GUCCI AND INTESA SANPAOLO SUPPORT “MADE IN ITALY” PRODUCTION EXCELLENCE WITH THE “SVILUPPO FILIERE” PROGRAMME

 

·        The collaboration aims at supporting local growth projects, international expansion programmes and the renewal of production structures of companies in the Gucci supply chain

 

·        Companies in the supply chain will have quick access to a wide range of loans, at the best terms and conditions, and with faster disbursement of loans

 

·        Intesa Sanpaolo’s “Sviluppo Filiere” programme, which was launched in 2015, has been renewed with an innovative model to support the entire Italian production system to ensure it restarts after the Covid-19 emergency

 

Milan, 28 May 2020 - Gucci and Intesa Sanpaolo continue the collaboration started in the early stages of the Covid-19 emergency, with the fundraiser We Are All in This Together for the National Department of Civil Protection, and announce a new initiative to support “Made in Italy” production excellence.

With the  “Sviluppo Filiere” programme, which was launched in 2015 and that has now been renewed, Gucci and Intesa Sanpaolo join forces to help excellent small and medium-sized enterprises of production supply chains to survive the emergency caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and launch their recovery and growth plans. The initiative was introduced to better evaluate small and medium-sized enterprises and to support them with innovative methodologies, leveraging the Group’s sectoral skills and its strong presence in Italy. Behind famous “Made in Italy” companies there are thousands of Italian SMEs (suppliers) who play an important role in the manufacture of their products and are part of their production chain, contributing to the success and fame of leading Italian brands.

Thanks to the partnership that has been announced today, companies in Gucci’s supply chain will enjoy the benefits of the “value” of the supply chain leader obtaining advantageous terms and conditions with fast access to loans, cutting down the times to obtain the liquidity they need, while using concessions and initiatives generally reserved to large corporate customers. In particular, the range of loans linked to the Covid emergency was included in the supply chain programme, helping companies face this phase of difficulty and restart.

The agreement aims at helping Gucci’s supply chain, of Italian small and medium-sized enterprises, artisan workshops, in the leather goods, shoes, accessories, clothing and jewellery sectors that provide jobs to more than 20 thousand people, with their local growth projects in Italy, international expansion programmes and projects to renew production structures. The strength of the agreement lies in pooling Gucci’s industrial, technical and operational know-how, which has developed a strict supplier evaluation system, with Intesa Sanpaolo’s financial soundness, expertise and level of service towards SMEs.

As corporate supply chain leaders of excellence - that are able to unite entire production chains and are particularly sensitive to their suppliers’ needs - Intesa Sanpaolo and Gucci have entered a collaboration that will allow Intesa Sanpaolo to analyse and add value to the membership of suppliers in the supply chain, while giving full value to the industrial context in which they operate and ensuring important price advantages.

Thanks to digitised procedures and an effective exchange of information between the two partners, the loan process will be faster and more streamlined, in order to meet the need of small and medium-sized enterprises to cut down on times in obtaining resources from the financial system.

Intesa Sanpaolo will also provide Gucci’s supply chain with financial instruments and solutions created specifically for the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises, and other commercial collaboration actions will be introduced by the two partners.

By renewing the “Sviluppo Filiere” programme, Intesa Sanpaolo intends to launch an innovative model to support the entire Italian supply chain system, in order to allow rapid credit access by leveraging, in the supplier credit assessment process, the “intangibles” of being a member of the supply chain, thanks to the industrial information provided by the Supply Chain Leader. Small and medium-sized enterprises will thus be able to face the costs incurred during the lockdown and cover the investment necessary for recovery.

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Marco Bizzarri, President and CEO of Gucci commented: “From the first day of the COVID-19emergency, we launched a crowdfunding project by mobilising the global Gucci community: the priority was to give immediate help to doctors, nurses, scientists and healthcare professionals on the front line. The spirit of community, the awareness of a commitment to be shared together remain our priority even during the "phase 2" of this emergency, no less complicated than "phase 1". This spirit - the spirit of "We Are All in This Together" - embodies the commitment of all Made in Italy forces, which is much more than a label: it is a way of conceiving beauty and, consequently, life.

Gucci's dream of beauty is an Italian dream that tells the world a story about the power of imagination and the incredible skills of Italian manufacturing. For almost a century Gucci's foundations have been the know-how and skill of a supply chain of small artisans that represents the heart of Made in Italy. Those who work for Gucci know they are the custodians of a heritage that goes beyond fashion and that must be safeguarded, nourished, protected.

Through the Progetto Filiere Programme that we launched today with Intesa Sanpaolo, our goal is to ensure that the Made in Italy flag, while the economy restarts, can continue to represent Italian heritage in the world as it has always done so far”.

 

“The Sviluppo Filiere Project - said Carlo Messina, Managing Director and CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo -  is intended as an additional concrete and effective tool that we offer to Italian small and medium-sized enterprises, with an eye on the present to help them face the emergency of recent months and an eye on the future, to support them in their economic recovery and development projects, including international projects. The agreement that we are launching thanks to our partnership with a prestigious brand such as Gucci intends to create an innovative model to support Italian supply chains, a system with thousands of small enterprises and artisans, that are often family businesses, with close ties to their own territories. We are perfectly aware that behind the strength of a brand there is a fabric of relationships, activities and ties that are the ecosystem of a territory and play a key role in the success of the Italian Fashion Sector. For us supporting the supply chain means standing side-by-side not only of enterprises, but also and above all, the territories and local communities that are their heart and quintessential driving force.”

 

Fashion is the second most important manufacturing sector of Italian industry with an annual turnover of 95 billion euro and an economic system involving over 60,000 enterprises including SMEs, artisan and commercial enterprises, and approximately 600,000 workers, according to the data of the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (Italian Fashion Industry Association) and Confindustria Fashion (Federation of textile, fashion and accessories companies and associations). The excellence of the associates’ products is confirmed by the very high export rate, equal to over 66% of the turnover, and is guaranteed by the uniqueness of the supply chains that include small and large companies deeply rooted in the territory.

 

Intesa Sanpaolo

Media Relations

Corporate & Investment Banking and Governance Areas

stampa@intesasanpaolo.com