Sixty years of life: a long journey in the world of prefabricated metal structures, during which Edilsider also faced difficult moments, responding with perseverance, humility, and foresight. Today the company operates all over the world and hopes to gain a foothold in Russia
Carlo Spada is the CEO of Edilsider, a company based in Lecco that, thanks to its structure, operates throughout the world.
Mr. Spada, how did you start your business? How did it all happen?
Let’s just say that, fortunately, I didn’t have to start from scratch: when I began working, in the early 80s, for about ten years I worked with my father, who was the true founder of Edilsider, in 1963. He gave me enthusiasm for work: I learned to work while enjoying myself. He always compared work to playing poker: if you lose, you work even harder to win back, and if you win, you keep working to win again… In the end, I have to say, he was right. To sum up, I would say that Edilsider was born and raised largely thanks to the enthusiasm that my father passed on to me.
I imagine the initial break-in phase, then expansion…
When I started running the company, around the 1990s, the situation in the Italian market deteriorated sharply: I entered the scene in the midst of political and economic changes that were putting our country to the test, our clients were sued in a “clean hands” trial, and the company was reduced to minimum. This is what determined success, when you find yourself in a corner, the survival instinct helps, so I left to look for new clients and opened up abroad, which slowly brought us back afloat, and the game began again.
Your business is very specific. What is the reaction in Italy?
Let’s say that the Italian market from the 1990s to 2020 has always represented a small part of our turnover. However, in the last two years, the proportions have changed: we have grown substantially thanks to significant demand generated by investments from the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan. We opened two more production plants in Campania and Sicily to get closer to the rapidly developing construction sites in the south.
When did you decide to open up abroad?
In the early 1990s, when the Italian market for large-scale works plunged into a dark abyss following the “bribery-ville” investigation. For us, as for many small companies associated with large construction companies, this was the end. We have had to reinvent ourselves by providing a comprehensive service to our customers, among other things through delocalizing the construction of our prefabricated homes, in order to become the most competitive.
Which markets give you the most satisfaction?
If we talk about geographical regions, we are certainly proud to have completed a major contract with Russia, a country that is really developing in the industry and has huge opportunities for our work. Unfortunately, now this wonderful Russian market, due to stupidity, or perhaps just due to simple subordination, is closed to us in light of economic sanctions that affected our industry just a few months ago.
Do you have any hope of resuming exchanges with the Russian Federation?
Considering the potential of this market, which we only had the opportunity to “try” and, unfortunately, immediately leave, we certainly hope so. We hope that when the conflict is over, a fair compromise will be found for all parties involved and that the international framework will allow us to start working in Russia again.
Do you have plans for further growth?
We intend to consolidate more and more: this means being competitive and therefore increasingly present in foreign countries, opening new assembly plants abroad (Australia, United Arab Emirates, and Russia as soon as possible). However, I hope that this growth will happen thanks to my children, who also intend to extend our construction vision to the housing sector: there is still a huge opportunity for growth in this industry. I have always tried to convey to them my enthusiasm for work, and I am sure they will reap the benefits.