"In recent months, the emergency caused by Covid19 has brought about significant changes to the international market structures. In this complex scenario, the lockdown forced many businesses to halt production not strictly related to essential services.
At Ivars, for some weeks we chose to work as effectively as we could to ensure we were able to provide maximum support to our customers, in particular for those operating in the essential sectors. We did this without considering our internal financial costs. Other weeks, we felt compelled to voluntarily close our production sites to protect all of you, the Men and Women of Ivars.
Subsequently, our desire to recommence stronger than before spurred us to look to the future, towards new important goals. Thus, we continue to place our expertise, solid foundations and production capacity at your service to meet all your requests and anticipate new market needs. We want to remain your favoured partner and we would like to thank you for continuing to choose us, despite these complex times.
The ultimate goal of each and every decision we make is always centred around assuring your business success.
Over the last few months, we have invested to grow further, coherently and wisely, so that we can be even more responsive to a scenario that is likely to undergo more sudden changes.
As you know, we actively responded to the growing need for enhanced hygiene and "social distancing" in order to reduce the spread of the Covid19 pandemic. We did this in a number of ways. Firstly, we tested the potential to easily clean and sanitise all our seats with plastics at sight and in mesh without damaging the materials. Secondly, we studied the possibility of adding chemical antibacterial additives directly into the production process of our plastic components; and, as a result, we launched Cary, the first antibacterial chair. Finally, despite hugely challenging time pressures, we were able to guarantee a large supply of College kits, the model developed for Educational environments that ensures social distancing and hygiene. We did this to support our customers in the Italian market who got orders to supply this innovative chair to schools.
For this purpose, we significantly increased our production capacity and capitalised on synergies with subsidiaries or associated companies; and first among these was Brado.
These strategic choices allow us to be now ready to provide you with first-rate support and face major new challenges.
To learn more about College, Marilyn and Cary you can read the dedicated news.
But our commitment does not stop here. We are continuously monitoring the rapid social and cultural changes taking place, and we predict with some certainty that they will lead to new habits regarding also the use of seating components in different environments. Versatility has always been one of our greatest strengths. And this is already allowing us to respond to the evident shift towards home office, a trend which is potentially set to grow in the coming months.
College, Marilyn and Cary are recent examples of our versatile and innovative seating solutions.
Research, Innovation, Group Synergies, Production Capacity and Versatility: these are just some of the distinctive advantages we offer you every day.
Hoping that 2021 will be a year full of good results and successes, we can only wish you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year".
Carlo Ebenestelli, Ivars Spa President