When he joined Sisal, the group had recently celebrated 60 years in business. Almost a decade later, the company’s 70th anniversary celebrations were set against the backdrop of a twofold increase in turnover and steady profitability growth (€15bn turnover and about two thousand employees).

And Emilio Petrone has achieved all this at the height of the financial crisis and in a constantly changing scenario.
In a world that seems to be entering a new less globalised and more introverted phase, what are the opportunities and challenges? “There may have been an excess of zeal in certain areas that needs to be reined in”, states Sisal’s CEO. “The main item on the European agenda is growth, as though it were an urgent issue. But for a mature economy like ours, the 1.6%-1.7% rise in GDP indicated in OCSE forecasts is by no means a negligible one. Let’s be clear, we can’t expect to report the same numbers as emerging countries.”

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