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Yves Even, Partner and leader for commercial and industrial companies at EY Luxembourg is touring the country to meet global leaders and share their stories. Marc Giorgetti is co-CEO of Felix Giorgetti Group – the largest family business in the construction sector, and passionate entrepreneur.
Yves Even: What is the biggest personal challenge you have recently taken on?
Marc Giorgetti: I have recently transformed my greatest hobby – which is boat construction, into a new professional activity. This year, I am very proud to have won the prestigious world superyachts award for design and innovation for Solaris yachts.
Furthermore, my brother and myself are proud to perpetuate our family business with the integration of our children, representing the 4th generation. They bring a young spirit and new vision to our activities.
YE: Which project makes you most proud of your teams to date?
MG: All our projects make me proud. When you drive through Luxembourg and look at the buildings, you have the entire history of our company in front of you. They are all emblematic in their own way and all have their history, written by our teams.
One recent major project was the complete renovation of the runway at Luxembourg airport, which we carried out at night, between midnight and 6 a.m. for six months – a significant challenge in terms of logistics, believe me!
YE: What are the greatest challenges for your business in the face of competition?
MG: For a family business that does not distribute dividends but reinvests its profits each year into the company, it is crucial to maintain a high level of investments into technology, Research and Development and its personnel, to expand our activities and be ready to take on the same challenges as the Europe-wide big players.
This also brings a set of transformation challenges, for example when merging with other companies and integrating their business in order to gain importance on the market.
YE: What are the challenges in the construction industry?
MG: The workforce, clearly. Statistically, according to the age pyramid and if there is no renewal due to a real shortage of labor, we will have 30% fewer people in the construction sector in the next five years.
Innovation and technology are the biggest levers to counter this trend, as we will need to get used to working on always bigger and more complex projects with less resources. The pre-manufacturing and delivery of masonry elements is one of many examples which will enable this in the future.
Family businesses in Luxembourg
95% of Luxembourg's economic fabric is made up of SMEs. Entrepreneurs create positive social change by bringing fresh ideas to the market. Thanks to our understanding of business challenges, EY supports many of them in their audit of financial information, digital transformation, financial efficiency, tax-related needs and succession planning.
This article was published in Inflight magazine.