VI Award for the Longest Membership goes to Metalnox.

The VI Award for the Longest Membership goes this year to Metalnox, a company associated to AENB since 1993. The company, specialized in all that has with metal work to do is a good example of the capacity to adapt to change that our industrial fabric has and to take advantage of Investigation, Development and Innovation. The director of Metalnox, Ignacio Arias, gives us a review of the extensive trajectory of his company. 

What does the award mean to you? 

The truth is we have been a long time in the business so it is great to be recognized.

What can you tell us about the trajectory of the company and your own career? 

We are two lifelong associates, José Rua and myself. We started in ´85 or ´86 with a joint assets company attending the demand in the Calvià area and the nearby ports. Later, I think in 1992 we founded the Limited Liability Company (S.L) and from there on we have been developing the business. We extended to other activities that had to do with metal work in some urbanisations in the area, and the company kept growing, ultimately specially in the nautical sector. 

For a time, between ´92 and ´96, we were located in the Moll Vell in Palma. Particularly during those years we became well known in the nautical circles. In year 2000 and thereafter we have also participated in some trade fairs in Club de Mar. From then on we have collaborated in many national and international fairs, exhibiting our products (sometimes through third parties). 

VI AENB AWARD for the associate with “The Most Outstanding Professional Trajectory”: Náutica Rosselló

Náutica Rosselló is a family company founded in 1995 by Juan Rossello, who was also the secretary of AENB until last year, when he sadly passed away. The recepction of 26 trophies during these 18 years awarded by the brands in representation are a testimony of the excellent management of the company. For this reason Náutica Rosselló receives the award for “The Company with the Most Outstanding Professional Trajectory”, given by AENB at the Annual General Meeting this year. We interview Tina Campins, one of the people who has worked in the company since its foundation.

This year you have received the award for the most outstanding professional trajectory. What does this mean to you?

This prize honours the memory of our beloved founder Juan Rosselló, who sadly is not with us anymore, and awards the great work that he has done both within Náutica Rosselló and outside it during a long time. We receive this award in the name of Juan Rosselló.

Could you talk to us about the trajectory of the company? When and how was it started?

Juan Rosselló worked in the nautical sector for more tan 30 years. He was the director of the nautical sector of Socias y Rosselló. In ´94 he started to think about setting up his own business, and due to various circumstances and changes in that company, he decided to launch on his own and founded Náutica Rosselló in February 1995. Then the company had only 2 people on fixed contract and a mechanic on an hourly rate. We started without any direct distribution rights, just with some brands on secundary line. We had a workshop of 200 m2, when 100 would have been enough, and the telephone rang about twice a day (and that on good days!) But thanks to the hard work of Juan Rosselló the clients started coming in and getting to know us…We had two years of hard work and very meagre outcome, but from ´97 onwards we started to see the results of the hard work and the invested time. After observing our evolution over a period of time, the suppliers conceded us direct distribution rights of some of the best brands on the market, and thats how we started receiving some of the awards, like the one for the number 1 in sales in Spain of inflatables Bombard and Zodiac. From there on the company simply took off.

The VI "The most collaborating public entity during 2012" AENB Award goes to Direction General of Commerce and Business.

The Direction General of Commerce and Business receives this award from AENB as the most collaborating public entity during the past year. The Director General, César Pacheco, considers the nautical sector as very dynamic and assures that his department will do everything possible to eliminate obstacles and to promote the development of the sector. The 6th Prizegiving Ceremony of these awards will take place on the 21st of February during the galadinner after the Annual General Meeting of the Association.

The Direction General of Commerce and Business receives this award from AENB as the most collaborating public entity during the past year. As a Director General, what does this distinction mean to you? 

To start with, it is a surprise, I didn´t expect it. Secondly, it is something to be very pleased about as we see it as a recognition from the nautical sector towards the work that the whole team of the Direction General of Commerce and Business is doing. Our team is a group of public workers and employees who through their daily work try to help the balearic entrepreneurs. In fact, with a reference to the nautical sector there are three employees who coordinate and maintain the relationship with the nautical sector, specially through the Organizing Committee of the Palma Boat Show. They are Paquita Ferragut, José Maria Sans and Margarita Vidaña, the three form part of the Direction General of the Commerse and Business through the afficiliated public company IDI (Insitute of Business Innovation). The award is also a recognition of their labour. 

When you started in the Government the nautical sector was on a war footing. A month earlier, during the Palma Boat Show 2011, entrepreneurs, professionals and users had organized a unified protest for the first time against what they considered negligence of the Government towards the sector. How in your opinion has the relationship between the nautical world and public administration developed? 

I think in a positive direction. At the moment we are working side by side with the nautical sector and specially with the Palma International Boat Show. We have revived the role of the Organizing Committee so that the sector can have a say how the Show should be organized. Besides we have generated lots of other activities in conjunction with the Show to act as a locomotive. The end result is the Palma International Nautical Week, and I think this is good for everybody. For those involved, there will be no lack of illusion, effort and dedication. 

The number of recreational vessels in Spain decreased by 12,3% in 2012.

The recreational boating sector continues to decline for the fifth consequtive year, with a drop of 12,3% in the number of recreational boat registrations in Spain, slightly less than last year when the drop was 14%, but still a clear reflexion of a depressed market. 

This can be deduced from the Market Report for the Recreational Boats in Spain, based on the data for the year 2012 collected by the Direction General of the Merchant Marine, edited by the National Association of Nautical Businesses (ANEN) and published this Friday. 

Between January and December 2012, a total of 4.845 recreational boats were registered in Spain, compared to the 5.522 in the previous year, a deterioration that has been accelerating throughout the year, after the decline by 8,7% during the first quarter. 

According to the association, the “instoppable” drop in boat sales is “a consequence in part of the high taxation that the sector is subjected to, compared to the alternative of the more popular charter, an option that continues to grow. In fact, the recreational boat charter grew by 26,7% in 2012. 

Letter from the president - February 2013.

In a couple of weeks time we´ll celebrate the Annual General Meeting 2013 of our association. For us it is one of the most significant events of the year, uniting all the “members of the family” and giving us an opportunity to exchange ideas and network in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. We are making a huge effort and dedicating many hours to prepare the General Assembly this year, considering that this year we also have the elections of the new board. And having still a few months to go until the Palma Boat Show begins, we can already announce that all out associates can obtain a special reduction in price when booking exhibition space. 

The programme of the General Assembly, although not completely finalized, concentrates on the needs of our associates. Various experts deal with issues that range from VAT regulations, the new Law of Navigation and Matriculation Tax, to techiques on how to improve our business potential. Within short we´ll send you the programme of the Assembly with more detailed information. We are counting on the participation of many important personalities both from the business world and from the political institutions. But more than anything we are hoping to count on you! Because none of the achievements of the recent years would have been possible without your support and your vote of confidence. You, together with the other associates have given us the strength to fight for your and your company´s interests. Therefore we hope that you will come and get to know other people like you, so you can witness first hand the strength we have together. We also believe it can be a constructive experience to network with other entrepreneurs and to be able to have a debate over the problems we have and how to solve them.