IN THE SPOTLIGHT
range of products for both residenhave you set yourselves? In recent years, Serra has seen tial and commercial applications. Simone Gentili: Our performance in strong, continuous growth thanks This characteristic is underscored by these first few months is largely a reto its exceptional production effithe new Everytile payoff, which result of the excellent customer relaciency and precise market positiofers to a range of indoor and outdoor tions we have built up over the years. ning. To give you an idea of Serra’s floor tiles for residential applications potential, the company has main- The Ascot brand has always enjoyed available in the two thicknesses 10 tained 30% year-on-year growth a strong position in Italy, France, Benmm and 20 mm coordinated with Bi- through 2020 despite the pandemic, elux and North America, and this year Tech white body wall tiles. we also entered the German market and its 10 million sqm/year capacity Dom occupies a very different mar- continues to be insufficient to meet with good results. ket segment and consists of a brand demand. We aim to strengthen the mid to highof handcrafted floor and wall tiles end residential and commercial retail where material and design are the channel by extending our range of ackey elements of the range. tion in Europe and consolidating our presence in AmerIt’s no coincidence that we have renamed it Dom De- ica with the acquisition of new customers. sign Studio. With Dom we focus mainly on the high- With Dom, which operates in the same geographical end residential, contract and hospitality sectors with markets, we are aiming for growth in the project and bespoke projects and collections designed in partner- contract segment. ship with customers. While the Ascot range concentrates on generating volTile International: Have you made any changes in umes, the more artisanal nature of Dom’s products terms of plant engineering at Ascot? means that we need to focus on creating margins. Andrea Bordignon: Right from the start, we identi- Tile International: Will the acquisition lead to any fied the areas of the production process that needed changes for Serra? to be optimised and were able to increase the capac- Simone Gentili: Serra has a well-established busiity of the two factories by around 40% while maintain- ness model that has already proved to be entirely fit ing the same plants. for purpose and, I would say, quite unique. We aim to We have also made new technological investments in strengthen the brand’s leadership position in the DIY large sizes (60x120 cm, 90x90 cm, 75x150 cm), includ- segment in Europe by expanding its presence in Gering the installation of a digital printing system in August. many and entering the French market with the introWe plan to follow these up with further investments duction of the larger sizes and rectified products that aimed at boosting production and improving quality. are currently in strong demand. Its operations in the Despite having a production capacity of 8.2 million Italian market will continue to be marginal. square metres per year, Ascot is also close to saturation. Tile International: How has the Covid-19 pandemic Tile International: Does this mean there may be new affected your plans and what end-of-year results are acquisitions on the horizon? you expecting for 2020? Andrea Bordignon: Victoria has always shown itself Simone Gentili: Following the April lockdown, we beto be open to further opportunities for external growth gan to see a recovery in May and enjoyed excellent rein the Italian ceramic district, not least because it aims sults over the three summer months. to bring the level of Italian turnover up to that of its We even worked on “Ferragosto”, the August 15th Italthree Spanish ceramic companies (around 235 million ian public holiday! euros in 2019), which have 4 plants and a production of At the beginning of September we experienced a around 26 million sqm/year. slowdown and are slightly concerned about the winFor the time being, the revenue generated by our ter months. brands in Italy stands at around 115 million euros per In general, however, we are meeting the 2020 targets year, so we still have a long way to go. we set before the outbreak of the pandemic. As I was Tile International: What sales results have you saying, Serra is expected to exceed these targets, while achieved so far with Ascot and Dom and what goals Ascot and Dom are likely to see a slower recovery in
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