NCV grows with hospitality: new storage areas and offices in Milan and Rome

Tariq fled from Pakistan because of the violence he suffered following a love affair not shared by his family, and after a journey of hope to Europe and three months locked up in a reception centre, he is now a warehouseman at NCV's headquarters in Bologna, Italy, and is making a career for himself. Like him, 90% of the more than 300 workers of the Cooperativa autotrasporti Nuova Camp Veloci (NCV) are refugees, asylum seekers and fragile individuals with difficult backgrounds. A historic Bolognese integrated logistics company, protagonist of a rebirth - sealed last month by the inauguration of 23,000 square metres of new logistics space in the G-Park in Valsamoggia, along the A1 motorway, i.e. one third more operational capacity - that will project it beyond 50 million euro turnover in 2027 and confirm the sustainability of a different, good way of operating in the sector.

"For over forty years we have welcomed members of all nationalities, ethnicities and religious beliefs, and we were the first co-op in the area to sign the Charter for Ethical Logistics in 2022. Thanks to our social integration project,' explains president Samanta Zucca, who grew up in NCV, 'and to our collaboration with the Community of Sant'Egidio, the Antoniano, Insieme per il Lavoro and local authorities, we have no problems finding labour, even at a time like the present when it is very difficult for carriers to recruit personnel. We co-exist with 14 nationalities and speak 16 different languages. Newcomers are trained by on-the-job trainers, usually compatriots, who help them to integrate by acting as linguistic and cultural mediators'. The border between private and working life almost does not exist, 'I often accompany the children of workers to orientation interviews,' says the president, 'and this mutual trust between people I believe is the greatest investment a company can make in its future, true sustainability. There will be no growth for our country if we do not open the doors to immigration and develop a healthy and inclusive social fabric'.

The focus on people (which earned NCV an award in the UN Refugee Agency's 'Welcome' project) is matched by the focus on accounts, since Gabriele Battistin was called to the company's general management in 2021. 'With the 2023 balance sheet, 11 years of crisis for the cooperative have come to an end,' explains the managing director, 'and we are back in bonis. This year we will break even, with double-digit growth in turnover, and then hit the target of the 2024-2027 business plan, which will take us from 35 million in revenues to 52 million'. A plan that envisages going from 70 to 100,000 square metres of covered storage areas, with openings in Milan and Rome, the entry of about thirty new working partners, the strengthening of the green fleet, and the completion of the digitalisation of all processes.

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