FACE2FACE
Ramón Ceravalls general manager, Grupo CELO
A tour of Gaudí’s breathtaking Basícala Sagrada Família provided an unexpected but memorable interlude in a conversation about the development of a family company. The Barcelona guide was Ramón Ceravalls. The conversation: a fascinating insight into why Grupo CELO prospered in 2011 and faces a challenging 2012 with confidence.
T
he CELO name signifies its two family owners – CE from Ceravalls, LO from Lopez. “My father was an engineer who in the early sixties helped a friend who produced electrical components,” explains Ramón Ceravalls.
Later the same friend complained about the difficulties in sourcing good quality screws. “My father already knew Mr Lopez, a young production manager who every morning called at my grandfather’s bakery for his breakfast bread, so he said to him, ‘what if we started to make screws like this?’” CELO started in 1963 with three old machines, selling to the electrical sector. “Our specialism in small screws started here, and is still our core business,” says Ramón. “Our main customers have traditionally been electronics, electrical goods and home appliances. My father always said that written in gold letters over the company entrance should be, “We will not work for the large automotive companies, they will squeeze us to death.” The sentiment “somehow” has changed, with tier two automotive parts now representing around 20% of CELO business but the instinct for avoiding reliance on large customers is stronger than ever, reinforced by later events. By 1973 Spain experienced the first of a series of economic
crises. It did not hinder the ambitions of Señors Lopez and Ceravalls. “They decided to move the factory from Barcelona to Castellar del Vallés, where we are now. They were young, ambitious and their products were competitive so they bought 12,000 square metres of land.” The social unrest that followed Franco’s death caused them to “draw in their ambitions”, opting to consolidate as a medium sized business rather than chasing rapid growth. “In 1982 there was a fresh
crisis,” says Ramón, “although I must say these crises always seem to have been pretty good for our company.” CELO’s owners recognised that despite its severity, the crisis would not last forever. “So they decided to continue producing as if nothing had happened, building up large stocks. After the crisis finished, they thought, nobody will be able to deliver to the market and we will be able to get high prices for our screws.” In entrepreneurship there is always a fine line between courage and foolishness, but
they were right and made money – in the process developing a new distribution facet for the business to complement the established sales of high quality screws and special parts direct to industrial customers. Ramón Ceravalls joined CELO in 1989. “When I graduated I
did not know whether my future would be in the family business. We were a small Spanish company. While we had good products, a good reputation and were financially strong there were still many risks.” Previously a fairly closed market, by the mid 1980s, more Asian screws were entering Spain at prices CELO could not match. Ramón Ceravalls opted to join Procter & Gamble’s marketing operation in Madrid. Eight years later his father asked him to become general
manager. “It took us a while to define the future,” he recalls. “Mr Lopez had two daughters, we were two brothers and a sister. Could this be a small business with five owners?” The precondition for Ramón taking on the general management was that only one member of each family would hold the shares. “I did not want the shares split so many ways that there could be conflicting interests.” Agreement reached, Ramón worked for a year alongside his
father before the latter retired. Discussion about the future, though, almost immediately polarised opinions. “My father and Mr Lopez felt it was time to close the factory and concentrate on buying and selling. I did not believe this would bring added value in the long term.” Ramón won a five-year stay of execution.
CELO plant in Barcelona, Spain 76 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 73 January 2012
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