grup serhs annual report 2009 Page 4- LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN Dear shareholders, We present this annual report amidst a very complicated national and international economic situation which we are suffering, like everyone, but we must admit that we are not amongst the most affected sectors and we managed to close 2009 with a certain dignity and net profits of €4.5 million and a cash flow of over €16 million. Unemployment, non-payment and therefore falling consumption continue and although there are very timid signs of recovery in the United States and even more timid signs in some countries of Europe, the strong investment in real estate makes it difficult for the Spanish state to move on, and the country lies at the rear of Europe on the path to recovery from the crisis. However, what I want to stress is that in an extraordinarily negative situation, we have managed to reply with a positive and normal attitude. We shared out a dividend of €0.65 per share and we gave one released share for every 50 under ownership. In total, in 2009 we spread nearly €5 million among the shareholders, some 800 million of the former pesetas. We also raised the par value of the share by one euro and increased the share capital from 70 to over 77 million euros. This means that, although we are not content with the result of the year, given the general situation we are satisfied. And we are satisfied because the reaction of our team and also our partners has been positive, some making a considerable effort not only to reduce costs but also to constantly seek new business paths, and the partners because I believe they have highly appreciated that we have achieved profitability of over 10% in a difficult year like this. I would like to take this chance to thank them once more for their confidence and participation in our last capital increase, enabling it to be completely covered. We are also satisfied because it has been shown that our Group is capable of riding rough seas but without losing its prestige, its values and of maintaining its position as the leading tourist group in Catalonia. Our presence on the Board of Directors of Spanair, and the signing of the agreement with PortAventura to become the exclusive supplier in the restaurant area has also significantly strengthened the image of our company in the business world in our country. We will continue to work to develop our program of “Corporate Social Responsibility” in order to seek the maximum satisfaction of our employees by organising training programs for their continual development and trying to increase their participation in the management of our companies. We have worked with the Vicente Ferrer Foundation for many years and recently signed an agreement with Cuina Justa, which is part of the Cassià Just Foundation. As for our customers, we want to stake more and more on proximity and personalised attention by promoting the use of new technologies as business tools. We seek maximum satisfaction in our service, aimed more and more determinedly at being as comprehensive as possible in each area of activity, to give our customers effective solutions adapted to their needs. Our operative synergies between the companies of our group have given residential added value, which we believe will be key in business development in the immediate future. We will move towards innovation and creativity by investing in new technologies, by starting medium and long-term products which produce enthusiasm and profitability. We stake more and more on opening new markets, on seeking different, imaginative opportunities, on thinking of doing everything we can to increase business abroad. We are presently working on the idea of building a five-star hotel in the world famous city of Petra, in Jordan, along with Jordanian partners. This is a project on which we have placed great hope and much interest. Additionally, in order to increase and enhance our hotel division, we have created a special business line to deal with accommodation establishments, preferably in cities and more specifically in Brazil, for with the World Cup and the Olympic Games (2014 and 2016, respectively) great demand is being generated in this sense. One significant fact is that this year we have increased our presence in Barcelona in managing restaurant facilities in large sports complexes, where we have long been serving FC. Barcelona, and now the new RCD Espanyol Stadium. Our Projects and Equipment division is going far into the areas of health care and large cuisine throughout Spain. The SERHS Evening held on 11 March 2010 started the celebrations of the 35 years of our entity, which will end with the SERHS Evening in 2011. Erwin Bechtold’s magnificent banner will preside the commemoration of a company which, far from that 1975, when a few entrepreneurs from Calella concerned at their future incorporated the SERHS Cooperative, the embryo of our present SERHS Group. When we look with historical perspective, everything that has happened in this long period seems impossible, for not even the most optimistic would have dreamt of the challenges we have achieved and the thrilling future that now faces us. Just two figures, we started with a contribution of €4,500 and today we have a share capital of over 77 million. Although 2010 gives the impression that it will continue at least during the first difficult, complicated half-year, we believe that with the strategies we have applied (by adapting payrolls, reconsidering business action and abo-
ve all seeking new business paths) and those we will start up this year, we will be able to face the future with a certain tranquillity, but without easing up. To finish, I would like to send you a message of optimism in times which are not easy, but I can assure you that we are prepared to face them with guarantees of success and I would therefore like to tell you that we will overcome the problems and that next year we will celebrate our 35 years in full plenitude, along with the celebration of the close of a good year. Thank you Ramon Bagó Agulló Chairman of the Board of Directors of the SERHS Group
“Our Group is capable of riding rough seas but without losing its prestige, its values and of maintaining its position as the leading tourist group in Catalonia”
Page 6- STRUCTURE AND ORIGINS OF THE GROUP
SERHS was founded in 1975 in reply to a time of crisis in the tourist sector and the specific concerns of the hotel owners in Calella (El Maresme region) as a cooperative Company under the name of “Serveis Mancomunats d’Hostaleria i Similars.” Our entity, now a large corporation leading the Catalan tourist sector is among the leaders in the Spanish state. Today’s SERHS is present on three continents and is formed by 60 active companies. It has an average payroll of 2,697 workers and 1,506 shareholders, 42% of whom are workers or relatives of workers in SERHS. Six large divisions make up the SERHS business, which also enjoys considerable operative synergies: distribution (perishable and non perishable products); tourism and travel; hotels; food management and production; projects and equipment; services and new technologies. As a business corporation, it also works in other areas of activity such as real estate, equity and portfolio. Our growth based on diversification has brought new customers into the Group and has, at once, enhanced territorial expansion inside and outside of Spain. In order to face the future challenges, the SERHS Group knows that it has to continue to invest in innovation and in applying new technologies and move on with our philosophy based on the sectoral and territorial diversification of our businesses, always within our field of action. We also take great care in maintaining a balance between the risky businesses and the more conservative. Mission and vision Our mission, to continue improving to offer goods and services basically to the tourist, hostelry and foodstuffs sectors through careful management and our own know-how, seeking active participation and teamwork, understanding the creation of prosperity and the generation of well-being for all people related to the Group “as our own way of doing business and building the country.” The vision, to be a European benchmark in our sector as a Catalan company working on human principles and with criteria of quality, service and efficiency. Our values The values that form part of our philosophy and identity are the following: - Diversification and specialisation in different related fields of tourism and travel, hotels, food management and production, projects and equipment and services. Companies that complement each other and which form veritable comprehensive service management. - Our origin as a cooperative 35 years ago is today a large, international Catalan corporation. - The human side, both internally with our workers and shareholders and externally with our customers, suppliers and collaborators, showing continuous improvement, confidence, innovation, responsibility and respect for people. Our activity is highly based on people, for these are our main asset.
Page 8- COMPANIES & TERRITORIAL EXTENSION (Update May 2010) Page 10- MANAGEMENT BODIES AND TEAM
The personality of the members of the Board of Directors guarantees the rigour and multiple sector view of each business area, as well as efficiency, transparency and viability in decision taking, and to do this it has an Executive Commission and the support of a professional, enthusiastic management team.
Page 12- NEW ENTERPRISES
SERHS STAKES ON MANAGING AND OPERATING HOTEL ESTABLISHMENTS The SERHS Hotels division has opened the doors to growth in its business area in search of hotel establishments for management and operation. At the present time, the corporation has 8 hotels under ownership and 3 under operation. The aim of the group is to extend its portfolio in order to offer a wide range of vocational establishments and to work in the segment of services for companies (meetings, congresses, incentives). The types of establishment it requires are above all urban or beach hotels in large cities or nationally or internationally renowned tourist destinations. With regard to the category, and given its experience and trajectory, more than 35 years at the service of hostelry and restaurants, these are preferably three and four-star hotels of 100 rooms or more with renovated facilities. The division therefore projects its growth on the basis of internationalisation and en93 Grup SERHS annual report 2009
grup serhs couraging the hotel management of establishments not under ownership. SERHS MANAGES THE RESTAURANT AND CATERING SERVICES IN THE NEW RCD ESPANYOL STADIUM SERHS Food Service, one of the leading brands in the sector specialises in comprehensive restaurant and catering management and was chosen in the summer of 2009 to exclusively give this service for 15 years in the new RCD Espanyol Stadium. SERHS will put over 200 members of its staff to serve the white and blue stadium on match days with the largest crowds. The group has made an investment of over €1 million in preparing all of the red areas needed in the new stadium in order to offer a new way to enjoy football with proposals that place it among the leading clubs in Europe. The modern, innovative RCD Espanyol Stadium has a total 16 multi-product bars and 12 kiosks between the upper and lower rings of the ground. A large number of products can be found here, such as cold and hot sandwiches, beverages, snacks and rolls. SERHS will apply its more than 35 years of experience in the sector in this new, exciting project, and also the latest technologies and production systems in commercial restaurant management. This whole effort is aimed at giving a rapid, quality service with new products and services. One particular point is the sale of products up to 20 minutes before half-time in the matches, and fast collection at the so-called “express” points, as well as the future introduction of the possibility of buying whatever you want from your seat in the stadium and being served. New references are also expected depending on the times of the games. In the middle ring of the ground is a part put aside mainly for companies and VIP guests, where SERHS Food Service offers the Executive Club, the Corporate Club and the President Club services. On the same level there is the SERHS Corporate Suite, a multipurpose area managed by SERHS that provides a place for meetings, meals or celebrations for up to 250 people, with a spectacular view of the pitch and the option of structuring it in line with customer needs by creating private areas for 10 to 12 people. SERHS continues in its firm intention to continue growing, and shows it by staking on the management and operation of new hotel establishments, followed by the construction of a new hotel in Jordan and the establishment of new agreements with the public institutions in our country. ALONG WITH THE MARESME REGIONAL COUNCIL, SERHS IS TAKING PART IN A MIXED EDUCATIONAL SERVICE MANAGEMENT COMPANY This began in the Maresme region in the academic year 2009-2010 with important developments in complementary educational services. The Maresme Regional Council started a very new process in the regions of Catalonia led by its manager Mr Eladi Torres, which is a comprehensive management of all of these services (dining room and school transport supervision, sixth hour, reception and supervisors) by means of a mixed company formed by public and private capital, with a double objective: to improve the quality of services and, in these times of crisis, to optimise public resources while favouring the occupation of the sector professionals. The company SESMAR, S.L. was therefore incorporated with the participation of 20% of the Regional Council. The other 80% is spread between two companies of sector, SERHS, with large majority of this percentage and therefore the majority partner of the company, and also a small participation by the company Sersa. The new company, ascribed to the SERHS Food Service division, brings in nearly 400 professionals who previously depended on different companies. The fact of the grouping all of the services complementary to education managed by the Regional Council in SESMAR will favour: • The improvement of the quality of the service: integration of the monitor in the centre’s educational project, reduction of the number of spokespeople, unification of educational criteria between the different services and progressive implementation of new technologies for managing incidents. • The improvement of occupation: by facilitating the work stability of the monitors by progressively introducing more complete working days. • The professionalisation of the sector goes on by giving special training enabling the company to move towards the definition of a new professional profile: SOCIAL-EDUCATIONAL MONITOR. • The optimisation of resources: by reducing structural costs. • The budget that the Maresme Regional Council will put over in this academic year 2009-2010 for giving transport, school dining room, sixth hour reception, school monitor, grants and aid services is approximately €7.5 million. SERHS and PortAventura create new synergies SERHS’ comprehensive service to PortAventura reinforces the added value of the different business lines of our corporation, by bringing together the different activities under a single viewpoint, customer satisfaction. Furthermore, SERHS Tourism works commercially with the tourist complex and is one of the travel agencies that brings in most tourists each year. SERHS SIGNS AS THE EXCLUSIVE FOOD SUPPLIER FOR THE RESTAURANTS IN PORTAVENTURA The SERHS Group signed an agreement with PortAventura in March 2010 of great importance and significance to make it a comprehensive supplier of food products for the restaurants. The agreement covers both the supply of the products and their distribution around the different restaurant units of the resort, including the theme park itself and its four hotels. Long-term collaboration is established with this agreement. In Tarragona, SERHS has 94 Grup SERHS annual report 2009
a large comprehensive distribution platform on lands close to PortAventura with an area of around 20,000 square metres and a store of 10,000 square metres. The Corporation put €10 million into buying it and setting it up in December 2008. Around 200 people work there offering a comprehensive service to the more than 4,000 customers in the tourist sector of hostelry, restaurants and collectives located basically in the cities of Tarragona, Reus, Salou, Cambrils, Valls and other coastal and inland towns. It has a fleet of 80 vehicles between lorries and commercial cars and this important facility commercialises this and distributes drinks, food and cleaning products, and perishable goods which require cold for preservation, such as meat, fish, dairy products, delicatessen, fruit and vegetables. The logistics platform also supports the companies of the SERHS Food Service that prepare and supply PortAventura with bread and rolls, and cooked dishes and specialities. PortAventura opened in 1995 and became the first theme park in Spain. 15 years later, it is now a benchmark leisure and holiday resort in the Mediterranean and one of the most representative elements of the province of Tarragona. PortAventrua is also responsible for 8,000 direct and indirect jobs, above all in Tarragona. Its business plans pass through making an investment of €80 million in the coming four years.
Page 15- COMPANY ACTIVITIES
SERHS INCREASES ITS SHARE CAPITAL TO €77 MILLION, 8.5% UP The Extraordinary General Assembly of shareholders of the SERHS Group was held on 5 October in the Castell Jalpí in Arenys de Munt, the company headquarters. The agenda dealt with the subject of approving the balance sheet closed on 30 June 2009, which was the basis for carrying out the share capital increases which were proposed and approved unanimously by the shareholders. It was therefore agreed that the share capital should grow from €71 million to 77 million (more than 12,812 million pesetas), an increase of 8.46%. SERHS now has a total 3,677,000 shares. SERHS GROUP SHARES OUT AROUND €5 MILLION AMONGST ITS SHAREHOLDERS Despite the adverse market circumstances that have affected some of our divisions, SERHS’s important business diversification has allowed the crisis to be withstood with an acceptable negative effect. For this reason, the Board of Directors of the company in meeting on 10 September 2009, agreed to distribute “dividends on account” for the year 2009 for a total €2,307,500, supposing €0.65 per share. In October 2009, under the supervision of the General Assembly of Shareholders, 1 released share for every 50 shares under ownership were passed out, which would represent around €2,627,000. The partners therefore received a total €4,934,500.
Page 16- INSTITUTIONAL AREA Acknowledgements
VICHY CATALAN AWARDS RAMON BAGÓ AND JORDI BAGÓ In November 2009, the Vichy Catalan Spa Hotel in Caldes de Malavella was host to the 26th investiture of the new members of the Confraria Gastronòmica de l’Aigua. In the course of the event 26 figures from the world of restaurants, hostelry, tourism, communication and other areas related to the world of services swore loyalty to the waters. Mr Ramon Bagó, chairman of our corporation, was the deserving winner of the special Gota d’Aigua award due to the close relationship and the different collaboration agreements that have recently been made between SERHS distribution and the Vichy Catalan group. In 2004, he was already made a member of the Confraria. Mr Jordi Bagó, vice chairman and CEO of the SERHS came into the Confraria de l’Aigua along with others such as Mauricio Otegui from Mexport, S.A.; Faustino Muñoz from Colmado Quillez de Barcelona, Mònica Terribas, the general manageress of TV3, and Risto Mejide. In 1997, the Confraria Gastronòmica created the Dr Modest Furest i Roca prize intended for promoting and disseminating the culture of water. RAIMON BAGÓ, ELECTED PRESIDENT OF ACERCO (ASSOCIACIÓ CATALANA D’EMPRESES DE RESTAURACIÓ COL.LECTIVA) In January 2010, Mr Raimon Bagó, the manager of the SERHS Food Service division and member of the board of directors of our corporation, was elected president of ACERCO, the Catalan Association of Collective Restaurant Enterprises. This important institution, in addition to SERHS, includes large companies of the sectors such as Eurest, ISS, Serunión, Arcasa, Alesa, Comertel and Hostesa, amongst other companies engaged in restaurant operations in their broadest sense such as the services offered for example to hospitals, companies, sports centres, public bodies and fair grounds. Therefore, it is highly representative both on the level of each autonomous community and on the level of the whole Spanish state, where there is the parent institution called FEADERS (“Federación Española de Asociaciones Dedicadas a la Restauración Social”). In this Federation founded in 1991 and based in Madrid, Mr Raimon Bagó is also one of the vice chairpersons due to his appointment in Catalonia in ACERO. The intention is to drive and modernise this institution in order to promote its high degree of representativeness and to increase its notoriety throughout the sector. HOSTELCAT AWARD FOR THE BUSINESS TRAJECTORY OF MR RAMON BAGÓ Hostelcat is the fair that brings together the sector of hostelry, tourism and
grup serhs restaurants of the Camp de Tarragona, Terres de l’Ebre regions and a large part of the region to the south of Barcelona. The territory is characterised as being an important pole for tourism and therefore for attracting supplier companies. Altogether, accompanied by a cuisine characterised by the wealth of its products: fish, wine, olive oil. In this environment, Hostelcat is a meeting place for professionals, suppliers and institutions which at a dinner bringing together 200 people, proceeded to give the awards for this edition in 2010. The chairman of the SERHS group received the award for his business trajectory from the hands of Mr Enric Aloy i Bosch, the SecretaryGeneral of the Department of Innovation, Universities and Enterprise. Other initiatives were also rewarded for encouraging tourism and cuisine in the area: the Cuines del Vendrell received the award for tourist-gastronomic action and the Termes Montbrió hotel was given the award for excellence and quality in services. In 2009 a series of recognitions were given to the corporation, to Mr Ramon Bagó, to managers from the different divisions and to different companies of the SERHS Group. SERHS GROUP RECEIVES THE “FLEXIBLE COMPANY 2009” AWARD On 24 November 2009, the SERHS Group received the mention of honour in the large company category of the 16th Premi Catalunya Empresa Flexible 2009 from the CVA communication agency, from among the more than 1,800 companies that went in for this recognition of conciliation policies. Sara Berbel, the general manageress for Equal Opportunities at Work of the Government of Catalonia presided the event and gave awards to companies such as GAES, Lanxess Holding and Ingecal, which received the award in the categories of large, medium sized and small companies, respectively. Mar Matellanes, the directress for Corporate Social Responsibility, received the award given to the candidature for the different measures of conciliation between professional and personal life applied in the Group: measures such as organisational flexibility in office timetables, split working days with flexible hours for coming in and leaving, continuous working day in the stores and production systems, policies of balance between personal and professional life such as paternity and maternity leave, extra-salary benefits such as help for nurseries, schools, universities, amongst others, are some of the measures currently carried out in SERHS. SERHS DISTRIBUTION, SOCIAL QUALITY ACCORD AWARD The Chamber of Commerce of Castelló rewarded the company Dimarser, S.L. (SERHS DISTRIBUTION) with the Accord a la Qualitat Social award as a company with under 50 workers. This distinction, as the Chamber itself says “publicly recognises the social commitment of the company to the problems of occupational insertion of people suffering from discrimination and/or inequality in relation to the jobs market. The main objective of the award is to reward the specific good practices of the company in this sense.” Dimarser, S.L. of Benicarló and ascribed to the SERHS Distribution division had already been runner up in the “Accord a la Qualitat Social 2007.” In the summer season, the company brings in 4 people with slight intellectual disability, who all deal with classifying and organising the packaging in the store and come from the Centre Occupacional del Maestrat, dependent on the Valencian Institute for Attention to the Disabled (IVADIS) as part of the Government of Valencia, with which a collaboration agreement was reached in 2005. The prize giving ceremony took place on 14 July in the Plenary Hall of the Chamber of Castelló, and was presided by vice-president of the Government of Valencia, Vicente Rambla, and was also attended by outstanding political and economic authorities of the Valencia Region. From SERHS DISRIBUTION, the award was received by Ms. Angeles Ortí, directress of Dimarser, S.L. SICTED QUALITY DISTINCTION FOR SERHS HOTELS On 23 September 2009, the 3rd Barcelona SICTED Meeting of tourist destinations was held, jointly organised between Barcelona Regional Council and Barcelona Chamber of Commerce. During the event, distinctions and diplomas were given certifying the Quality System in Destinations to the Cardona Rural Village and the Hotel SERHS Oasis Park. The results of the SICTED project in the province of Barcelona were also presented. The directors of both hotels received the diploma on behalf of each of the companies of the SERHS Group.
SERHS Celebrations
600 PEOPLE AT THE 34TH SERHS EVENING The SERHS Group organised its 34th SERHS EVENING, which for the first time was held in the Can Xaubet Multisports Pavilion (Pineda de Mar) on 11 March 2010. As part of the 35th anniversary of SERHS (1975 to 2010) the event was a place for shareholders, collaborators and friends of the corporation to meet, and it brought together 600 people. For the fifth consecutive year the event was presided by the Rt Hon Josep Huguet i Biosca, the Minister of Innovation, Universities and Enterprise of the Government of Catalonia, and it was also attended by outstanding authorities such as: the director-general for Tourism, Mr Joan Carles Vilalta; the senator for Convergencia i Unió Mrs Montserrat Candini; the president of the Maresme Regional Council Mr Josep Jo; the president of the airline company Spanair, Mr Ferran Soriano, and the mayors of Pineda de Mar, Arenys de Munt and
Mataró, as well as other people from the economic and institutional areas. The gala dinner was prepared in great detail and quality by ARCS Catering and was served by the pupils of the University School of Hostelry and Tourism of Sant Pol de Mar, a centre attached to the University of Girona and associated with the SERHS Group. The evening ended, as is traditional, with the SERHS hymn performed by the soprano Gloria Lopez of the Quintet Catalunya. Start of the celebration of the 35th SERHS anniversary At this emotional meeting the lithography was presented that frames and commemorates the 35th anniversary, a work by Erwin Bechtold, a painter born in Cologne in 1925. The poster is intended to show that in the midst of difficulty, referring to the present economic situation, it is possible to move forward. This is therefore the parallel established by the author between the work and what the SERHS Group represents for him. Mr Josep Vilella, a member of the SERHS Group Board of Directors, wrote a few words interpreting the work under the title of “Blue on black, light on darkness.” Between March 2010 and the SERHS evening in 2011, a series of events have been programmed to celebrate this anniversary aimed at the different groups forming part of SERHS, such as the shareholders, the workers, customers, suppliers, collaborators and the social surroundings in which the Group activities are developed. he SERHS Group celebrates its 35th anniversary (1975 to 2010). The celebrations started during the traditional SERHS Evening, when the shareholders, workers and collaborators of the corporation were presented the lithography commemorating the 35 years, the work of Erwin Bechtold. THE 12TH EDITION OF EXPOSERHS ACHIEVES A RECORD 15,000 VISITORS ExpoSERHS 2010, the interactive display-fair of the SERHS Group received 15,000 visitors, 68% up on last year, when 8,300 people attended. The fair was carried out for the second year in a row at the Circuit de Catalunya, and coincided with the official F1 training sessions before the world championship. More than 100 exhibitor brands from all areas of activity, 90 repeating from other years, successfully presented their product to the hostelry, restaurant and collective professionals attending. The event was opened on 25 February, and was presided by the Honourable Mr Huguet i Biosca, the Minister of Innovation, Universities and Enterprise of the Government of Catalonia. The event was attended by Mr Josep Mayoral, the Mayor of Granollers, Mr Ramon Praderas, the director-general of the Circuit de Catalunya, and Mr Ramon Bagó, the chairman of the SERHS Group. Exposerhs is a fair already consolidated which is intended to present the main developments of the sector for the coming season. The fair had over a hundred stands of leading companies such as Grup Damm, Nestlé, Gallina Blanca, DKV Insurance, Vichy Catalan, Velida Ibérica, Conserves DANI, Codorniu, Mapfre, Rational, Ciho i Jemi, as well as others. This season’s developments were carried out by on-site presentation such as SERHS Food Services, which put on several demonstrations on how to deal with preparing bread and rolls, EUDEC product and salads. 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF SERHS TOURISM: “MEETING OF TOURIST PERSPECTIVES IN ANDALUSIA” On the 30th anniversary of SERHS Tourism, in the past month of June a meeting was held on “Tourist perspectives in Andalusia” in the Terremolinos Palace of Congress. The event, which was attended by the chairman of the SERHS Group, Mr Ramon Bagó, the director of the SERHS Tourism division, Mr Delfí Torns and the Andalusia office, Mr Pedro Díaz, and more than 200 professionals from the tourist sector (hotel owners, travel agencies, area technicians) was presided by the Rt Hon Mr Pedro Fernández Montes, the Mayor of Torremolinos. The meeting was attended by Mr José Luís Zoreda, the executive vice president of Exceltur, who dealt with the subject “Building the future from uncertainty. How does the world economic crisis affect the tourists sector?”; Mr Miguel Sánchez, chairman of the Tourist Board of the Confederation of Entrepreneurs of Andalusia (CEA); Mr Javier Sánchez, president of the Association of Tourist Journalists of Andalusia. Mr Zoreda focused particularly on the present economic crisis and its effect on prices. He highlighted the importance of tourist innovation by saying that what entrepreneurs should do is to “sell magic, sensations, excitement and experiences,” the tourist quality of the establishment already being given. Despite everything, he gave a hopeful message by saying that “tourist expenditure will be affected this year, although there will be long queues on the Spanish roads in the month of August, but we will still not give up our holidays.” Mr Bagó was more optimistic and encouraged the hotel owners attending to carry on because tourism in itself “is not in crisis.” At the same time he thanked the speakers for their participation and those attending for the 11 years that SERHS Tourism has been established in Andalusia.
Institutional meetings
The management team of the corporation was invited to take part in an outstanding number of events and talks in the tourist sector, understood in its widest sense. The experience and acknowledgement of the SERHS trajectory was made very obvious in this exercise, which also allowed us to present our current situation to the professionals of our world. SERHS FOOD SERVICES AND BRAZIL, JOINED BY THE OLYMPIC GAMES In February 2010, the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Mr Eduardo Paes, 95 Grup SERHS annual report 2009
grup serhs received a Catalan delegation of entrepreneurs led by Josep-Luis Carod de Rovira, who took part in building Barcelona 92 with the idea of opening doors to collaboration. One of these companies was SERHS Food Services led by Mr Raimon Bagó, director of the Food Production and Management division, who presented his Brazilian colleagues with the Olympic experience in terms of restaurant services. Whatever the case, Catalonia and Barcelona want to be linked to the Olympic Games. Since the ecstasy of 1992, politicians, entrepreneurs and other professionals have taken every opportunity to try and get something out of the Olympic movement and the business generated around it. At one time, Cuina SERHS offered catering for the Olympic caravan before the Olympic Games in 1992. A caravan of a total 60 vehicles and 165 people between organisers, journalists, security forces, etc. who accompanied the Olympic flame around Spain. Everything required a great logistic assembly for coordinating the whole operation. JORDI BAGÓ MEETS THE MINISTER OF TOURISM OF BRAZIL In early March 2010 at economic meetings organised by the Banco do Nordoeste, Mr Jordi Bagó, the SERHS CEO, met with the Brazilian Minister of Tourism, Mr Luiz Barretto, and also the Secretary of State for tourism of Rio Grande do Norte, Mr Fernando Fernández. This banking institution, which is very important in Brazil, organised a meeting with entrepreneurs of the area in order to offer its products and advantages under the name of Programa BNB Proatur-Copa, in order to enhance the improvement and extension of the tourist infrastructures of the region and above all places everybody’s view on the World Cup to be held in Brazil in 2014. Natal is one of the organising centres along with a total 12 Brazilian cities. Jordi Bagó made use of the meeting to explain the SERHS Group expansion plan (2010 to 2015) in Brazil in the coming years, stressing the hotel division. Work is now being done to look for the management and operation of three or four star independent hotels or hotel chains in urban centres in the different capitals of the country (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro). PARTICIPATION IN THE COMPETITIVENESS FORUM (APD) The association for management progress (APD) on 20 October 2009 organised the fourth forum on business competitiveness with the title “how to grow when markets are not.” This took place in the facilities of the Hotel Rey Juan Carlos I in Barcelona. Mr Ramon Bagó, the SERHS chairman, was invited along with outstanding figures such as Mr Enric Crous, the directorgeneral of DAMM and Mr Jaume Roures, the chairman of MEDIAPRO. All three shared a round table explaining their business experiences. The event was also attended by Mr Emilio Cuatrecasa (APD Chairman Mediterranean area), Mr Rafael Domènech (BBVA), and Mr Rafael Villaseca (Gas Natural). Different media also covered the news and collected statements from Mr Bagó such as that which indicated that “the only way is innovation.” JORDI BAGÓ SPEAKER AT FESTIBITY 2010 (UPC) The eighth edition of Festibity organised by the IT Faculty of Barcelona (UPC) dealt with the subject of tourism and ICT, “TurisTIC.” This great festival of information technologies receives the support of the Government of Catalonia, Barcelona City Hall and outstanding leading brands in this area such as Oracle T-Systems and Indra, amongst others. With the consideration of tourism in Catalonia as a strategic sector in the country’s economy, it was said that a privileged location, a highly diverse offer (cultural, of activities, services...) and quality orientation have allowed Catalonia to be one of the most demanded “TurisTIC” destinations in Europe. In this framework, an analysis was made of the value of ICTs in tourism from different sides: business, trends, users and administrations, at the hand of experts, professionals and entrepreneurs. Jordi Bagó gave a presentation of SERHS, focusing above all on the tourist area and the application of ICT as veritable strategic tools fundamental for the development of the present tourist business. The internationalisation of the SERHS Group, now present on three continents in countries such as Brazil, Morocco and Russia, has led international public and private authorities and entities to ask for SERHS managers to participate with their experience and know-how.
Responsible collaborations and notoriety actions
SERHS SIGNS A COLLABORATION AGREEMENT WITH CUINA JUSTA The SERHS Group, following its strategic plan of corporate social responsibility (the Pla “Valors”) has signed a collaboration agreement with Cuina Justa. The Honourable Mr Joan Rigol, the president of Cuina Justa-Cassià Just Foundation, and also known as the former president of the Parliament of Catalonia and the Sagrada Familia Temple stamped the document of the agreement with Mr Ramon Bagó, chairman of SERHS. Cuina Justa is a company founded in 1994 as a sustainable, non profit-making supportive company of the Cassià Just Foundation. They work to socially and occupationally include people with particular mental and social fragility. The collaboration agreement basically includes an exchange of services offered by each of the companies. On the one side, the SERHS Group will take part in commercialising fifth range products such as sandwiches and salads made by Cuina Justa workers. Commercial alliances in collective services are also included, contributions to research and development programs and contribution to programs of belonging, amongst others. The Cassià Foundation, on its part, depending on the technical evolutions, will deal with the applications and 96 Grup SERHS annual report 2009
integration in its activities of direct relatives of workers of the SERHS Group with a certain degree of disability who might so require. Mr Ramon Bagó, chairman of the SERHS Group, confirmed that “I am sure that all cooperation from the SERHS Group with foundations such as Cassià Just, aimed at enhancing the creation of jobs for people with particular fragility and ways to accompany them in life, will be a satisfaction for us and for our corporation.” SERHS WORKS WITH THE TV3 SERIES LA RIERA A family restaurant in a town of the Maresme region is the centre of a new series which TV3 has broadcasted since early January 2010, and where the SERHS Group has presented its brand image through actions of product placement, from the beginning of February to the end of May. This is a series highly related to the world of cuisine and restaurants, disciplines in which our corporation is highly involved, and through the territorial location of the plot in a direct area of influence thanks to the introduction and origin of the Group. La Riera, the name given to the bar where the television series is based, starts with a small restaurant that has become famous with time and is now a gastronomic benchmark of the region. SERHS, as a comprehensive supplier of restaurant services, has taken part directly in the series especially with vehicles, professionals and products of the Group’s distribution companies.”
Page 23- VISITS OF THE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION
NEW UNDERTAKINGS, MODERNISM AND SPORT On the past 26 May, the habitual outing of the SERHS Group Board of Directors took place, which combines a cultural visit with the business activities themselves. The members of the board led by the chairman of the SERHS Group, Mr Ramon Bagó, left SERHS for Arenys de Munt (el Maresme region) to visit the new, recently purchased, warehouses intended to house the headquarters of SERHS Alimentació and the new facilities of SERHS Food Service. This production unit has nearly 60 workers serving 250 centres of different collectives (schools, residences, hospitals, prisons, companies, sports complexes, etc.). Its turnover has increased significantly in recent years, which has led the management team of this division to seek new larger warehouses to allow the food production needs to be covered better. The property has around 4,500 square metres and can cater for the central kitchens and the administration, commercial and production departments and the SERHS Bakery. Mid-morning and the group continued to the Sagrada Familia cathedral, where they had the unique chance to see how a cathedral is built and to walk close to the professionals working there: architects, modellers, masons, sculptors... This huge work, promoted in 1874 by the Association of the Devout of Sant Josep, had its first stone laid in the crypt in 1882. It was after 1884 when the architect Antoni Gaudí took on the project to which he would devote forty-three years of his life, the last twelve exclusively to this. It is hoped that the interior area will be complete in 2010 and worship may begin and that by 2030 this great work of Gaudí will be concluded, the emblematic symbol of Barcelona, visited by thousands of tourists from around the world. Officially opened on 2 August 2009, the RCD Espanyol stadium in Cornellà-El Prat was the last visit for the members, facilities with a capacity for 41,000 spectators. SERHS Food Service, one of the leading brands in the sector of restaurants and catering, ascribed to the SERHS Group, was chosen to develop these lines of service in the stadium, as an exclusive for 15 years. SERHS devotes 200 workers of its payroll to serving the white and blue stadium on match days. The group has made an investment of over 1 million euros in preparing all of the necessary restaurant spaces in the ground to offer a new way to enjoy football with proposals positioning the stadium among the leaders in Europe. The modern, innovative RCD Espanyol stadium has a total 16 multi-product bars and 12 kiosks distributed between the upper and lower rings of the ground. The SERHS Corporate Suite, a room adapted to offer lunches and dinners with quality restaurant services and a good view of the pitch, was the location of the brotherhood dinner and the starting point for an interesting visit to the different facilities. After the visit, the SERHS Corporate Suite was also the place of the meeting of the Board of Directors, as this is a polyvalent space used for meetings, meals and celebrations for up to 250 people, with a spectacular view of the pitch and the option of being structured according to customer needs. The meeting, which went off in perfect harmony, ended with each member being given a commemorative lithography of the 35th anniversary of the SERHS Group. The lithography is the work of Erwin Bechtold, and according to his artistic view, defines what out corporation represents for him.
Page 24- ECONOMIC FABRIC AND SERHS GROUP
RAMON BAGÓ IS APPOINTED PRESIDENT EMERITUS OF THE SITC The chairman of the SERHS on 15 April was appointed President Emeritus of the Catalonia International Tourism Exhibition during the opening event of the fair. The Honourable Mr Josep Huguet, the Minister of Innovation, Universities and Enterprise of the Government of Catalonia presided the event and was responsible for giving the plate of homage to Mr Ramon Bagó. He was accompanied in the event by the chairman of the Board of Directors of Fira de Barcelona, Mr Josep Lluís Bonet, and the president of the Official
grup serhs Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Navigation of Barcelona. Mr Bagó, after many years of leading the presidency of this exhibition that is all-important for the world of tourism in our country, has left the position to devote himself to his business responsibilities. Mr Josep Lluís Bonet thanked Mr Bagó for his work throughout all of these years since the exhibition was created and said that he was one of the great driving forces behind tourism in Catalonia. He also thanked him for agreeing to be the president emeritus. On the same day, a distinction was made by the CETT students to Mr Ramon Bagó as part of the Alimara prizes, in recognition of his contribution to tourism and to Catalonia. He received warm thanks from those responsible for the CETT for his support in these years. FEMCAT VISITS BOSTON, THE PARADISE FOR RESEARCH The state of Massachusetts, with its centre in Boston and its economic model based on knowledge were the object of study on a trip that a group of Catalan entrepreneurs gathered around the FemCAT Association made in early November. The FemCAT team, led by their president Mr Josep Mateu (RACC director), and with the participation of Jordi Bagó, the SERHS Group CEO, took note from the leading research professionals. With 7.5 million inhabitants, Massachusetts is of a similar size to Catalonia and this is why it is a clear example to imitate, in terms of technology. Around 30% of the active population in Boston currently work in higher education (Harvard University is also in Massachusetts) and research. If in the recent trips by FemCAT to Finland the entrepreneurs were seduced by the positive way in which they dealt with the crisis... on their visit to China they were struck by their longterm infrastructure policy... in Boston they praised the way in which the institutions are governed. Barcelona and Boston share an old economic and civil institutional architecture in need of deep modernisation. ADISCAT ANNUAL CONVENTION 2010 On 12 March 2010, the fifth edition of the ADISCAT Annual Convention was held in the Castell Jalpí under the title of “2010 new decade, new opportunities.” In addition to the Ordinary Annual Assembly of the Association, different presentations were made of interest to the members such as that of the Head Group Manager AC NIELSEN Company on consumer tendencies in hostelry with the present market situation, and the paper given by the wellknown publicist Mr Lluís Bassat, dealing with aspects related to creativity. The convention ended with hors d’oeuvres and a dinner served by ARC’s Catering. ADISCAT, the Association of Drinks and Food Logistics and Distribution Companies of Catalonia, was constituted in Barcelona on 30 September 2004. Its main activity is to work in a corporate manner for the common interests of the companies of the sector and to reveal the importance of their activities and services which are key to sectors such as hostelry, leisure and tourism. ADISCAT includes 114 companies in Catalonia, amongst which is SERHS Distribution, which occupy more than 3,600 workers and have sales exceeding €725 million. They commercialise and distribute 100 million boxes a year and serve more than 60,000 delivery points with a fleet of 2,700 vehicles between commercial and distribution. With the vocation of being present and involved in the business fabric of our country, SERHS works with and forms part of a large number of private and public bodies, entities and institutions: Fira de Barcelona, FemCAT, Foment de Treball, MAPFRE, ADISCAT and ADISLEV.
Page 25- SERHS DIVISIONS OF ACTIVITY Page 26- SERHS DISTRIBUTION AND LOGISTICS
DISTRIBUTION FOR HOTELS, COLLECTIVES AND RESTAURANTS This large division, one of the most important in SERHS in terms of the number of people who work there, is formed by two large business lines structured alongside the products which each distributes. On the one hand we find the distributors of drinks, food and cleaning products, and on the other those related to perishable goods such as fruit and vegetables and fresh, frozen and chilled food for hotels, collectives and restaurants. PARTICIPATED COMPANIES Distribution of Drinks, Food and Cleaning Products: Cediserhs, S.L, Cobrama, S.L., Coratama, S.L., Dibama, S.A., Dimarser, S.L., Eudivasa, S.L., Facilcar, S.L., Ponentser, S.L., Port Parés S.L., Tramuntanaser, S.L. Distribution of fruit and vegetables: SERHS Fruits Allelac, S.L., SERHS Fruits Costabonaser, S.L., SERHS Fruits Fruites Pàmies, S.L. Distribution of frozen,chilled and fresh products: SERHS Fred Nam Nam, S.L. PRODUCTS AND SERVICES OFFERED Within the area of drinks, it must be said that in all of the companies, the division has areas for the official distribution of S.A. Damm, Grup Vichy and Eckes Granini. In some companies, they are also distributors of Coca-Cola, and Schweppes in others. With regard to the commercialisation of Schweppes products, since April 2009 Facil Car, S.L. has been the official distributor for Schweppes to Reus and surrounding populations. As the most recent aspect, in February 2010 an agreement was reached with CODORNIU to have the official distribution of its wines and sparkling wines to the towns of the Baix Maresme region through Coratama, S.L. and to the Vallès region by Port Parés, S.L.. SERHS Distribution has therefore geographically increased its areas of official distribution which it already had with Codorniu and which focused on the towns of the Alt Maresme region (Dibama, S.A.), the city of Valencia (Eudivasa, S.L.) and the area of Cartagena
(Ponentser, S.L.). Distribution agreements were also held with prestigious brands such as Nestlé with Bonka coffee, Reckitt-Benckiner (Camp), Gallina Blanca, Vileda, Gomà Camps and Cocktails Espadafor. SERHS Distribution has continued to maximise the sales of its own products. Work has been done with 247 references, 15 more than in 2008. STRATEGIC AGREEMENTS In 2009, SERHS Distribution pinned down several strategic agreements with prestigious brands: • Grup Vichy Catalan: In September 2009, the time of the strategic agreement they had had since 2001 was renewed and extended. With this agreement, the companies of SERHS Distribution will continue commercialising the waters of the group in their areas, such as Fontdor, Les Creus, Vichy Catalan and Malavella, as well as Lambda juices. • Olis Millàs: A strategic collaboration agreement was also signed in September between the company Olis Millàs and SERHS distribution. For many years, SERHS and Olis Millàs have worked together and this year the company considered it was best to draw up this agreement for the coming years. SERHS distribution will continue to have preference in commercialising the oils, sauces and fats of Olis Millàs through its distribution network. • Sálica Indústria Alimentaria: In late November 2009, an agreement was signed with this company from Bermeo (Euskadi), of renowned prestige in the sector of preparing and commercialising fish preserves (basically tuna, bonito, mussels, clams, etc...). Sálica is a supplier for SERHS. SERHS Distribution creates a new website, an innovative management tool within reach of its clients with an exclusive application for making online orders, seeing the products’ technical sheets and controlling invoicing, amongst other applications. Distribution for many years and, in addition to selling its brands, it packs SERHS’s own brands. With this agreement, it is hoped to strengthen the commercial relationship and continue growing in sales in this product range. • Juver: In December 2009, an agreement was signed with the company Juver in the region of Murcia, to use the distributors of its range of juices for commercialising in the coming years. Juver is one of the main juice producers in the Spanish state. New web www.serhsdistribucio.com In June, the new SERHS distribution web site came into operation. Its main objectives are: • To enhance sales by opening a new channel to reach a wider range of customers on the one hand (recruiting potential market), and to speed up the decision taking and the customer purchase procedure on the other. • To offer customers better service: online order management, product technical sheets, personalised offers, electronic billing, administrative and consumption information, and much more. • To have a more organised idea of customer trends and needs. • In the mid-term, work is being done on downloading all the collection and on being able to focus the work of our salespeople on purely commercial tasks (opening up new customers, follow-up visits). • In the future, it is hoped to develop the tool that shall allow us to open up new sales channels and start new relationships with customers and suppliers. The website is a modern, innovative tool aimed strongly at each customer segment, easy-to-use and a pioneer in the distribution sector. NEW AREAS OF INTRODUCTION At the end of 2009, Dibama, S.A. purchased the company and goodwill of Jordi Solé, S.A. the official distributor of S.A. Damm to the town of Blanes, very significantly strengthening its presence in this town. At the same time, Cobrama, S.L. and Tramuntanaser, S.L. also purchased the goodwill of Fabranet, a company in Ripoll specialised in cleaning products and with a large turnover in the regions of Osona, el Ripollés, la Cerdanya, Alt Empordà, Baix Empordà, el Gironès and la Selva. OUTSTANDING FACTS In this area, the merger process completed on the past 30 June 2009 between Port Parés, S.L. and Barcelonesa de Begudes, S.L. must be stressed. All of the staff and assets of the second of these companies were transferred from their former warehouse in Cornellà de Llobregat to the warehouse in Ripollet where, with a certain amount of conditioning work, it was possible to locate the two companies. On the level of customer service, it must be said that the main distribution areas of Barcelonesa de Begudes, S.L. are to the north of the city of Barcelona (Sant Andreu, Verdum, Sagrada Familia and la Barceloneta) and therefore well connected to Ripollet. SERHS Distribution is a very significant part of the organisation of EXPOSERHS. After the good experience with EXPOSERHS 2008 in the facilities of the Circuit de Catalunya, this year the same location was chosen with an even greater success. On the one hand, a considerable effort is still being made to train the staff of the division. Every year courses are organised for as many groups of the company as possible. This year, 2009, courses were programmed that were aimed at aspects of preventing occupational risks, training in products for the sales force, training of the management team, courses for warehouse staff and computer courses. The total number of customers served is in excess of 30, 000, two thirds 97 Grup SERHS annual report 2009
grup serhs of which are focused in traditional hostelry establishments, that is restaurants, cafeterias, bars and leisure centres. The other large group is the hotels, either on the coast or inland. These are spread between Catalonia, Valencia and Murcia. We might say that this division of SERHS gives service from Roses to Cartagena, and also to inland towns. The average payroll of SERHS Distribution and Logistics in 2009 was 714 people. The division is formed by 12 logistics warehouses, representing a total surface area of 165,000 square metres. It has a mobile fleet of over 600 vehicles.
Page 30- SERHS DISTRIBUTION PERISHABLES
The experience in the sector and the quality/price ratio of its products, as well as a complete commercial attention services, allow a comprehensive service to be given to professional restaurants both in the area of frozen and chilled food and in that of fruit and vegetables. We must highlight the outstanding growth of the variety of SERHS Cold and SERHS Fruit products and the continuous territorial expansion of their service. SERHS FRED – NAM NAM This company has two operative centres in Tordera (el Maresme region) and Tarragona. In 2009 it carried out an important reformation of its image and brought in the commercial name of SERHS FRED both on its vehicle fleet and in its facilities. Nam Nam, S.L. is formed by a staff of 60 workers and facilities giving it 13,000 cubic metres of cold and a fleet of 40 vehicles, most of which have been renovated in recent years. They include refrigerated systems and suitable equipment for working according to the food safety directives. The product portfolio comprises fish, shellfish, meat (poultry, pork, beef and lamb) both fresh and frozen, frozen vegetables, delicatessen and dairy products. It has over 1,500 customers, mainly hotels and restaurants, located on the Costa Brava, Costa de Maresme-Barcelona, Costa Daurada and inland populations. It is worth noting the growth in turnover in the regions of Girona and inland Tarragona. As suppliers of PortAventura, SERHS FRED is one of the areas of activity which works with most products and its volume will increase considerably in 2010. Its fleet of refrigerated vehicles has been reinforced with four lorries to guarantee suitable service to all customers of the area. SERHS FRUITS – ALLELAC This has two large warehouses: one in Blanes (la Selva region) with facilities of almost 4,000 square metres of which 6,000 cubic metres are refrigerated and there is also a large display area; and a warehouse of 1,000 square metres in Tarragona, with 2,400 cubic metres of refrigerated rooms. The service agreement with PortAventura has considerably increased demand to this company in Tarragona. To strengthen its activity in the area and also bear in mind the habitual customers, a rental agreement has been signed with Petit Forestier for two refrigerated vehicles, one of 12 tonnes and the other 3.5 tonnes. Apart from this important agreement with the theme park, Allelac, S.L. offers its services to over 500 customers, basically food shops, markets and hotel and restaurant establishments. It area of influence covers the regions of el Maresme, la Selva, el Gironès, el Baix Empordà, el Garraf, el Barcelonès, el Tarragonès, Alt Camp, Baix Camp, Baix Penedès, Baix Llobregat and Baix Ebre. It has a team of 39 people on average each year and a fleet of 28 vehicles, most of which are fitted out with refrigeration and/or isothermal systems in order not to break the cold chain. Since early 2010, this company has had a logistics area in Mercabarna, the central point of the wholesale markets in the city of Barcelona. SERHS FRUITS – FRUITES CAPDEVILA Costabonaser, S.L., specialised in high-quality fruit and vegetables, was chosen as the single distributor for the “Fruit consumption plan in schools,” a project promoted by the European Union and the Government of Catalonia. SERHS Fruits reached an agreement to distribute up to 100 tonnes of fruit during the academic year until the month of June of this year to 150 schools around Catalonia. The team comprises an average payroll of 19 people with 13 commercial vehicles and a distribution warehouse in Ripoll of 1,600 square metres. They serve around 500 customers in the hostelry and food sectors from one end to the other of the Ripollès and Garrotxa regions, and in El Pla de l’Estany region. SERHS FRUITS – FRUITES PÀMIES In May 2008, this family company, Fruites Pàmies, S.L. with over 40 years in the sector and now with the experience of the second-generation, came into the SERHS Group. It has 300 square metres of facilities in Reus Central Market, including two refrigerated chambers very well located. It deals with a wide range of products and presentations of both the third and fourth range. It stands out for having high-quality, first-hand products and receives from origin, avoiding intermediaries. The star product is the spring onion. Most of its 300 customers are wholesalers and hostelry and restaurant professionals, and from the area of trade in the regions of Tarragona. It has a team of 9 workers on average and a fleet of 4 lorries. The commercial agreement signed with PortAventura as exclusive suppliers to its restaurants, reaffirms the view of integral service that SERHS offers its customers, covering such diverse areas of activity as perishable products, non perisha98 Grup SERHS annual report 2009
ble products, bread and derivatives and cooked dishes.
Page 32- SERHS TOURISM
WHOLESALE AND RETAIL TRAVEL AGENCY | ONLINE AND OFFLINE SALES | TRANSFERS | EXCURSIONS | COASTS | ISLANDS | SNOW | CIRCUITS | MOUNTAIN AND RURAL | CITY SERHS Tourism works to be recognised as a large multi-product and multi-channel operator of tourist services in the Mediterranean and Europe. This division is made up of powerful marketing and business development teams in constant innovation, which allows new products with great added value to be launched on the market. PARTICIPATED COMPANIES SERHS Tourism, S.A. Viajes Líder Canarias, S.A. PRODUCTS AND SERVICES SERHS Tourism is a receptive travel agency that works both as an overall supplier of services for national wholesale travel agencies and for international travel agencies and tour operators. It is also a wholesale travel agents aimed at the Spanish state, which offers its product to Spanish travel agencies through the Rhodasol brand. SERHS Tourism offers the best tourist services in the Mediterranean and Europe thanks to over 30 years of experience, the professionalism of a highly qualified technical and sales team, and specialists at destination in full control of the resources and their potential. This division is made up of powerful marketing and business development teams in constant innovation, which allows new products with great added value to be launched on the market. It presents a wide range of services covering all market segments and a variety of destinations around the world: • Accommodation: customers are offered more than 13,500 Hotel establishments around 65 countries and of all categories: hotels, apartments, rural houses, spas. With highly competitive prices and maximum availability to the last minute, it has holiday hotels on the coast and the islands, urban hotels in the main cities, snow and mountain hotels. • Groups: they deal with all kinds of sports groups, groups of special interest, companies and others. • Circuits and excursions. • Transfers and car rental. • Arrivals. • Extras: assistance at airports, special attention, guides, restaurant bookings. In order to adapt the technology to the customers of the division, different possibilities are offered for working together: online on XML and offline. • Online: two large modern, dynamic and simple booking portals intended for B2B professionals who do not have their own portal. The wish to give customers maximum satisfaction has led the webs to be redesigned. On 27 January, the new Rhodasol and SERHS Tourism webs were launched. These new versions offer significant improvements both in design and navigation, contents and technology. • XML: with XML technology, customers can use this system to access all of the products of SERHS Tourism. • Offline: to the personalised treatment of the division’s call centres, we add the deep local awareness of each tourist destination, allowing products to be made to measure. STRATEGIC PLAN In 2009, this division modified its internal structure with new inclusions, creating new sectors of activity and also developing some existing departments. A 5-year strategic plan was prepared, seeking growth through distinction, diversification and internationalisation. The mission and the values of the division were therefore defined. MISSION In SERHS Tourism we work to be recognised as the multi-product and multichannel operator of tourist services in the Mediterranean and Europe. We therefore innovate in the value chain: - By turning to the customer: by offering different, profitable and competitive products. - By increasing the value contributed by our partners and suppliers. - By forming teams with the best professionals, ensuring their development and well-being. - By developing technology based on continuous improvement. VALUES - Customer orientation - Teamwork - Results orientation - Innovation and continuous improvement - Ethical conduct A unique bank of accommodation of all categories in 13,500 hotels in over 65 countries. Two large B2B portals: www.serhstourism.com and www.rhodasol.es. Over 160 million online requests, with a portfolio of 4,500 customers. They manage tourist services for more than 1,500,000 travellers.
grup serhs COMPANY MERGER On 31 December 2009, the company Viatges SERHS Hotels, S.A. absorbed the following companies: Jochie Catalunya, S.L., Viajes Tropical Tours, S.A., Serhs Turismo Ibérica S.A., Serhs Turismo Andalucía, S.A., Viajes Rhodasol S.A., Turismo y Mar S.A., Vivahotal Ebro S.L. and Serhs Tourism S.A. . After the operation, the name was changed to SERHS Tourism, S.A. ELECTRONIC BILLING SERHS Tourism has firmly pushed electronic billing with its suppliers in order to improve the work processes and achieve the following advantages, amongst others: - Increase the administrative productivity by adding procedure automation. - Eliminate physical bills on paper, stamps, ink... - Automatic customer ERP integration: fast accounting. - Enable a digital file: optimal organisation, space saving. The division has the Navision system for managing the administration and billing caused by its activity. NEW CORPORATE IMAGE OF THE DIVISION The logo used until now has helped to build a strong, renowned image of a receptive company specialised in the “sun and beach” product in the Spanish date. Today, SERHS Tourism faces new challenges to be recognised as a multi-product and multi-channel operator of tourist services in the Mediterranean and Europe, by pushing products such as cities and skiing. With the new image presented in January 2010, the intention is to transmit what the division is and also what it wants to be in the future. In 2009, a new corporate catalogue was also drawn up under the premises marked by the new business strategy. This gathers updated information on the activities and all of the products and services offered by SERHS Tourism. NEW COMMERCIAL OFFICES Continuing with the strategy of international expansion which has characterised the division, SERHS Tourism has opened new commercial offices in Cologne, London and Moscow. This has meant, for example, the signing of strategic collaboration agreements with two large Russian tour operators: Pegas Turistik and Lanta Tour. The intention is to intensify the recruitment of new Russian customers and to consolidate the division of SERHS Tourism as the receptive leader in bringing tourists from the Russian Federation to the Spanish state. These new agreements, along with the existing agreements with Tez Tour, amongst other outstanding tour operators from the country, give a large turnover to the SERHS partners and greater vitality to the tourist destinations where they are established. In this year 2009, important customers have also been brought in in the United Kingdom: Lowcostbeds, On the Beach and Hays Travel, amongst others. In the domestic market, overall agreements have been signed with TravelMar, Uniplayas, Tour Diez, Solplan, and large sales chains such as Iberia Viajes. Important strategic agreements have also been renewed with most operators known as “.com” in Spain and there has been considerable growth in international integrations (mainly in the British and Italian markets). WARM WELCOME TO “SERHSNET” In January 2010, the city hotels with which the division works was given a new tool: SERHSnet. This is a powerful extranet where suppliers are easily able to manage their rates, update availability and exhaustively describe the technical sheet of their establishment. This has been very well received by hotel establishments and the results have exceeded all expectations. Thanks to SERHSnet we have more than 1,000 hotels for the Spanish market and a European cities. The “cities” product has significantly increased its sales. NEW PRODUCTS: FCBARCELONA AND CATALUNYA BUS TURISTIC In order to offer the largest possible number of quality tourist alternatives, the SERHS Tourism product portfolio has brought in ticket sales as an official distributor for Futbol Club Barcelona. The Catalonia Tourist Bus is also commercialised with daily bus trips from Barcelona on which tourists are able to choose from different cultural routes, visits to wineries and wine tasting, visit Montserrat, Sitges, Dalí’s Figueres and Girona, amongst other places of interest. It presents a wide range of services including all market segments and a large variety of destinations: • Accommodation • Groups • Circuits and excursions • Transfers and car rental • Arrivals and extras It offers its customers all possible accommodation: • Holiday hotels on the coast and the islands • Urban hotels in the main cities • Snow and mountain hotels • Apartments • Rural houses • Spas
The diversity of hotel and restaurant establishments in the division had shown high levels of occupation and great customer satisfaction. This large portfolio enables a wide variety of types of establishments to be offered for all the enjoyment, and especially beach hotels, the resort in Brazil, the Rural Villages and the operation of accommodation and restaurant services in the Vall de Núria. PARTICIPATED COMPANIES Hotel SERHS Maripins (Hotel Maripins, S.L.), Hotel SERHS Montemar (Sakistes, S.L.), Hotel SERHS Oasis Park (Hotel Kent, S.L.), Hotel SERHS Sorra Daurada (Sorra Daurada, S.L.), Hotel SERHS Vall de Núria (Pastuiraser, S.L.), Onyarser, S.L., SERHS Natal Grand Hotel (SERHS Brasil E.T. Ltda.), Vilar Rural d’Arnes (Montnegreser, S.L.), Vilar Rural de Cardona (Canigoser, S.L.), Vilar Rural de Sant Hilari Sacalm (Montsenyser, S.L.), Vivahotel S.D.H., S.L., Hotel SERHS Ski Port del Comte (Ecobegudes Vallès, S.L.). We could classify the establishments in the area of Catalonia between holiday hotels (on the beach), a mountain hotels, rural and snow accommodation. With respect to Brazil, this division has a large resort in Natal. At the present time, 10 hotels form this division between establishments under ownership and those of being operated. This division has staked firmly on growing on the basis of internationalising its business with projects such as the construction of a hotel in Petra (Jordan) and by encouraging the hotel management of establishments not under ownership. PRODUCTS AND SERVICES OFFERED The SERHS Hotels division provides its customers with a varied offer of holiday enjoyment, giving them a choice from a large range of types and locations. In Catalonia, sun and beach hotels, Rural Villages, mountain and snow resorts. Altogether an offer of 1,750 rooms with a capacity for 4,000 beds. And abroad, a large resort in Natal (Brazil). The SERHS Hotels establishments offer good quality/price and place the stress on customer service and attention. This versatility enables us to attend a wide variety of customers: from families looking for warmth and closeness to large business groups or associations requiring a well-planned organisation of their events. RURAL VILLAGES The best communication tool of these “21st century rural hotels” is their Web, which received 2,500 visits a day in 2009, with an average increase of 8% in daily visits and 50% in total visits over 2008. It is clear that it stakes on new technologies and communication systems. This year a campaign was started to have a presence on the Internet through the Web positioning, where we can talk about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) campaigns, in which work is done with 23 keywords related to the rural world and family tourism; and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) campaigns where work is done via pay per click by Google Adwords with 15 announcements and approximately 600 keywords. Work is also being done with Social Media Optimisation campaigns with inserts in the social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and a blog. And finally, the so-called Business Local Centre, understood as the positioning of the hotels of the division in the network through Google Maps, that is, the positioning of the hotels according to the town and places in whose location we are interested. New inserts continue to be made in webs specialised in rural and family tourism, in new B2C portals and opinion webs. With respect to presence in fairs, they have been present with SERHS Hotels stands in SITC and Agrotur, and with salespeople of the division at Fitur, Valencia Fair, Bit in Milan and the Toulouse Fair. Media notoriety was another point to be mentioned in this division; with respect to television, the collaboration with the second edition of the program Casal Rock on TV3, where one of the episodes was filmed in the facilities of the Cardona Rural Village. Must be mentioned also the recording of the Cat Radio’s live program “Eduqueu les criatures” in the facilities of the Arnes Rural Village. Furthermore advertising campaigns have been carried out on Catalunya Radio (El Suplement, Eduqueu les Criatures and Tot és molt confús); on RAC 1, RAC 105 (Fricandó Matiner) and Ràdio Gandesa. Specifically on CatRadio, work was done with the St George’s Day program 2010 broadcast from Plaça de Catalunya in Barcelona, where different stays were given in the Rural Villages. Finally, with the press, advertising inserts were made in newspapers such as Levante, El Periódico – Espades, and l’Avui with el Sortim; In magazines such as Descobrir Catalunya and Cap Catalogne, amongst others. The Rural Villages are also places for companies to organise meetings of their workers, which is why companies such as Desigual and Polaris met for a few days in the Cardona Rural Village. Thematic specialisation is also something which makes these establishments different from those of the competition, and their staging has led to the socalled Mesos Temàtics, depending on the time of year and the events in the area (salt, honey, water, environment, St George). As for sales of actions and agreements, collaboration agreements have been reached with different companies and entities such as Bon Preu, Consum, DKV and Rhodasol, amongst others. Finally the fact of presenting and customs and traditions with different activities within the entertainment programs offered by the Rural Villages is still being enhanced. In May 2010, the two “giants” created Page 37- SERHS HOTELS RURAL VILLAGES | HOLIDAY HOTELS | SNOW AND MOUNTAIN RESORTS | especially for the Cardona Rural Village at the hand of Toni Mujal, an expert craftsman in this area, were presented. URBAN HOTELS | BEACH RESORT IN NATAL (BRAZIL) 99 Grup SERHS annual report 2009
grup serhs The Rural Villages have been the base for numerous television and radio programs thanks to their family nature as “21st century rural hotels” with quality services. HOTEL SERHS VALL DE NÚRIA The year 2009 was the second season with respect to the management of the accommodation and restaurant services of the Hotel SERHS Vall de Núria, a concession made by the Catalan Railways to SERHS in 2008 by public tender. The Vall de Núria mountain resort is a singular place that can only be accessed by rack train or on foot and is visited each year by nearly 300,000 people. This winter 2009-2010 was one of the best years for snow in recent times. The management covers the 3-star Vall de Núria hotel with 65 rooms, 12 apartments and 5 restaurant areas: that of the hotel, the Racó del la Vall and the Cabana dels Pastors, the self-service and the Finestrelles cafeteria, and also different meeting rooms. Once particular point is the improvement of the cuisine in the self-service and the restaurant areas such as the Cabana dels Pastors and the Racó de la Vall. Traditional festivals such as that of Sant Gil on 1 September and that of the Mare de Déu de Núria on 8 September are still very successful among visitors, who make use of the visit to spend a day in the SERHS facilities. The presence in the network is also notable through the new B2C portals, with direct bookings inserted in different portals, and also the significant increase in the presence by inserting the hotel in specialised webs. The media presence has also increased with ads on CatRadio and in the written press, specifically in El Periódico. HOTEL SERHS SKI PORT DEL COMTE This 2-star establishment with 36 rooms is at the foot of the slopes in the ski resort of the same name. The new web presented last year with a booking service has been key to achieving sales among users who want to book the hotel, that is, it has allowed customers visiting it to make a booking at the same time. BEACH HOTELS On 23 September 2009, the third meeting was held of the SICTED tourist destinations of the province of Barcelona, organised jointly between Barcelona Regional Council and the Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona, in which the Hotel SERHS Oasis Park was distinguished with a diploma certifying its Quality Systems in Destinations (SICTED), a system promoted by the Secretary General for Tourism of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade in order to raise the quality in tourist destinations, to harmonise the sector levels, to strengthen the business fabric and to enhance integral actions in destinations in the long term. With respect to the online communication of beach hotels, the organic positioning has been started through SEO campaigns and also pay per click campaigns for the SERHS Sorradaurada*** and SERHS Maripins*** hotels. It is also worth noting the insertion of direct sales in new portals such as Lastminute, Laterooms and others. SERHS NATAL GRAND HOTEL 5* To consolidate the status of the 5-star hotel, a benchmark in the area, the SERHS Natal Grand Hotel has been restructured several times, which is renowned as the best beach resort in Brazil, the first hotel of the SERHS Group abroad, and which is specifically located in the city of Natal. The most recent opening was the Sport Bar, the hotel’s main bar with a very complete, diverse service, where it is possible to enjoy from a coffee-break to a drink, a Renato Romagnoni pizza or a fast meal. Given the segmenting of the publics, the hotel has received a large number of families and this is what drove the hotel to increase the number of its family rooms from 38 to 84. With a capacity for nearly 1,000 people and with around 300 workers, it is very well known and enjoys prestige not only in the state, but also in the whole of the north-east of the country, and is the centre for numerous meetings and visits from figures (elite footballers, politicians). Institutional meetings of the country’s authorities such as the meeting between Ms Dilma Rousseff, the present Minister “da Casa Civil” and the presidential candidate of president Lula da Silva in his succession. The governor of the State of Rio Grande do Norte, Mrs Wilma da Faria with the Mayoress of Natal, Micarla de Sousa. Proof of this were the different companies that have used the hotel for their meetings, such as Intermedica, the Brazilian Nutrition Congress, Nestlé and the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, to name but a few. Natal will be a centre for the World Cup to be held in 2014, and a large amount of investment is expected in infrastructures and equipment, valued at over 2,400 million euros. The Olympic Games will also be held in Brazil in 2016. SERHS Hotels stakes on the management and operation of hotel establishments. This division projects its growth on the basis of internationalisation by encouraging the management of hotels not under its ownership. The SERHS Natal Grand Hotel, known as the best beach resort in Brazil and the first hotel of the SERHS Group abroad, located specifically in the city of Natal, has a capacity for nearly 1,000 people and around 300 people work there.
food area and basically address the sectors of hostelry, restaurants and collectives. They stand out as having high quality standards both in the productive processes and in the infrastructure and management capacity they hold. PARTICIPATED COMPANIES Europea de Cuinats, S.L., Fleca SERHS (TAMENFO, S.L.), Gaudium SERHS, S.L., Hotel SERHS Campus (Incasup 2002 S.L.), Sacalmser, S.L., Sànita SERHS Serveis, S.L., SERHS Food Area, S.L., SERHS Food Area i Altres, AIE., SESMAR S.L. This division specialised in the integral management of restaurant services is structured according to the different types of customer. These are fundamentally collectives (universities, schools, companies, penitentiary centres), hostelry (hotels, restaurants, cafeterias) and companies of the healthcare world (old people’s homes, hospitals, social and healthcare centres and days centres, amongst others). Another group of customers are those which, in accordance with their specific space, are defined as thematic or specific (ski slopes, theme parks, franchises), to which we must add the so-called “special events,” which might be cultural shows, sports events, celebrations, weddings or company events. Amongst all of this, the management of two singular, symbolic places stand out, the Castell Jalpí (the headquarters of the SERHS Group) and the restaurant facilities in the FC Barcelona facilities in Camp Nou and RCD Espanyol under operation. The SERHS Alimentació division comprises SERHS Food Service and Arcs Catering-Castell Jalpí for the business line aimed at management; and the SERHS Bakery and the central units for preparing cooked dishes in the production line. These two areas of activity complement each other perfectly and strengthen the operative capacity and the offer of the division.
FOOD MANAGEMENT
SERHS FOOD SERVICE This brand is part of the SERHS Food Area S.L. company, which works as a centre to coordinate the whole division. It is located in two production plants, one in Arenys de Munt and the other in Vilassar de Mar. In 2009, and specifically in early September, a new company was created inside the division, SESMAR, S.L., held with the Maresme Regional Council in order to offer the region a comprehensive management service. Sesmar is formed by 350 workers devoted to monitoring in school dining rooms, sixth hours services, supervision, leisure monitoring, monitoring for the school transport service and the home help service. SERHS Food Service has more than 250 centres managed, including both public and private entities. These are companies, universities, hospitals, old people’s homes, penitentiary centres, sports complexes, educational centres (nurseries, primary and secondary schools) and hotels. These are found around the whole of Catalonia, mainly, and in the Spanish state. In 2009, SERHS Food Service prepared an average 30,000 menus a day and had an average team of 875 people, rising to 1,800 people at peak times, depending on the needs of the service. The personalised service developed to measure for each kind of customer is at the same time accompanied by the maximum measures of management, environmental and healthcare quality, which has positioned the division among the leaders of the sector. The enhancement of continuous improvement in their productive processes has led it to achieve the necessary certifications to be a leader in management based on control, safety and food hygiene. The company Serhs Food Area, S.L. has the following guarantee stamps: • Certification of the ISO 9001:2000 Quality System. • Certification of the ISO 22000:2005 Foodstuff innocuousness Management System. • Certification of the ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Management System. At the same time it has its own environmental and foodstuff health laboratory registered and authorised by the Ministry of Health and Social Security of the Government of Catalonia. NEW RCD ESPANYOL STADIUM SERHS Food Service, one of the leading brands in the sector, was chosen in 2009, thanks to its 4 years’ experience managing the restaurant facilities in large sports facilities, to develop the integral restaurant and catering service on an exclusive basis for 15 years in the new RCD Espanyol stadium. SERHS devotes 200 workers from its payroll at peak times in the service of the white and blue stadium on match days. The modern, innovative RCD Espanyol Stadium has a total 16 multi-product bars and 12 kiosks between the upper and lower rings of the ground. A large number of products can be found here, such as cold and hot sandwiches, beverages, snacks and rolls. One particular point is the sale of products up to 20 minutes before halftime in the matches, and fast collection at the so-called “express” points, as well as the future introduction of the possibility of buying whatever you want from your seat in the stadium and being served. New references are also expected depending on the times of the games. In the middle ring of the ground is a part put aside mainly for companies and VIP guests, where SERHS Alimentació offers the Executive Club, the Corporate Club and the Page 40- SERHS ALIMENTACIÓ President Club services. On the same level there is the SERHS Corporate INTEGRAL RESTAURANT SERVICES | OWN PRODUCTION OF BREAD AND Suite, a multipurpose area managed by SERHS Alimentació that provides a ROLLS | RESTAURANT SERVICE FOR HOSTELRY AND COLLECTIVES | BAN- place for meetings, meals or celebrations for up to 250 people. SERHS Food Service manages more than 250 public and private centres QUETS | CELEBRATIONS | CATERING | PIZZAS | SANDWICHES Experts in integral restaurant service, they offer a complete service in the (companies, universities, hospitals, old people’s homes, penitentiary cen100 Grup SERHS annual report 2009
grup serhs tres, sports complexes and hotels), all found around the whole of Catalonia and in the Spanish state. SERHS FOOD SERVICE – FCB The fourth season has come of the concession of the operation and management of restaurant services in the facilities of Futbol Club Barcelona, specifically Camp Nou. This brand (SERHS Food Service FCB), created especially to coordinate the activity of this such a singular place, and ascribed to the company Europea de Cuinats, S.L. has, since early 2006, carried out a very ambitious project of evolving and structuring this service. A working methodology has been applied with rigour and professionalism in this sports complex known and round the world and which receives a large number of fans every day of the year, not only at sports activities, but also tourists and fans who want to see the facilities, such as the Museu del Barça (one of the museums most widely visited in Catalonia, with easily more than a million visitors). The necessary forms of communication have also been created for the large number of people working in the centre, at peak times up to 500. Using the new technologies, training and close function or organisation, effective working systems have been set up. With a view to making Camp Nou a benchmark in restaurant services on the sports level, as it already is in sport, a large number of commercial and marketing actions have been carried out to encourage the sale and better position the products on offer. ARCS CATERING – SERHS This year 2009, Arcs Catering – Serhs has continued forward gaining the loyalty of important customers and carry out emblematic events of great importance on the political and private level and other social and family events. This brand is ascribed to the Alimentació division and, on the level of cuisine, manages all kinds of events such as celebrations, banquets, weddings, congresses and conventions. For several years, Arcs Catering has been aimed at offering new proposals of cuisine and event organisation. It offers a personal, exclusive dealings for every customer is unique and every event is special. Available to the customer is the experience of a team of highly qualified professionals who carry out the activity with a fundamental premise: to satisfy the most demanding expectations of their customers by offering personalised advice, quality products and the most modern installations, together with a careful presentation and service. CASTELL JALPÍ This has been the centre for numerous institutional activities in the region and is now the headquarters of the SERHS Group, where many meetings and events are also held that require the solemnity and majesty of the surroundings and facilities. Located in the municipal area of Arenys de Munt facing a 5,000 square metre lake, it has 22,600 m of land and 2,500 m of buildings surrounded by gardens. The exceptional nature of this area has in recent years made it a benchmark for banquets and celebrations in the Maresme region. However, most customers (weddings, companies, meetings...) come from Barcelona, the Vallès region, la Selva region and the surrounding area. The quality-price ratio of its proposals without forgetting the exclusiveness and touch of distinction in the gastronomic service and the overall personalisation of the service, places Castell Jalpí on a mediumhigh level that can be adapted to the needs of each event. HOTEL SERHS CAMPUS Located in the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Bellaterra), this is a perfect place for professional events such as congresses, symposiums and conventions. It has 104 rooms for accommodation, 3 restaurants, 2 cafeterias, several modular, flexible, large capacity rooms, entirely fitted out with the necessary audiovisual material and support. Its capacity is adaptable from 10 to 700 people. The high occupation, at around 75% a year, and the large number of events held there, turn this place into a dynamic area where a young management team drives its evolution.
FOOD PRODUCTION
EUDEC PRODUCT This commercial brand is structured into three lines of action: EUDEC restaurants, conceived to facilitate and complement the work of the establishments we call commercial restaurants, by making ranges of specific products for hotels, restaurants, bars and cafeterias, companies and sports centres. It offers a wide range of options with over 100 recipes of local, traditional and international dishes: salads, creams, soups, pastas, rice, fish, meat, sauces and dressings. Thematic and ethnic preparations are also made. EUDEC collectives is a new specialised line optimal for services in collectives and health centres where very specific products are required with high nutritional and dietetic demands (tasty and healthy) to cover specific user profiles such as children, the elderly and sick. Specific diets are also prepared for diabetics, people who are allergic, easy to chew, salt free, mashed, gastric protection, and others. Personalised EUDEC product: in collaboration with customers, this line has been developed which make use of all technical resources, the most advanced technology for cooking and a professional team with experience to create products to the measure of each need. RENATO ROMAGNONI Under this name we find a wide range of products: pizzas, sandwiches and other deep frozen food conceived as products for impulse sale that can be
found in bars, cafeterias and snack bars. This brand also includes support and advertising and promotional assessment to make this offer attractive to end customers. FLECA SERHS (BAKERY) - (TAMENFO, S.L.) This year, SERHS Bakery on a company that offers an integral service of wheat products for hostelry, restaurants and collectives, has made a great effort to improve its image and graphic material (applied to vehicles, uniformity, facilities, direct leaflets to the customer and product sheets). It is important to note the increase in the number of non-seasonal customers which means that in production and distribution a movement was generated of more than 11,000,000 tonnes of product in 2009. As a result of this growth in prepared products, there has been increase in fresh and frozen goods and also in products for long preservation. This company offers an integral service 363 days a year. With over 30 years of experience, it is a bakery specialised in making products for the hostelry, restaurant and collective sectors such as fresh and frozen bread and rolls, pizzas and sweets, amongst others. The continuous improvement of the equipment in accordance with market needs and the company itself, and the fact of having modern, innovative machinery have allowed greater added value to be brought into the productive process, increasing its capacity and opening the door to personalising different products on offer. In 2009, SERHS Food Service made an average 30,000 menus a day. It as a team of 828 people, which can rise to 1800 at peak times, depending on the needs of the service. SERHS Food Service has signed an agreement to manage the integral restaurant and catering service on exclusive basis for 15 years with the new RCD Espanyol Stadium.
Page 44- SERHS PROJECTS & EQUIPMENT
RESTAURANT ENGINEERING | CONTRACT (ROOM AND COMMON AREA DESIGN) | CONSTRUCTION | HOSTELRY EQUIPMENT | KITCHENS | BUFFETS The Projects and Equipment division offers overall, personalised solutions by presenting a product portfolio that includes projects, construction and equipment for collectives, restaurants, cafeterias and hotels, and other companies. This division, present around the whole of the Spanish state, has become a leading company in restaurant engineering in the sector of facilities. PARTICIPATED COMPANIES Equip Turis, S.A., Studiumser, S.L. In the SERHS Projects and Equipment division, on 1 July 2009 the merger took place through the absorption by Equipturis, S.A. of Torraneulaser and Equipturis Canarias. Shortly after, on 31 December of the same year, the merger took place by absorption of Creasa by Equipturis, S.A.. This is why in 2010 the two companies of the business division are Equipturis, S.A. and Studiumser, S.L. BUSINESS LINES SERHS Projects & Equipment offers personalised solutions from an overall view of customer advice: • Restaurant engineering: projects, supply, installation and after sales service of machinery, hostelry and foodstuffs. • Contract: projects, supply, installation of furniture for hotels, collectives and offices. • Projects, construction and comprehensive reforms. • Global engineering. SERHS Projects & Equipment offers its services to different sectors: • Tourist: hotels, hospitals, pensions, campsites and other accommodation. • Health care: hospitals and old people’s homes. • Education: schools, nurseries, universities. • Restaurant services: bars, cafeterias, restaurants, pizza houses. • Foodstuffs: bakeries, sweet shops, ice cream parlours, butchers, fishmongers, etc. • Public administrations, private companies and commercial buildings. This division develops six business lines which include: restaurant engineering, contract, construction, replacement, Technical Assistance Service and production, which allows a large combination of services to be offered in each area. PRODUCTS AND SERVICES OFFERED Restaurant engineering – kitchens Development and performance of functional designs of professional kitchens and restaurant areas for hostelry and collectives, adapted to current regulations. Restaurant engineering - buffet units and bars Design and production of buffet units, show cooking, self-service and bars made-to-measure for our customers. Exclusive and personalised depending on our customers’ specifications. Contract – rooms Work is done on a new form of understanding the concept of equipment in hotel rooms, which has to be designed to achieve the space required by the customer. This concept could be defined in three parameters: design, quality and functionality. 101 Grup SERHS annual report 2009
grup serhs Contract - interior design projects Bearing in mind that the common areas will be those most seen in the establishment, the aim of the Projects & Equipment division is that the team of interior designers and technicians should prepare a project which transmits sensations and which will later be able to be made in line with the investment required by the customer. Construction Conceived for those who require professional solutions for new projects and comprehensive refurbishment to allow them to find the correct balance between investment, quality, performance time and business solvency. Replacement The individual sale of machinery, furniture and other complements to complete the projects up and running and to satisfy customers who need to replace or complement the equipment in their business without making a project. This sale is carried out with a visit from the sales team, the displays of machinery and furniture in Pineda de Mar and Barcelona all through the virtual shop. NEW COMMERCIAL AGREEMENTS SERHS Projects & Equipment, characterised as offering personalised solutions of projects, construction and equipment for different sectors of hostelry and restaurant services, has increased its portfolio and has also moved into the foodstuffs sector. The know-how acquired in all of these years has enabled them to specialise in developing comprehensive projects of equipment, interior design and decoration for all kinds of commercial spaces. It is for this reason that it has reached a collaboration agreement for distributing equipment for the company Pastil, a specialist in refrigerated displays for establishments such as bakeries, cake shops and sweet shops, ice cream parlours, cafeterias, butchers, delicatessens and fishmongers, fruit shops. Pastil, a family company since it started in 1992 in Paterna (Valencia) offers an integral service which includes technical projects, decoration projects, tailor-made furniture production and technical and commercial advice. SERHS Projects & Equipment has acquired the commercial representation of Pastil around a large part of the Spanish state, such as Catalonia, Madrid, Aragon, Navarre, the Basque Country and Galicia, communities where the division has technical offices where it offers its services. AREAS OF INTRODUCTION AND NEW FACILITIES The structure of this division has allowed global and personalised solutions to be offered throughout the Spanish estate focused on the area of hostelry and collectives. The agreement of exclusive representation in the cities where the division is present has strengthened its position thanks to its entry in the foodstuff sector. It is thus able to offer comprehensive solutions to bakeries, butchers, delicatessens and fishmongers, amongst others. The main focus of the company is on making new small and medium-sized establishments. The commercial offices are presently located in: Corunna, Barcelona, Pineda de Mar, Madrid, Malaga, Pamplona, Seville, Tarragona, Bilbao and Zaragoza. Thanks to the cover in the Spanish state offered by SERHS Projects & Equipment, it has become the leading company in the installation sector with respect to restaurant engineering, and the only one capable of giving this service throughout the Spanish state. The main sales channel offered is the personalised advice of the sales team in the customer’s premises. It is also necessary to highlight sales to the Celaya shop (in carrer Urgell/Gran Via in Barcelona) with a display of 1,500 square metres of machinery and virtual sales through the website. The work team of the division is structured as follows: sales department, division manager (responsible for the area), large account managers, commercial technical advisers, display and sale of replacement, technical offices (engineers, architects, interior designers, technical team in coordination and performance of works and installations), manufacturer, assembly and after sales services, general administration and sales department. OUTSTANDING FACTS The central offices of the SERHS Projects & Equipment division have been renovated and transferred to the new offices at carrer Gutenberg, no. 8 in Pineda de Mar, which previously housed the offices and the workshops of Creasa, S.A., a warehouse of over 2,000 square metres was opened in May 2008. This renovation has allowed areas to be unified with the workshop and after sales service (Creasa) in order to centralise and achieve greater efficiency and new synergies to the benefit of our customers and collaborators. In any case, the shop and display area have been centralised in Celaya, in the facilities that the company has in the city of Barcelona at c/Urgell, 55. It must also be said that Mr Miquel Mas, the division manager, has been renewed as an observer of the new board of AFECH (Association of Manufacturers of Exporting Equipment), which belongs to FELACH (Federation of Manufacturers of Machinery and similar sectors). As for the fairs where SERHS Projects & Equipment has been present, we can highlight that of Exposerhs 2010, and their participation as exhibitors in the 21st General Assembly of Hotusa Hotels, held in the Hotel Eurostars Tower in Madrid from 16 to 18 April this year. Finally it is worth commenting the adjudication of the equipment and installation of two buildings around the Financial City that the Santander Group has on the outskirts of Madrid to the Aquanima purchasing centre of the same group. The Consultative Board of Administrative Contracting of the Ministry of 102 Grup SERHS annual report 2009
Economy and Finance of the Government of Catalonia awarded Equip Turis (Pineda de Mar) the works classification as contractors of the Public Administrations. This business division now opens the doors to a new commercial strategy as is the world of foodstuffs, with the distribution of refrigerated equipment for butchers, bakeries and fishmongers, amongst others. SIGNIFICANT FIGURES - An increase of 34% has occurred in the number of budgets presented for public tender and their acceptance has risen by 60% and 233% in their amount. - They have 4,800 square metres of facilities, of which 1,500 square metres are used for display, and a fleet of 44 vehicles. - More than 1,000 projects and budgets have been made and presented. Over 300 have been accepted. - In 20 years of history, over 4,500 customers have been accumulated. - 3,900 service nodes have been opened, supposing some 9,100 hours of installation and after sales work in the customer’s premises. Mr Miquel Mas, the division manager has been renewed as an observer of the new board of AFECH (Association of Manufacturers of Exporting Equipment), which belongs to FELACH (Federation of Manufacturers of Machinery and similar sectors).
Page 48- SERHS SERVICES AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES
INSURANCE | HUMAN RESOURCES | OCCUPATIONAL MANAGEMENT | ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE | NEW TECHNOLOGIES | COMPUTER APPLICATIONS | COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS | REAL ESTATE SERVICES The companies ascribed to this division are intended to offer the maximum number of services both generally to companies forming part of the SERHS group and externally, and aimed basically at customers of the tourist sector. PARTICIPATED COMPANIES Asseguris Mediterraneum C.A., S.L., Mediterraneum XX, S.L., Migjornser, S.L., Inverserhs, S.L., Vector-K, S.A., SERHS Costa Brava Centre, S.L. Structured in different areas of action that allow synergies between them, the companies forming part help and complement each other: human resources, administration and finance, insurance and new technologies.
SERHS SERVICES
MEDITERRANEUM XX, S.L. The added value of this company is the use of new technologies and the most modern systems of communication, which has supposed a considerable development in all activities carried out and which allow users to directly and effectively manage a large number of computer applications online that are placed within their reach. Similarly, it offers internal and external customers a quality job with high-level professional specialists. HUMAN RESOURCES This corporate management of the SERHS group covers all the necessary specialities to give a complete human resource management service in all of its specialities: Personnel Administration, HR Development, Labour Relations and Prevention of Occupational Risks. It makes a firm stake on Internet portals as management platforms and applies continuous improvement in its services in order to offer both SERHS Group companies and external customers an ever more effective service. ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE An area ascribed to the financial corporate management of the SERHS group that is formed by different specialised sections such as the calculation centre, tax advice, auditing, treasury and aggregation and financial consolidation. Its fields of action are all of the companies of the corporation. It also has the collaboration of different external advisers. In order to create a framework of common action for all SERHS Group companies, this corporate management manages the “SERHS Book of Corporate Regulations” only available on the SERHS portal (intranet). This is a manual which includes all of the administrative, legal and occupational procedures, the rules that have to be followed and the corporate criteria of each area of action. ASSEGURIS MEDITERRANEUM XX, CORREDURIA D’ASSEGURANCES, S.L. On 31 December 2009, Asseguris had a portfolio of 2,700 customers and 4,372 contracted policies, 33.37% up on last year. The group insurance company has 2 sales channels, basically: direct sale to the office, formed by three people and an exterior commercial platform, comprising 2 salespeople. The total team of the insurance brokerage company includes 7 people. The volume of managed premiums was €4,600,000, 6% up on 2008 and an increase in individual customers of 16.8% over last year. The lines of action used in work are those of constantly improving the product portfolio and continuing to work with companies of renowned prestige and solvency to be able to offer a service (and good advice) that is as complete as possible and satisfies customers’ expectations. Constituted as an insurance brokerage company in 2003, it deals with leading companies on the market such as MAPFRE, AXA, DKV, ALLIANZ, ACE, VITALICIO and ARAG. A new company came in at the end of the year, ZURICH. NEW AGREEMENTS Asseguris reached several agreements with associations of business people in the Maresme area and sports and leisure associations where both the
grup serhs workers and the customers have a special discount on their health policies. In the SERHS Services division, the corporate management of SERHS are represented that have a transversal job over the remaining business divisions of the group.
SERHS NEW TECHNOLOGIES
In this area of activity we find two companies devoted entirely to developing and implementing new technologies aimed at the tourist sector or internally for SERHS. Migjornser, S.L. and Vector K, S.L. are connected in the same place in Pineda de Mar, and aim to enhance and get the most out of the synergies. MIGJORNSER, S.L. This company works in the area of new technologies and fundamentally serves all of the companies of the SERHS Group. Its areas of action are systems and they maintain and produce hardware and software. Another of the activities they carry out are technological projects either on installations, software implementations or IT consultancy. Furthermore, from the telecommunications department they deal both with management and consultancy. Migjornser has the responsibility of making Internet one of the group’s main channels of communication, starting with web sites, e-mail and hosting management, as well as other functions. Finally, one of its values is the Service Desk for giving users technical attention. NEW AGREEMENTS AND INVESTMENTS -Avanzo Learning Solutions The SERHS Group has confided in Avanzo Learning Solutions’s tailored development services for training more than 3,000 professionals in the corporation. Migjornser, S.L. is the company that deals with the system of technical management of the training, which allows the performance, monitoring and administration of the e-learning courses. These may be personalised in line with functions and design to bring in the image of the SERHS Group. Avanzo is a company in the front-line, a leader in its sector, which gives its services to outstanding companies of great prestige in their sector of activity, including banks, diversified multinationals and energy companies. -Oracle Furthermore, an agreement has been reached with the company Oracle to implement its Service Orientative Architecture (SOA) using its software tools. Oracle is the first software company to develop and implement software for companies, 100% activated by Internet throughout its product line: databases, commercial applications and application and decision support development tools. Oracle is the leading world supplier of software for administering information, with 370,000 customers in 145 countries of the world. -VeuIP project One important point to highlight is the introduction of the VeuIP project which has already been installed in some companies of the group and which will gradually be spread to the rest. This enables all of the SERHS Group telephone switchboards to be connected with this technology, thus minimising internal voice communications costs. BUSINESS ACTIVITIES Following the line of collaboration with Google, SERHS New Technologies, led by its corporate director Mr Oriol Verdura, is a member of the Customer Advisory Board (CAB), that is, Google’s consultant committee. This is formed by some 20 entities representing different sectors from universities, schools and media to companies of European renown, amongst others, allowing a direct line with a committee of experts like this with the know-how of a company like Google. The Enterprise Resource Planning Unification Project of the different business areas in a single corporate ERP has concluded successfully. This was possible thanks to the Navision project, a series of Microsoft computer tools enabling the business processes to be managed from the different areas of the company (production, logistics, accounting, inventories and purchase and sale management) in a unified manner. Along with the SERHS Alimentació division, our technologically highly advanced system has been developed for managing restaurant services in football stadiums. This has been applied for the first time in the new RCD Espanyol Stadium. The technologies used are RFID, WiFi and PDAs with contactless readers. Oracle, the first software company to develop and implement programs for companies has signed an agreement with the SERHS Group to apply its SOA methodology. The Webguesthotel online sales engine by Vector-K in its fourth year of operation has already been applied in more than 400 hotels, and its sales have grown by 137% SIGNIFICANT FIGURES • It was formed by an average team of 28 professionals in 2009. • The Technical Service is responsible for maintaining a computer fleet of over 850 PCs, as well as 340 printers and 190 PDAs. • They have 95 central servers located in a state-of-the-art CPD opened in 2007. • More than 1,000 e-mail accounts and 190 hosted domains are controlled. • More than 40,000 mails, 1190 landline telephones, 1300 mobile telephones, all managed each day. • They control a data network of more than 60 nodes.
VECTOR-K Vector-K, a company of the Services and New Technologies division, is dedicated to creating, maintaining, implementing and supporting computer products for the tourist sector, both for companies of the Group and for external companies. The basic Vector-K products are: the Guest, comprehensive hotel management, the Bistrot, management of bars, restaurants, discotheques, etc. ... and the Webguest, which enables online sales of bookings from the hotel’s own Web. Our WebguestHotel online sales engine, in its 40 up and running, has already been applied in more than 400 hotels and increased its sales by 137% (from €3,700,000 in bookings sold in 2008, to nearly €5 million in 2009). We must stress the implementation in areas where we are not present, such as Galicia, specifically with 50 hotels in Sanxenxo, and also in the Vall de Benasque with 20 establishments, and the Vall de Tena will soon be bringing in our engine. It is in this product, online sales, where the constant inquiries and good reception have caused large investments to be made to extend and improve the service offer. Specifically in 2009, the functions and options continued to be extended with discount options for early booking, non-returnable bookings and discounts for promotional codes, amongst others. Also in 2009, the Bistrot product was applied in the facilities of the Real Club Deportivo Espanyol, which is managed by SERHS Food Service, and it is for this reason that considerable adaptation has been carried out, such as RFID card management, a centralised and decentralised data system with stocks of products available for bar during the games, amongst others. Among the most important projects for 2010: the interconnection of WebGuestHotel with the SEHRS Tourism Sehrsnet and other platforms to improve and extend their functions and to place it amongst the best products in the country; and we will also have Guest version 3.0, which, amongst others, will include improvements to the multi platform electronic billing.
Page 52- SERHS REAL ESTATE
PARTICIPATED COMPANIES Begudes, S.A. “BEGSA”, Fleca Espiga d’Or, S.L., Fancoliser, S.L., Kimburur, S.L., Promociones Inmobiliarias de Calella, S.L., Segreser, S.L. In order to seek maximum returns for the assets of the SERHS Group, this business division was developed inside the company Kimburu, S.L.. The division focuses its actions on facility rental, purchases and sales or promoting certain actions on urban and industrial lands. The project was also designed and authorisation was obtained for the necessary volume and height of the future robotised SERHS distribution warehouse in Ripollet. As subjects on which work has been done and continues in 2010, one thing that is significant is the development of the Execution Plan of the new Calella Industrial Estate, where the company has 18,510 square metres of land. Work is also developing in sector PA-4 of the estate at carrer Montnegre in Calella. As for the block of 23 new dwellings (some maisonettes, 20 parking spaces and commercial premises) made in Calella (carrer Eglesia/Balmes/Angel Guimera), the sales process is still underway. The early months of 2010 saw the completion of the first phase of the remodelling and reorganisation plan (2010 to 2012) of the SERHS warehouses on the Entrevies estate in Tarragona, purchased this year.
Page 53- SERHS EQUITY AND PORTFOLIO
PARTICIPATED COMPANIES Armeig, S.L., Dibacash, S.L., Gregalser, S.L., Grup SERHS, S.A., International Catering ZFT, SARL, Montgriser, S.L., Serag Invest, SARL, SERHS Development, S.L., Seturbrasil, S.A. These management actions led by the general management of the Group are formed by companies involved in administering and holding properties, lands, securities and facilities, which form a series of goods resulting from the Group’s business rhythm. The strategic axes of the corporation pass through the strengthening and future viability of all of the companies of SERHS, which have a global focus that allows them to successfully confront the critical factors of competitiveness by consolidating and creating new business opportunities in all areas of action. Within this area, it is also possible to mention the new international enterprises and business initiatives in Brazil and Morocco. In the Latin American country, the group owns and manages the SERHS Natal Grand Hotel. In a nearby town, Parnamirim, on a highly strategic road communications axis, it also has 300,000 square metres of land suitable for developing a wide range of activities as a logistics or commercial centre. In Morocco, for many years different actions have been developed around the sectors of tourism, specifically travel agencies and production, with a fruit juice factory in Tangiers that has been refurbished and even a new stage of relaunching in 2009 and 2010. RELATED COMPANIES SERHS S/COOP. C. Ltda. Its initial drive and its wish to cooperate and associate on the level of people have given way to an intense social activity. Since the company started now 35 years ago, its feeling of belonging, of mutual confidence and its wish to improve have led to the development of many initiatives around the company which have enabled the achievement of what today is known as the SERHS Group. 103 Grup SERHS annual report 2009
grup serhs MÚTUA DEL MARESME The Mútua del Maresme, adhered to the Federació de Mutualitats de Previsió Social de Catalunya, is a social provision entity born out of the spirit of corporation that has allowed the exercise of social provision by help and mutual aid among the associates, without wishing to make a profit. Its area of action is Catalonia. This company covers the associates with regard to health assistance, schooling, death and all of the complementary services each requires.
Page 54- RELATED COMPANIES
ESCOLA UNIVERSITÀRIA D’HOSTALERIA I TURISME DE SANT POL DE MAR This centre, ascribed to Girona University and founded in 1966, has a long tradition in tourist and hotel training, and maintains a tight, reciprocal institutional bond with the SERHS Group. But the most important thing about this hotel-school, the oldest in Spain, is the exchange which is established between this university centre and the SERHS group of companies, which generates intense, fruitful feedback. The EUHT in Sant Pol is receptive to the business baggage of the Group, which gives it prime order, updated knowledge of the dynamics of the sector. At the same time, this means that the Group can benefit from the support and a package of knowledge and technical experience which can only be given by a certified university centre. The school has received institutional recognition both around the state and in the autonomous community and sector, by being distinguished with the “Gold Plate for Tourist Merit” and the “Turisme de Catalunya Plate of Honour”, amongst other awards. PUBLINTUR, S.A. The Grup SERHS is and has always been aware of the need for instruments of dissemination and communication to effectively inform on the multiple, diverse actions it carries out. For this reason, it has a close, intense relationship and bond with the company PUBLINTUR, S.A., a company engaged in image and communication, as well as graphic and digital production. This company has become an instrument of help at the service of promoting and disseminating the tourist resort of Catalonia, and a source of support for the tourist activity in areas in destinations where different Plans of Excellence and Tourist Dynamisation have been drawn up. It has a design studio with leading technology and its own printing workshop. The strong business synergies have driven its bond with the SERHS Group. Communication and external relations, advice and the development of tourist products and services also appear among the activities of this company. One of its emblematic graphic products is the PUBLINTUR informative tourist magazine, which has now welcomed holiday tourists to Catalonia for 27 years. This is a publication edited in two idiomatic blocks and is present in the 15 tourist destinations of greater accommodation capacity, with a circulation of 410,000 copies. The PUBLINTUR magazine has become an exponent of mixed public-private collaboration and an instrument of tourist attention and information at the service of the Catalonia brand. This year, Publintur, S.A. was awarded the Alimara award.
Page 55- ANNUAL CORPORATE-FINANCIAL REPORT Page 56- LETTER OF THE FIRST VICE-CHAIRMAN
As you already know, this year we are celebrating our 35th anniversary (1975 to 2010). After all of this time we realise that despite the need of companies to generate business and profits, it is necessary and of similar importance (time has shown us we are right) to generate well-being for the staff of a company and to take care of the environment and our general surroundings. Reaffirming our stake on corporate social responsibility on our plan which was started in 2008 with a first phase until 2011, we have developed considerably in reconciling the working and family life of our average 2,697 workers, by continually improving the processes in a plan of equality between men and women in our corporation, and in different procedures that are important for our organisation. In this sense, we started by identifying the jobs in SERHS with a questionnaire performed by all of the workers of the corporation through the SERHS intranet portal. This allowed us to identify 375 different jobs and 9 levels of responsibility. At the present time, every worker has their job description in a file easily accessible through the Intranet portal. Alongside this, it has also helped us to update the Group organisation. Another aspect to highlight is the good reception of the conciliation program, which in 2009 of the 295 applications to combine work with family and household responsibilities. We are highly satisfied with being able to give a small “break” in the daily work so that people can deal with family questions, which is of great help to our workers and improves their productivity. Two new actions must also be pointed out on the strategic level of our group. The first, the Equality Plan we have started, for we are sure that this stake on giving the same opportunities to men and women in our corporation will allow us to develop strategies of cohesion in the short, medium and long-term. And the second, very important for its direct implication on our present and future activity is the SERHS Innovation Plan, led by the maximum organisational levels of 104 Grup SERHS annual report 2009
the group, which has the objective of structuring our working methodology to organise and promote innovation in order to gain tangible advantages. I would like to stress the effort that the SERHS Group makes with its workers, who are considered our main asset and this is revealed in things such as the annual family program, which this year increased the help once more to €45,000, 7% up on last year. I would not like to forget the internal and external communication that has developed considerably in recent years. On the one hand, aside from the multiple channels that the corporation has created to establish fluid, open, two-way communication between the company and its workers, referring to the 35 years of the SERHS Group, a series of visits have been planned by the presidency to all of the group companies in order to be close to the team. Furthermore, regarding external communication, I would like to highlight the notoriety achieved in the different media, which has strengthened the value of our SERHS brand. Finally, in the second block of the report, you will find environmental information referring to reach of the divisions of our corporation, and also the economic and financial information corresponding to the year closing at 31 December 2009. These consolidated figures are backed by the audit of the Faura-Casas Auditors-Consultors firm and, after their opinion, the annual accounts for the financial year 2009 express the true and faithful image of our equity and the financial situation of the SERHS Group and its subsidiaries, and the results of their operations. Jordi Bagó i Mons First Vice chairman and CEO of the SERHS Group. The Conciliation Measures have been divided into four levels depending on the seniority of each worker and are organised in line with the previous considerations that each SERHS area of activity considered necessary. All applications are sent exclusively through the SERHS Internet portal.
Page 58- CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
THE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF ORGANISATIONS TRIES TO RECONCILE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND COMPETITIVENESS WITH SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND IMPROVING THE ENVIRONMENT. The SERHS Group has always had a special interest in highlighting the features that have characterised its identity and with this, its human side and the social involvement it forged when it was founded. 2009 was the second year of the Values Plan of Corporate Social Responsibility. This plan attempts to reconcile economic growth and competitiveness with social development and improvement of the environment. The design of the corporate social responsibility policy focuses on a mission and company values, with strategic objectives to be developed through two strategic plans: the Integral Plan of Human Resource Development and the Plan of Transversal Management of Quality Environment and Prevention of Labour Risks. INTEGRAL PLAN OF DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES DESCRIPTION OF JOBS AND ORGANISATION One of the first objectives and one of the most basic to be able to work on the Integral Plan of Development of Human Resources has been to draw up a catalogue of work posts starting with the collaboration of all of the workers, who replied to a questionnaire describing work posts through the SERHS portal. This allowed 375 different work posts to be identified, as well as 9 different levels of responsibility. At the present time, each worker has his own job description, which is hung on the SERHS portal, and therefore knows his functions and the level of responsibility which corresponds. The work post sheet includes: • Name of the post, level, area and department. • Hierarchical relations of the post • Jobs • Functional relations • Responsibilities • Characteristics of the post • Knowledge and experience • Working conditions Alongside this, this catalogue of work posts was also used to update the group organisation charts. An organisation chart was designed for each area with its management committee and an organisation chart of each company, which can be accessed by all workers of the Group, regardless of the area and the company to which they belong, which allows all workers to be informed on the organisation of the Group. In the last year, this description allowed the training profile of each post to be drawn up so that, with the collaboration of human resources, it is possible to know what training every worker has done or must do. CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT OF PROCESSES A first stage is carried out in improving processes, which consists of identifying the most suitable procedures to be improved for each business division, and to validate the computer program that will be used to analyse processes. CONCILIATION OF WORKING AND FAMILY LIFE IN THE SERHS GROUP Concerned at improving the quality of life of its workers, the SERHS Group has drawn up a catalogue of conciliation for each business area, which inclu-
grup serhs des a series of measures that derive in a system of leave for family reasons, both to attend infants or the elderly and dependent persons, and to create a more flexible structure and organisation in the working environment to allow men and women to combine their work with family and household responsibilities. The conciliation of personal, working and family life arises as a need to make work more compatible with the life of the families and to reply to the considerable increase in the number of women coming onto the jobs market. This commitment must involve the family, the company and society. The measures of conciliation involve a process of transversal change in society; they contribute indirectly to improving the quality of life of the workers and to nurturing a business transformation which modifies the conventional work patterns. In the first year of the catalogue, 295 applications were received for conciliation in the following proportion: (sea graph page 60) Catalonia Flexible Company Awards 2009 It must be mentioned in this section that, as a result of our conciliation policy, a Mention of Honour was achieved in the large company category of the 16th edition of the Catalonia Flexible Company Awards 2009. More than 1,800 companies went in for this recognition of conciliation policies. Sara Berbel, the general manageress for Equal Opportunities at Work of the Government of Catalonia presided the event and Mar Matellanes, the directress for Corporate Social Responsibility, received the award given to the candidature for the different measures of conciliation between professional and personal life applied in the Group. EQUALITY PLAN BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN The Equality Plan is a strategic tool that enables equal opportunities to be achieved between men and women in the company. As is defined by article 46 of the law which regulates this matter, “an Equality Plan is an organised series of measures adopted after making a diagnosis of the existing work situation, which is intended to achieve equality between men and women and eliminate possible discriminations that might be detected by reasons of sex.” The Plan foresees objectives and actions for developing in different areas, such as access to work, professional classification, promotion, training, retribution, prevention of sexual abuse and harassment, and the organisation of work time to favour conciliation between work, personal and family time in terms of equality between men and women. The Equal Opportunities Plan is a tool that enables strategies to be developed through a series of specific objectives in the short, medium and long-term, and which also achieve equality. Therefore, it is a guide to define actions to be developed in the short-term and is also flexible tool that allows new objectives and actions to be brought in for improvement. The benefits of an equality plan for the company, beyond complying with current legislation, are the consolidation of a work tool in management, as it allows the human resources of the company to be optimised, by enhancing and nurturing the capacity of people under equal conditions and without gender discrimination. For all of this, the Equal Opportunities Plan between men and women has been drawn up, by analysing the present situation of our organisation and developing improvement proposals such as: • Working with a non-sexist language in communications (internal and external). • Appearing a protocol of sexual harassment and harassment by reasons of sex. • Including all important collectives in the Equality Plan (women, the disabled, the staff at risk of social exclusion). • Preparing a space for equality where all staff have the plan and its measures available to them.
chance to sign up their children for a one-week summer camp (or more) in August this year at a low price. The house, a former 14th century rectory, has three floors and is surrounded by 3 hectares of esplanades. The focus of the entertainment for the camp will be “The amazing machine of Professor Aticus” and from this centre of interest, the intention is to work and achieve all of the objectives set at the same time to increase the children’s knowledge of history through games. At this point, we must stress the collaboration agreement signed in April 2010 with Cuina Justa, a non profitmaking company that is part of the Cassià Just Foundation, which works on the social and occupational insertion of people with particular mental and social fragility. ANNUAL FAMILIES PLAN 2009 On 2 September 2008, 340 people gathered to celebrate the SERHS Family Day, an event where the help is given out which corresponds to the “Family Program 2009”, aimed at workers of the Group. The event was held in Castell Jalpí, the headquarters of the corporation. The party was attended by the workers and their families to collect their help and enjoy an entertaining party with an aperitif and different children’s activities. Mr. Ramon Bagó, the chairman of the SERHS Group, handed out the different awards, which this time amounted to €45,000. 7% up on last year, when it was 42,000. 200 families received some kind of help in this Families Program 2009, 13 more than last year. The help given out each year is intended for workers of the corporation who have children in nurseries, for school material and university grants, apart from the gift given each time to workers who have become parents, under the “Welcome Baby” campaign. This year, consideration was also given to large families, single parent families, ever on the increase. For the first year the Castell Jalpí Drawing Competition was held, in which the winner was Miriam Caparrós, the daughter of the worker Xavier Caparrós from Creasa (SERHS Projects & Equipment). Online applications, complete success With respect to one of the services offered by the SERHS Internet Portal, the development this year was the request for online applications. All of the proposals were passed through this Portal, where workers were able to complete the required application and attach the necessary documentation. MANAGERS MEETING 2009, FOCUSED ON INNOVATION The 100 main managers of the SERHS group met on 15 December 2009 in the company headquarters in the Castell Jalpí. The meeting gathered the most outstanding managers of all of the SERHS operative divisions, around one hundred, led by the chairman of the corporation, the CEO and the general managers, who gave different strategic and situational messages on each sector of activity. Also in the morning, internal subjects and developments presented by the corporate directors of each area were treated (human resources, social responsibility, finance, new technologies and marketingcommunication). At the end of the morning sessions, the Christmas lunch was held with excellent service and preparation, and this was followed by a meeting centred on the subject of innovation. In this way, the constitution was formalised of a commission led by the top managers of the group and which will work to carry out an Innovation Plan in the SERHS Group, in order to create a culture for innovation and creativity that the whole Serhs Group team has made its own. The aim is not only to achieve continuous improvement, but to achieve it in a structured manner with a working methodology that organises and promote innovation in the different activities carried out in SERHS. It is a question of focusing the different points of attention that generate value and systematising different techniques and methods that help us to move on, innovating in products, services and procedures in order to achieve tangible advantages appreciated by our customers or which improve our efficiency Page 62- SOCIAL POLICY is a fundamental basis for competing with a chance of success. The conWELCOME MANUAL sultancy company Novagroup, which is specialised in the subject, gave an In this area, we must point to the work done in relation to the SERHS Welinteresting training session. come Manual, which is intended to make a correct, rapid integration of people forming part of our corporation first time. This procedure, through Page 65- Internal communication the SERHS Intranet Port is organised around three large blocks of action: Communication between the company and its workers is basic for the human resources (personnel administration, prevention of occupational good operation of a corporation of the size of the SERHS Group. This is risks), social responsibility and corporate information provided by the why the Group is in favour of establishing fluid, two-way, open communiSERHS Group Marketing and Communication Department. The three blocks cation with all of the members who form part of the corporation, through come together on the same point, largely thanks to the help of new techno- the tools created specifically for this. logies, for workers to receive as much information as possible on their post NEW SERHS WEB from the manager of each SERHS company, in accordance with their profile The SERHS group, in its firm wish to stake on new technologies, has the website www.serhs.com, updated with a considerable change of image in and centre of activity. 2009. This was designed in order to offer a wide range of informative conSOCIAL AREA The SERHS Group has worked with the Molí d’en Puigvert Foundation, a tent to the institution and within each operative division. It has become a non profit-making organisation that contributes to bringing people with central connection for all of the webs in our corporation. problems of mental health into designing and planning a bar area and in SERHS PORTAL training their personnel. The Civic Centre is in el Masnou and staff with psy- This is an exclusive space for workers and, for the first time for the shareholchic disability work there. This year 2009, the first edition was carried out of ders of the corporation, which is intended to be a valuable tool of internal the supportive campaign “Give food or toys and feed excitement.” this was communication with contents of interest to all people in the SERHS Group. successfully covered and 1,000 kg of food were collected which were gi- Year after year new developments have been brought in depending on the ven entirely to the Arsis Foundation, and 376 toys were shared out among uses and needs at each moment. The main developments, in addition to the children of the Raval Playschool. Work was done with Camp del Ramió being able to see and print every person’s salary in any place and at any School (Fogars de Selva) to offer workers and the Group shareholders the time, applications for family help, information for shareholders concerning 105 Grup SERHS annual report 2009
grup serhs calls to meeting, the initiatives of the Value Plan that are being started and the media library, amongst others. For its part, the Human Resource Department has established the new Generic Training Plan for 2010, through the Avanzo Platform, where it may be entered only through the SERHS Portal, where everyone can consult and register. SERHS MAGAZINE Every quarter, the SERHS Group publishes an informative and disseminative magazine of the developments of the companies and the aspects of general interest for the whole of our group. With a circulation of over 6,000 copies, this year it has been published in Spanish due to the expansion of the companies of the Group to the rest of the state, apart from the Catalan edition which had been produced up to now. Workers, shareholders, collaborators, suppliers and customers become habitual readers of our magazine. ROUTE OF THE 35 YEARS With respect to the 35th anniversary of SERHS and due to the operational complexity of of attending the more than 3,000 people involved, instead of gathering all staff at the Team Evening (a celebration held every five years among all the workers of our corporation) it was considered better to plan a program of visits to all SEHRS companies from March 2010 to March 2011 by the Presidency and General Management. The intention is to be close to the team to report the evolution of the group’s activities and developments and at the same time to hand over the lithography commemorating this 35th anniversary. Apart from reporting the Internal Communication project and making a public presentation, the person responsible for linking the information between the group and each company (the so-called “corporate communicator”), these visits have a threefold objective. On the one hand, it is a question of establishing direct contact with the managers and staff of each company to increase their mutual awareness, to be able to assess their work and thus enhance the feeling of belonging to the Group. Secondly, to inform everyone of the possibilities and advantages that the SERHS Group offers everyone who forms part of the entity, such as the Family Program, the “Welcome Baby” campaign, the Magazine and its content, to promote participation in the “And how would you do it” campaign, which in the last edition ended up with a selection of 40 ideas, of which 6 were awarded and will be given in person by the chairman of SERHS on the visits he makes to the companies along the Route of the 35 years. And thirdly, to visit the facilities and see the present situation and future projects of each company, and the opportunities, threats, the development of businesses and short and long-term objectives. INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL DISCOUNTS WITH THE SERHS CARD All of the workers and shareholders of Grup SERHS can benefit from the advantages and internal discounts offered by the Group in each of its divisions. Discounts may be found on food and drinks products, travel, hotels, household items, insurance and computer products, and they also have access to permanent and sporadic external offers and advantages such as gymnasiums, dealers, medical and leisure centres. In 2009, the workers and shareholders of the corporation were able to enjoy discounts in over 50 establishments in Spain. To be able to enjoy these discounts, the members of the Group must present their identity card. The aim of cards is to enable the identification of all people working in any of the companies of the corporation, or shareholders, who may be confirmed as members of the Group whenever they need. The intention is to be able to benefit from the promotions and discounts available at all times both internally in the companies themselves and externally, as a result of the commercial agreements reached with external companies. SHAREHOLDER PARTICIPATION As a significant part of the social policy and the feeling of belonging to SERHS, the workers of the Group who so wish may benefit from advantages in financing the purchase of shares in our corporation. This allows them to make payment in several blocks without any kind of interest or fees, but still allows them to receive the dividends. SOLIDARY AGREEMENTS The Vicente Ferrer Foundation has received co-operation from Grup SERHS for many years. In 2008, a new agreement was renewed for a further 3 years (2008-2009-2010) with a total provision of 90,000 euros. SERHS began to co-operate in financing the maintenance of two primary education centres for girls with hearing and visual disability in Kanekal, in Anantapur, the southern region of India where the Foundation has worked for over 40 years to transform the reality of the most vulnerable communities living there. In memoriam In the past June, Vicenç Ferrer, a cooperating friend and extraordinary person, died in India, a country where he started his first voluntary work 50 years ago in Bombay and then in Anantapur, where the SERHS group has worked for over 10 years. From this year 2010, the SERHS Group will also be working with Cuina Justa, a non profit-making company that is part of the Cassià Just Foundation, which works on the social and occupational insertion of people with particular mental and social fragility. The collaboration agreement includes a series of exchanges of services offered by both companies. 106 Grup SERHS annual report 2009
Page 68- HUMAN RESOURCES
The SERHS Group team is formed by an average 2,697 people. However in the summer months, the time of maximum activity for our group, the team easily exceeds 3,000 people. The following table shows the average team by divisions, and it can be seen that the divisions with the largest staff are those of SERHS Distribució (perishable and non perishable goods), due to the large number of stores and personnel involved above all in commercial attention and drinks distribution; and that of SERHS Alimentació, given the considerable number of centres where the service is given. (see table on page 68) STAFF ADMINISTRATION It stakes above all on the Internet portals and applies continuous improvement in its services in order to offer both SERHS Group companies and external customers and ever more effective service. The http://portal.serhs. com/rrhh portal is used as a means of communication between the company and the HR department, personalised and interactive. It is a tool which saves much time and costs, of voids travelling or telephone calls and is operative 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. With this certification, it is possible to serve from any connection point in the world and to guarantee the required confidentiality and maximum security. In 2009, the staff Administration Department managed a total 37,138 salaries. With the collaboration of the corporate management of the Corporate Social Responsibility, the HR Staff Administration Department is beginning to work with processes to improve its operative efficiency. In 2009, the HR Development departments (including training and selection) came into the operative management through the Navision environment. TRAINING In 2009, a total 380 training groups were formed throughout all of the companies of the corporation, including 2,907 participants. Investment in training exceeded €318,600. Of this training, 31.62% was done through teletraining or from a distance, whereas 68.38% was done in attendance. The involvement of the training department in giving the training must be highlighted: in 2009, 48.42% of all training groups were formed by the Training department itself and the Occupational Risk Prevention department of the SERHS Group. TRAINING PLAN Training actions Training groups Participants Hours of training TRAINING SUBJECTS 2009 Group total number % wrt Group total Prevention of occupational risks Applications, IT and new technologies Languages Food handling Environment Customer attention Management skills Cooking specific (vacuum, labelling, innocuousness) Financial economic Others Total On the level of organisational changes greater efficiency will be achieved as the organisation and coordination of the courses is more flexible and easier and will allow more effort to be put into quality. Also greater efficacy as pupils can be trained in a shorter time. On the level of strategic changes the needs of companies will be resolved in accordance with their suggestions and proposals. The new strategy lies basically on the increase in the knowhow of the SEHRS Group by bringing in our own contents. With respect to the training of the external customers, our effort must be stressed in making customers aware of the importance of worker training, aside from advising them in order to guarantee compliance with what companies are legally obliged to do in terms of training. The number of customers whose training we have managed increased from 14 to 40 over the year. E-LEARNING PLATFORM, “A2, LEARNING TO APPLY” In order to increase this active collaboration, from the first quarter of 2010 the start of the e-Leaning Platform is consolidated under the name of “A2, Learning to apply” and directed the teletraining project in the SERHS Group. The change is shown both on the methodological and pedagogical level and on three organisational and strategic. The A2 platform will be a step further in integrating the new technologies as a daily tool in learning. This platform has been contracted out to the company AVANZO, pioneers on the market since 1998 and leaders in the sector. They have more than 1,000 customers who are benchmarks in their areas of activity and with national and international coverage. They are specialists both in talent management and in transmitting knowledge. The Training Department of the corporation organises the platform, controls the contents and updates the courses. This tailored project is characterised by three large areas: on the one hand the Avanzo creation process of content related to the skills on which training will be based. Then, the production of each of the elements making up these online training actions; and finally, the implementation of all the courses in an innovative platform of teletraining, also developed by Avanzo.
grup serhs SELECTION As for selection, in January 2010, in order to continue improving the efficiency of the Department, a collaboration agreement is established with TeaEdiciones to receive a new set of psycho technical tests (of personality and skills), thus bringing a highly significant improvement into the Department, the performance and correction of tests on an online platform. The SERHS Group Employment Change is a key element for the Department, as it is the place where the most significant number of curriculums come in, with an average 150 per month. In the first half of 2009, an average 98 curriculums were received each month, whereas in the second half of the year this number reached 203. The corporation’s HR department has been present at the most important workshops of the sector: CETT, EUHT and TURISPRO.
Page 70- OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY
Having suitable prevention management and a good working climate is fundamental not only for guaranteeing work under safe conditions, but also for reducing costs (absenteeism and sick leave). The centralisation project concerning the purchase of Individual Protection Equipment is accessible through the SERHS Portal, which started up in May of last year. At the present time, by improving the service of his work to the companies of the corporation, an agreement has been reached with Ariza to include the purchase of uniforms and professional dress. As for the Associated Prevention Service of the SEHRS Group, the important development thanks to the efforts of the Department must be highlighted. In 2009 a total 13 companies were added and in the first half of 2010, the percentage of companies brought into the service will be 93%. In 2009, the SERHS Group Associated Prevention Service is resumed part of the specific training in ORP with its own means and gave a total 48 specific courses on risk prevention. Emergency evacuation drills will also start at the hotels of the Costa de Barcelona-Maresme. Specifically concerning the department of Occupational Risk Prevention, the audit must be highlighted which was carried out for obtaining a certificate of approval of the Occupational Risk Prevention Management System of the companies of the Tourism and Travel division. LABOUR RELATIONS In order to give support to the different divisions of SERHS in this work area, this department seeks the best solution in each case to organise the different companies or business units. GROUP COMPANY LOSS INDEX Comparison 2008-2009 Index Months EVOLUTION OF NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS WITH SICK LEAVE % ACCIDENTS with SICK LEAVE Years Knowledge and experience in applying the different general and specific regulations of each activity allow a broad view of the contractual relationship and active interaction with the team or their representatives.
Page 71- ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION
IN RECENT YEARS, THE ENVIRONMENTAL FACTOR HAS PASSED FROM BEING UNKNOWN TO BEING ONE OF THE KEY FACTORS IN THE COMPANY STRATEGY.
Page 72- ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT
TRANSVERSAL MANAGEMENT PLAN ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS The SERHS Group in recent years has brought in criteria for protecting the environment within the general management of its business in a general policy of corporate social responsibility, and assuming part of the responsibility corresponding to them in preserving and improving the environment. In this respect, the project has been drawn up which includes all of the divisions and companies of the Group, in which the degree of legal compliance in environmental terms was evacuated. From the possible environmental deviations detected, a Plan of Corrective and Preventive Actions was designed, of which a quarterly follow-up is made, with a clearly defined objective: environmental protection. In order to favour exemplary environmental behaviour throughout our staff, a Manual of Good Environmental Practices of all of the companies of the Group has been prepared. Alongside this and in order to nurture responsible use of heating (in the winter) and air-conditioning apparatuses (in the summer), the “Give an example, let’s save energy” campaign has been started to make workers aware with a series of recommendations to produce well-being and energysaving. Specific training is being prepared by dining-room monitors “games and activities of environmental education” in which the monitors learn a whole series of resources, games and activities for working the environment with criteria of sustainability, where savings, recycling and responsible consumption and respect for nature will be fundamental values. SERHS DISTRIBUCIÓ The distribution companies in the hostelry and collective sector carry out a very positive function for the whole of society in preserving the environ-
ment. The distribution of drinks in returnable and reusable packs (boxes or barrels) helps to reduce a large volume of packs which otherwise would have to be collected by the municipal cleaning services to be sent to the disposal units or, in the best of cases, to be recycled by means of selective collection. In recent years the internal regulation of the division has been that all new commercial vehicles purchased must meet applicable community regulations concerning the reduction of gas and contaminating particle emission, as required by article 40 1.1 of RD 283/2001. Since early 2007, the new lorries brought into the area have an auxiliary tank for a liquid called AdBlue which eliminates the emission of polluting gases into the atmosphere. This is a clean, non-toxic solution of a chemical compound called urea. AdBlue can be handled safely. In recent years, a process has also been carried out to renew all of the forklift trucks in the stores, replacing the diesel trucks with electric ones, a cleaner energy which avoids gas emission in the stores. The companies with their own mechanical workshop have an agreement with a waste manager by which they collect oils from the vehicles which are rich in sulphur, chlorine and metals, which therefore represent a considerable environmental risk. It is therefore avoided pouring used oils into the drains, flowing water or on to the soil. A single litre of used oil pollutes 1 million litres of water, or 5 litres of used oil pollute the air that a person breathes for three years. The companies of SERHS DISTRIBUCIÓN have invested considerably in machines to press cardboard and plastic in order to compact all of this waste and send it directly to companies which recycle these kinds of materials. It has also been possible to improve the cleanliness and tidiness of the stores. SERHS PROJECTS & EQUIPMENT When this operative area is commissioned projects by hotels, restaurants, cafeterias and collectives, it offers advice for them to apply new systems which allow an improvement in the environmental policy. The main factors are focused on: * Improvement of waste management: - Fat separators for kitchens - Functional designs to facilitate waste classification - Management and evacuation during the work * Improvement of the optimisation of energy consumption: - Rainwater recovery - Taps and cisterns which economise in the use of water - Low consumption electrical installations - Energy recovery SERHS ALIMENTACIÓ CERTIFICACIONES The area of SERHS Alimentació, which was ISO 14001:2004 certified years ago in environmental management has also passed the monitoring audits required by this regulation. As a result of the change in the ISO 9001 regulation, which has a new version, the Quality management System is certified in the new version ISO 9001:2008. Furthermore, the ISO 22000:2005 regarding the system for managing the innocuousness of foodstuffs is still held. WASTE CONTROL Each of the companies of the SERHS Alimentación area manages its own waste according to the law on waste management. The objectives posed for 2009, which are currently under analysis, are the following at the present time: - 10% reduction of DQO (organic material) and oils/fats in the waste water for legal compliance. - Minimisation to 50% of the volume of cardboard and banal waste. - To improve the quality of the waste segregation. The Foodstuff Production and Management Division has a well-trained professional quality department which set the steps that have to be followed in continuous innovation and research to be abreast of the new laws and regulations concerning the environment which are extended, renewed and/or modified constantly. Therefore, all of the companies forming the division work to adapt the industries to the new environmental and health regulations. This is primordial for the division, not only as a concept but also as a work procedure, as it offers a high degree of professionalism and rigour as a competitive advantage. CONTROL OF ENERGY COSTS AND CONTAMINANTS Furthermore, an important subject with a significant impact to be improved, and on which this area is making a great effort in finance and management, is the replacement of natural resources (natural gas) as energy consumption products, to the detriment of other more polluting products (gas-oil). Annual studies are made of energy consumption, and an evaluation is made to be able to improve production planning and therefore reduce costs. WORKING SALUBRITY A pause must be made on this aspect, for SERHS Alimentació trains its team very strictly and continuously in salubrity and food hygiene, centre by centre. All of the workers have their corresponding individual protection equipment. SERHS TOURISM AND SERHS SERVICES The great introduction of new technologies and innovative communication systems in operative jobs has, on the one hand, involved the reduction abo107 Grup SERHS annual report 2009
grup serhs ve all of paper and, on the other, the sending of communiques by electronic mail and the creation of web portals. All of this has increased the speed of communications and improved energy expenditure. The following is promoted from these areas: - Recycling of paper, printer cartridges and toners, organising centralised collection (the recycling procedures established in the agreement that the SERHS Group has with Ricoh). - Centralised recycling of any electronic equipment in all of the companies of the SERHS Group, either in collaboration with NGOs or taking the material directly to the disposal units. - Both the new offices of SERHS Nuevas Tecnologías and the Data Processing Centre have rooms fitted out with programd air-conditioning and heating to guarantee a suitable temperature, but also to ensure energy savings whenever possible (we optimise energy consumption as far as possible). - The fact of intervening in automation/domestic robotic projects means that the SERHS New Technologies division helps the rest of the Group companies to improve their energy efficiency and therefore to optimise their energy consumption. - Introduction of technology to help to meet the objective of “Offices without papers”: - With multifunctional devices - With online collaboration tools (Google Apps) - With digital invoicing - Digital invoicing. This is a system for issuing and receiving invoices without having to print them out on paper. This new procedure achieves great savings in paper, and also speeds up and enormously simplifies company administration both in management time and sending costs, as this job is done by electronic mail. Communication via electronic mail is also enhanced, as well as the sending of multiple mails to workers and shareholders instead of letters, with the corresponding use of paper and energy consumption in transport. - Document digitalisation. A document filing procedure which, instead of being physical with the corresponding need for space, becomes “virtual”. A system is therefore structured for organising the different subjects depending on the pertinent requirements of each type of document (reproduction of originals, legal considerations,...). In departments such as Human Resources of the division of SERHS Services, the objective has been achieved of having (and storing) 90% of all new documentation in digital format. - Multifunction devices (equipment which brings different functions together in the same machine such as printers and fax together), and unified messaging via electronic mail are also the important aspects in these areas. SERHS HOTELS In order to contribute to improving the environment, a job in which the Rural Villages, as their name indicates, reaffirm their identity, in 2009 the Rural Villages went into the process of achieving Q quality certificate granted by the Spanish state through the Institute for Spanish Tourist Quality. This distinction is of benefit and advantage both to customers and the tourist establishment. Amongst other things, it guarantees the quality of the products and services offered by the certified establishments; greater confidence in the professionalism of the staff, greater security for customers in choosing the establishment as it has this certificate, etc. And as regards the establishment, it gives an improvement in its business management, which is reflected in the excellence of the product and therefore becomes a trait to distinguish the establishment from the competition with greater customer satisfaction, immersed in a process of continually improving the establishment and recognition by the tourist sector, operators and customers. As for supply consumption, an effort has been made to reduce energy expenditure and a fall of 5% was achieved for each stay, even though the climate was more rigorous than the previous year. The global emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere fell by 4%, and a great effort was made to save water to prevent possible drought, savings being achieved of up to 20%. Finally improvements were made to selective collection and management of waste, above all oils.
Page 76- CONSOLIDATED ANNUAL ACCOUNTS
This economic and financial information corresponding to the year closing at 31 December 2009, which we provide in the following, has been prepared from the accounting registers of Grup SERHS, S.A. and its subsidiaries in order to show the true and faithful image of the equity, the financial situation and the results of the Consolidated Group. These consolidated figures are backed by the auditing of the company Faura-Casas Auditores-Consultores and, as revealed in the opinion which we attach further on, the annual accounts of 2008 expressed are the true and faithful image of the equity and financial situation of Grup SERHS and its subsidiaries, and the results of their operations. In this dossier you can find: * GROUP CONSOLIDATED ANNUAL ACCOUNTS Financial Statements (Balance sheet and Income Statement) Auditors Report * CONSOLIDATED INFORMATION Different analyses of important aspects of the economic and financial situation 108 Grup SERHS annual report 2009
general explanation For the effects of drawing up the Annual Accounts of Grup SERHS, S.A. and subsidiaries (Consolidated Group), we must consider that the Group is made up of 60 active companies which, gathered in operative business divisions, has the following composition: (see table on page 77) In 2009, different mergers and takeovers have occurred between companies of the Group, which has reduced the number of companies forming the consolidation perimeter with respect to the previous year. Some business combination operations have been carried out under a criterion of simplifying the corporate structure of the Group and making use of the synergies from the perspective of both administrative and commercial management. There follow the operations carried out by operative business divisions. - SERHS Distribució.- Port Parés, S.L. has merged with Barcelonesa de Begudes, S.L. - SERHS Tourism.- Viatges SERHS Hotels, S.A. (which has changed its name to SERHS Tourism, S.A.) has been absorbed by the merger of up to eight companies of the same division (Jochie Catalunya, S.L., Viajes Rhodasol, S.A., SERHS Tourism, S.A., Viatges Tropikal Tours, S.A., SERHS Turismo Ibérica, S.A., SERHS Turismo Andalucia, S.A., VivaHotal Ebro, S.L. and Turismo y Mar, S.A.) - SERHS Projectes i Equipaments.- Equip Turis, S.A. has absorbed three companies of the same division in different operations (Creasa, S.L., Torraneulaser, S.L. and Equip Turis Canarias, S.L.) - SERHS Immobiliària.- Promocions Immobiliarias de Calella, S.L. has absorbed the company Fluviaser, S.L. (a company ascribed to the Equity and Portfolio division) - SERHS Patrimonial i Cartera.- Grup SERHS, S.A. (the parent company of the Group) has absorbed several equity companies (Brasilcat, S.L., Brownboard, S.L., Economat SERHS, S.L., Ecologic SERHS Hotels, S.L. and Inversiones Hoteleras 2004, S.L.) and the company ascribed to the real estate division (l’Hereu, S.L.) Likewise, in the same year 2009, two new companies have been brought in which are ascribed to the SERHS Alimentació division (SERHS Food Area and other AIE andServeis Educatius i Socials del Maresme, S.L. (a company that manages the monitoring service in educational and social areas) and the company Gaseosas Caballé, S.L. has been dissolved (shareholder), transmitting its assets to its partners (Grup SERHS, S.A. and Dibama, S.A.). In application of current regulations, as a result of different participation percentages in the companies which form the consolidation perimeter, different consolidation procedures were used this year: * GLOBAL INTEGRATION METHOD (Companies with a participation of over 50%). The consolidation method used in 2009 by all of the companies of the Group, mentioned above. * PROPORTIONAL INTEGRATION method (Companies with a 50% participation) The consolidation method used in 2009 to consolidate Serag Invest, SARL (a Moroccan company holding shares of different Moroccan companies in which the Group participates) * EQUIVALENCE method (Companies with a participation of between 20%-50%) Companies which have been consolidated by this method in 2008: “Viajes Sol i Esquí, S.A.” (travel agency), “Fabrication du jus au Maroc, SARL“ (a Moroccan company engaged in producing and distributing juices), “Express Voyage, SARL” (Moroccan travel agency) “Vila-40, S.L.” (real estate company) and “Baciverser, S.L.” (real estate company). The functional currency of the Group is the euro. As a result of the Group’s internationalisation process in recent years, Brazilian and Moroccan companies have been included in the consolidation perimeter and transactions have also been increased with foreign customers and suppliers using currencies other than the euro. This means that our Group now works with four different kinds of currencies: * Euros (EUR).- The main working currency of our companies. * Dollars (USD).- The currency with which some operations are carried out with countries outside the E.U. * Brazilian Reales (BRL).- The main working currency of our companies in Brazil. * Dirhams (MAD).- The main working currency of our companies in Morocco. The fact of working with different currencies and accounting criteria complicates the procedure of consolidation, as the financial statements have to be transformed into a currency other than the functional currency of the Group, which is the euro, which can cause conversion differences with repercussions on the equity and on the level of results of the year due to exchange differences in the transactions.