do the best luxury product and so you need knowhow you need a a hidden knowhow that is transferred from hands to hands from generation to generation that's number one number two exclusivity it has to be diluted and I think there is a often a capacity that you have to say no luxury is not for everybody you have to decide what you what you want to be so I think to me these are selection made in Italy uh excellent product keep innovating and excellent service I think it's like when you go to the hospitality I mean service is retail is is very similar to hospitality because at end we serve the same customer and why do you think the luxury Market has become so important in this region I mean as I said just in the galleries Mall beneath us all Brands because uh this Market is global this Market is safe this Market has incredible infrastructure this Market has many uh very uh wealthy individual that moved here this Market has many young people that want to start up and so I think that what it boils down International uh energy and uh Innovative and I think these three thinks makes the gulf so very attractive that's why we have been we've been here 25 years and we are direct with aler since 2014 and and it's one of the places where growth comes uh uh season after season year after season so our commitment is to keep investing in this region and you here quite early do and if you've been here that long we have been early settler pioneers and Andre Boni what are the ingredients to really understand if a company is to become a good investment I mean what have you seen in zenya as obvious as it may be to to ask the quality the Heritage but some of the other well-known brands that you've invested in what's important is what jildo said is that the core of the brand in an Italian companies very different from a French company or or a well-run company not that these companies not run well but they are they put the company first and the quality so when we used to own Ducati it wasn't a logical production of motorcycles it was love and an evolution of it so an Italian company is not a logical um development of it it is craftsmanship is love for the product the same thing in Italy so you can run many companies in a mathematical way and lose your soul Italian companies family companies are completely different you need to to to take care of the Soul because it is what drives what drives the company what drives the authenticity these are entrepreneurs that put their company first not not their interest Etc they will they live on the product so it's Unique so really interesting you're looking for the humanity the soul the love in those companies you're not just looking at the numbers but numbers must be important as well presumably absolutely when uh when ducatti for instance introduced the monster the the the with no covering it was uh it was a crazy move it was just it started an entire new trend of motorcycles for for racing but Italians did it because they believed on their product so it's a very different it's a very different project than companies which are you know uh cases at Harvard this is these are these are companies with a soul and and the client feel it the clients go to Z when you go and see the the zi whatever at Z you feel the love for the product we'll come back to zenya O and I'll explain what it is in a couple of minutes but firstly um Senor zenya you took the decision in 2021 I believe correct December 21 to oh you know what I'm going to say then to go public was that a big decision and are you pleased you made that decision probably I smiled because that was the uh biggest decision of my life you know after 40 Years of careering and I must I must say that in partner Mr bomi was relative easy to convince us to go public in a sparkk that was fashionable in those days now there are no more Spar so we survived and I think we made our inroads but I think that um it has been the right decision for the family for the VIS for the scale I think we talk about scale today uh to Benchmark the competition to a very disciplined management uh approach uh to attract Talent uh to gain new real estate and they can go on and on surely is you know you're you're you have to keep your promises quarter by quarter but is The Benchmark it's like it's like aom in King is the same thing you know you are there with the with the time which are seconds not minutes and so overall I think it's it's a good step and uh if you ask me would you do it again yes I would do it with the same partner fantastic to hear and we can still hear the skier in you you know with your skiing analogies um so yes the oazi zenya this is about the the forest that your grandfather I believe started planting in the 1930s and uh that was behind the the wool Mill the original wool Mill and now there is a village there are schools there are um sporting uh facilities hospitals so is this all about sustainability then yes no first of all it's about environment I mean my grandfather the founder of Zena has been a green mind in which he was a philanthropist before be being entrepreneur he was somebody that he wanted to give back to the terror what he earned and so uh the first thing he did he believed in the environment he said okay I'm going to uh reforested the the the mountain uh by planting half a million trees 1930s to then he built a road uh you know with his local workfor with with his with his uh um personal um income and today he he left a kind of an incredible National territ handers under square kilometer 30 time the size of Central Park New York and is our Legacy is something that where our roots and our values come from uh in terms of the business we do believe in traceability that is all the most of the raw material we use are traceable we know from uh the name of the sheep or the goat to the name of the customer so we have a saying from sheep to shop which is very important we buy the wood from our farm in Australia and we deliver the garment to uh you know uh the the tycoon in in the Gulf area so I think this is a a a a supply chain that is very sustainable because most of what we produce is controlled by us in our own premises most of them are in Italy so the the vertical integration and the tability factor is a very important ingredient to control what you do and to give a guarantee to the customer that you do the right things in creating and Manufacturing the product your grandfather was very pioneering to be planting trees years decades before planting trees became a big thing for the environment obviously and that idea of giving back is obviously very important to you looking to the Future what is next for the zenya group to conclude good question what next we have a a a broad stakeholders so we have to make sure that to keep our promise to the stakeholder uh we have become from a mono brand we have become a group of three brands and so we are uh growing the three brands into new business like women were genus only men they women were um when women's wear coming out then no I think we have to oh Andrea wants to no I didn't want to chip in I it's a very it's a very delicate question but we have to get Tom for than Tom Brown stronger much stronger than the women were so that's the first step go forward I think another another important step is making sure to balance the geography one brand is strong in America the other brand is strong in Asia I think balanc in the geography is very important and the most important thing get new customer I think that in luxury you survive or you grow for two reason make sure you please the loyal customer and make sure you know new customer so I think that uh if we do those two uh goals uh in the three brands I think we will make our stakeholder happy and create value to the group and last but not least I'm not a youngster any longer start thinking about succession succession planning I think is very important I've got the four generation already in the business but I have to create the right step for a smooth succession plan and this is something after having been listed in New York probably that's the biggest challenge for the years ahead so it doesn't sound like you're winding down anytime soon no noo Zen thank you very much indeed and Andrea bonomi as well from invest industrial thank you very much gra thank you [Music] I