Foreword

It is impossible to publish a Sustainability Report for the year 2019 without taking into account the profound change in scenario that has taken place during the first six months of 2020. The coronavirus pandemic has dramatically altered the global equilibrium and the change has touched all levels of society, striking at the heart of every culture and affecting the habits of every individual.

RadiciGroup and all its companies and stakeholders – first of all, its workers in every part of the world – are experiencing a disconnect between before and after the arrival of the pandemic: a deep discontinuity in the perception of themselves and relations with others, which is the source of inevitable disorientation.

Nevertheless, after an initial hesitation, the Group knew how to react.

Sustained by its industrial and family history of almost 80 years, its solid but flexible business systems, its brave workers ready to take on the change, RadiciGroup was able to rise to the pandemic challenge by placing people and resilience at the centre of its strategy.

During the period when the data and case histories for Sustainability Report 2019 were being gathered, RadiciGroup:

Implemented stricter and expanded health and safety protocols, while ensuring the protection of workers and all other people who could potentially access its companies’ premises, in particular customers and suppliers.

Promoted initiatives to strengthen the engagement of its employees, particularly regarding social distancing measures, including employee listening sessions and widespread internal communication on health and safety matters.

Experimented, together with its workers, on digital solutions for smart and remote working to allow employees to operate safely and, in many cases, reconcile professional duties with new family responsibilities.

Opted, wherever possible, for e-learning in order to continue worker training and education even during the emergency crisis period.

Recognized community needs, particularly in the province of Bergamo, and donated materials and medical devices to help deal with the health emergency of unprecedented proportions.

Understood how to contribute and help the community by getting involved in the production of personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical workers, either directly (medical gowns) or indirectly (face masks) by supporting the formation of business networks.

Put into play the Group’s transformative resilience, that is, its capacity to seize opportunities inherent in any change, by converting part of its business. R&D activities and production lines were set up for the design and manufacture of high-performance anti-Covid-19 clothing for healthcare workers in situations of the highest risk.

In this context, RadiciGroup developed new production chains, in collaboration with other Italian entrepreneurial companies, for the manufacture and sale of protective medical clothing, thus helping an industry to survive during the lockdown.

The data in the 2019 RadiciGroup Sustainability Report must be read in light of a Group in transformation. The data were collected through remote working and were discussed by teleconferencing, which is proof of the Group’s proactive spirit and testifies to its capacity to embrace change and its flexibility to adapt to fluctuating external conditions. The reporting process was entirely handled through remote working, because the method was determined to be solid, yet dynamic, like the whole RadiciGroup system.

Sustainability Report 2019 will also be published and distributed mostly in a digital format, a choice partly dictated by social distancing and partly to achieve the specific goal of making this document “lighter” and more available to a wider and more diversified audience.