Less than four months after announcing the purchase of the factory of Sacavém to the Triumph, the swiss Gramax Capital revealed on Wednesday that wants to invest one million euros in this unit. The announcement was made by the director-general of the group specializing in investments in small and medium-sized european companies from various sectors, Alexander Schwarz, during a visit to the factory in which also participated the minister of Economy, Manuel Caldeira Cabral, and the president of the Chamber of Loures, Bernardino Soares, the CFP.
The Gramax want to invest in machinery and in the qualification of its human resources to make the Textile Gramax International (TGI) a "competitive company", with the ability to diversify their portfolio and to pursue new customers and export markets, ” explained Schwarz.
With the change of owners, from the Sacavém factory and continues to be the largest employer in the municipality of Loures (has about 500 employees), but the business model is different: the production for various brands. If in the past, via a connection to a shareholder, the entire production went to Austria, in 2017 the production is already destined for the markets as the German, austrian, Spanish, american, and French, besides Portuguese.
And yet that the bonds with the Triumph are not completely cut off – because in order for the business sale to be successful it was essential to guarantee that the German group would maintain for one year a volume of orders to the old drive, as explained to the PUBLIC the minister of the Economy, the TGI is already learning how to walk with your own legs.
With an annual turnover of around 20 million euros, the company is now chaired by Manuel Pereira, will pass the produce to a "diverse range of national and international brands". Without giving great detail, not to violate confidentiality agreements, official source of textile has confirmed that "the Triumph continues to be a very important client at the international level" and that the collection of the Portuguese brand of bikinis and swimsuits Cantê also will go out of the factory of Sacavém. There are at least a british brand – whose identity was not revealed – which also is the hiring to the TGI part of the production. In this case, the design and the fabrics are already chosen by the client, but the TGI has strengthened the team with engineers and textile designers to be able to design their own products. In addition, he created a sales team to approach potential customers.
With the new investments in the optimization of the production and strengthening of the skills of the employees, the TGI aspires to nothing less than "to strengthen the leadership of the production sector in Portugal" and to establish itself "as one of the largest european player in the production of lingerie, shapewear and swimwear for man and woman."
There were a few interested and they all recognized the quality of the asset, but the problem was the size of the company
these Are plans that open up a new cycle in the life of the factory that started production in the 60′s, and he began to live the moments of the leap in 2015, when appeared the first rumors that the Triumph was getting ready to relocate the production to Asia. The change was confirmed this Summer by the company, of which, however, assured to be looking for a buyer for the factory and dismissed the idea of redundancies.
But, as it is necessary to see it to believe it, the mobilisation in defence of jobs began with a letter from the mayor of Loures, the former minister of Economy, António Pires de Lima, and lasted (with demonstrations, rallies and meetings) already under the tutelage of Caldeira Cabral. In fact, one of the stops of the minister in the visit to the factory even went to greet the D. Dulce, one of the delegated to the unions that he met during this process (the other was to greet the D. Maria José, the worker is older, with 49 years of house).
Had run a year before the business sale to the Gramax was finally made official. The announcement was made in August and it was in October that Bernadino Soares heard of the new administration to ensure that the 500 jobs were to keep. The factory employs about 460 women – more than 300 are seamstresses – and between 30 and 40 men – these in the areas of warehouse, mechanics, and maintenance. Saying you see “welcome” the strategy of the new shareholder, the mayor who is a communist said on Wednesday that the diversification of products and clients, “gives guarantees of the future” for the company and employees.
Caldeira Cabral, who stressed the fact that neither the workers nor the local authority nor the Government had "given in to resignation" and accept the fact that the factory closed doors, explained to the PUBLIC, on the sidelines of the event, that after conversations with the association of the textile sector, contacts were made with potential investors through the AICEP. "There were a few interested and they all recognized the quality of the asset, but the problem was the size of the company," there has been "so important to the trading with the Triumph," to ensure the transition, he explained.
it Was a "complex process" as the Triumph "was going through a restructuring phase," he said to the PUBLIC Alexander Schwarz. Revealing that began to look for the dossier in March, the leader of the Gramax did not want to disclose the value of the investment, the first in Portugal (and the first in the textile sector). But he assured that the group is in search of new opportunities in the country: "We are interested in other industrial sectors, ‘ he said, without, however, realizing what it is.
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