Marcello Veronesi, former Chief Strategy Officer, is the new CEO of Cantiere del Pardo.
He succeeds Fabio Planamente, who resigned for personal reasons after having, from 2018 to the present, guided the shipyard to a meteoric growth strong especially with the success of the motor range Pardo Yachts.
The change at the top comes with the full agreement of the parties and with the intention of ensuring maximum operational and management continuity.
Planamente remains a partner and member of the company’s Board of Directors, with the willingness to support with his experience the new CEO and the Shipyard in which he has worked for more than 20 years. Here is what 37-year-old Marcello Veronesi told us a few weeks ago, prior to his appointment as CEO, in an exclusive interview that came out in the current issue of Barche a Motore No. 39 on newsstands.
He tells us about his vision and how the family’s know-how (Oniverse Group, a three billion euro empire of which CdP is a member) will enable the site to grow further.
The interview with Marcello Veronesi
By Eugenio Ruocco
I am sitting in the clubhouse of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, in Porto Cervo.
We should be at sea following, aboard a Pardo 50, the Grand Soleil Cup (the gathering dedicated to all owners of Cantiere Del Pardo sailboats), but the mistral is raging.
There is a half-hour wait before going out on the water: just enough time for a chat with Marcello Veronesi, class of 1987.
The son of Sandro, founder of the Oniverse Group (formerly the Calzedonia Group, which brings together brands such as Calzedonia, Intimissimi, Tezenis, Falconeri, Signorvino, Atelier Emé: more than three billion in sales and 45,000 employees), since last year the majority owner of Cantiere Del Pardo.
I care to speak with Marcello, as he is freshly appointed CSO, Chief Strategy Officer, of the Italian shipyard that produces the Pardo Yachts and the VanDutch (engine) and Grand Soleil (sail).
Joining the current management of Cantiere Del Pardo (which counts former majority shareholders Gigi Servidati, president, and Fabio Planamente, CEO), he will make his contribution to the further development of an Italian shipyard that is projecting, more and more, its “made in Italy” in the world and that to do so needs on the one hand “industrial” logics, but without losing its DNA that counts on 51 years of history.
Marcello, do you consider yourself more of a motorist or a sailor? I was born as a motorist, but I am getting into sailing very quickly.
Sailing is a world that has always fascinated both me and my brothers (Matthew and Frederick, ed.) as “laymen,” now we are getting into it a little at a time as “insiders.”…
Do you remember your first contact with the sea and boats?
As a child, on my grandfather’s boat, a Baglietto.
We are from Desenzano, on Lake Garda: in summer and spring every opportunity was good to go out on the water.
My father Sandro over the years searched for the right motor boat for him, changing several, then his search ended with Pardo.
Do you currently have your own boat?
I have a Pardo 43 and do purely daily use.
We have had the 43 for four years now, and with my wife in the past we have also sailed longer, even spending 3-4 nights on board: if you don’t leave with super-voluminous luggage, you have a good time and are also nice and comfortable.
When your father told you that he wanted to buy Cantiere Del Pardo, how did you react?
No “Dad, but you who are an expert in socks and clothes, what do you have to do with boating?”
Let’s say that Dad’s choice came about yes gradually, but not even too gradually (laughs, ed.).
My brothers and I are partners in the Oniverse group, we are on the board of directors, so all important strategic choices, such as the acquisition of Cantiere Del Pardo, were screened and shared by us.
The investment, however, was decided with a condicio sine qua non….
Which is?
The one that we would constantly follow the activity not as “silent partners.”
As, moreover, is our style, bringing entrepreneurial know-how and being active in management in cooperation with the current partners and the current shipyard management.
It is no coincidence that you recently have an operational position within Del Pardo Shipyard…
That’s right, I was appointed CSO, chief strategy officer.
My role is first and foremost to “study” the brand, the industry, the business, gradually working alongside management and the various area representatives-I am first and foremost just a boat enthusiast and there is a lot to learn.
After this “study period” I will definitely be able to contribute in choices and decisions.
A (right) initial low profile, then.
How can Oniverse lend a hand to the brand, to, again quoting your dad, “make beautiful boats even more beautiful”?
Every industry has its peculiarities, and boating is no exception.
It has its “fixed points” from which you cannot disregard and different logics than the businesses in which we currently operate with Oniverse.
But we certainly will not abandon “best practices” such as investments in technology and innovation, communication, branding, customer relationship management and more generally in activities aimed at managing relationships with the end customer.
With Oniverse – formerly Calzedonia Group – we are reminded of Tezenis, Intimissimi, Atelier Emé, Signorvino… we can say that you Veronesi have “democratized” luxury by making it accessible to a much wider audience.
Do you have a similar strategy in mind in the nautical sector as well?
It is too early to answer this question, I would not want to put too much on the table, we have just arrived!
The positioning of Cantiere Del Pardo’s brands (Grand Soleil for sailing, Pardo Yachts and VanDutch for powerboats, ed.) is already fine as it is, so we wouldn’t want to disrupt the logic of production, distribution or brand positioning.
With the entry of Oniverse, however, we would like to expand their international presence….
What areas do you aim for the most?
Our “Mecca” is the United States: Florida in particular, our distributor has grown a lot along with us, but we are also moving into the Great Lakes area and the West Coast.
We are then expanding into the Gulf of Mexico, Central and South America, and have started working with new distributors in Singapore and Hong Kong….
What about Italy?
Italy is a market that to date, for us, is underpowered.
Without necessarily having to look too far, in touring the many Italian marinas, even major ones, visited a high-spending clientele, I noticed that our boats are still underrepresented.
What are your favorite Pardo Yachts and VanDutch?
Let’s start with VanDutch: my favorite model is the 48, because it has a “people-friendly” size and a proportion between interior and exterior that is the perfect balance.
Whether on a lake (there is one that sails on Lake Garda, it makes a great figure) or at sea, it allows you to experience a weekend in comfort and with the pleasure of sailing.
Not to mention the layout of the exterior, which I find very symmetrical and elegant.
But I am very curious about the new 75 that is coming!
As for Pardo, obviously the 43, since it is my boat.
But again, we have high expectations for the GT75, a real yacht….
Let’s take stock.
Has this first year of Oniverse being a major player in the boating world held any surprises?
It struck me, on the positive side, that boating is an industry still very much about craftsmanship and manual savoir faire, and that is what can still make the difference between one product and another.
I personally have had the opportunity to visit other shipyards before Pardo, as a customer or friend of shipowners: at first glance I hadn’t paid too much attention, now that we are in it I have realized it.
This clearly brings with it some limitations, as finding craftsmanship is increasingly difficult.
The other “surprise” is that, despite the staggering growth of Pardo Yachts and VanDutch, we can still do better, in terms of brand awareness.
Some of my friends still don’t know Pardo Yachts.
But they will get to know him soon….
At this link you can download the September issue, now on newsstands, with the full interview.
Veronese people’s sense of boating
Why Cantiere Del Pardo, acquired by the Veronesi family’s Oniverse Holding, is in good hands And to think that their passion for boats was not born on the sea, but on Lake Garda, where Sandro Veronesi and his sons, from Desenzano, used to go out on the water as soon as they could.
Now they have bought a boatyard that sells them on all the seas of the world.
“Often things are born by chance. But you have to carry them out well.”
Sandro Veronesi summed up in this way, at the Grand Soleil Cup in Porto Cervo, the adventure that led his Oniverse Holding (3 billion in sales with its brands Calzedonia, Intimissimi, Tezenis, Falconeri, Signorvino, Atelier Emé to name a few) to the acquisition of the majority (88%) of Cantiere Del Pardo, obtained by buying the share of the Wise Equity fund.
“I met Gigi Servidati in Milan, during an event in Via Montenapoleone, He told me that the investment fund that controlled the majority was leaving and so….”
In no time, comes the choice to invest in boating, dictated by passion.
Cantiere Del Pardo chairman Gigi Servidati and former CEO Fabio Planamente, architects of the Italian shipyard’s “boom” over the past three years, remain as managers (Servidati) and minority partners (Planamente) Veronesi, born in 1959 and founder of Calzedonia in 1987, has created an empire, knowing how to diversify his business over the years.
And his three sons have taken after him: Marcello (37), Matteo (34) and Federico (32) sit on the board of Oniverse Holding, each leading one or more of the group’s brands.
Federico is the brand leader of Signorvino and Tezenis, Matteo of Intimissimi and Intimissimi Uomo, Marcello has the “proxy” on boating and has been appointed CEO of Cantiere Del Pardo.
That the former Calzedonia Group, while gigantic, remains family-owned is revealed by the name itself, which has recently changed: Oniverse, in fact, is the anagram of Veronesi.
In the Veronesi’s development strategy, sailing is crucial.
Sandro again: “To those who say that now that we have acquired Cantiere Del Pardo we will focus mainly on Pardo Yachts and VanDutch Yachts, powerboats that guarantee higher earnings, I want to point out that we also sell socks, with very low margins. So rest assured, Grand Soleil is and will remain a key brand for us.” E.R.
