Dinatec receives this year´s award for the most outstanding professional trajectory. More than half of his life dedicated to nautical entrepreneurship, Toni Socias is considered one of the veterans of the sector. Currently his two sons run the business. To speak with Toni Socias about this award, we visit him at his shop next door to the Santa Catalina market in Palma.
This year Dinatec receives the award for the most outstanding professional trajectory. What does this award mean to you?
It was unexpected, in a way. But I´m very pleased to have the trajectory of the company recognised, as we have been involved with nautical business for a long time. Dinatec has been in operation for 23 years, but personally I have been involved with the nautical sector for 40 years. The development has been brutal, the number of changes I have witnessed! Gone are the days when you bought a small boat and were given a mooring as a freebie. Now the waiting lists are huge.
How did it come about to start a company?
I was previously working in the company Socias- Rossello with my brother. At certain point I was ready to step out and start on my own. The first years of Dinatec were exciting, even happy in a way. We had a lot of work. We were quite all-round to start with, but with years we have specialised more towards the electronics, like sounders and radars, and their installation.
And your client profile - has it changed a lot over the years?
Yes. To start with we had mainly local clients. Now we are working also with bigger boats.
We are living in an era of changes in the sector. What effect do you think these changes will have on the sector and on companies like yours?
I would like to make a point about the nautical qualifications. I don´t think it is appropriate that somebody with only PER can command a boat of 24 m. Lack of skills by the captain can cause problems. The rest seem like positive changes, although it remains to be seen how they will affect the sector.
The latest registration figures place the Balearic Islands as the market leader in Spain...
Yes, but if you stop to analyse it, it is the biggest boats that increase most. The bracket below 8 meters continues the same as before. I think this is due to the exemption of matriculation tax on charter yachts.
In a few months we will have elections. In your opinion, what should the new administration do in order to support or boost the sector?
I almost prefer that they wouldn´t do anything and let us get on with it the work in peace. Us entrepreneurs we know how the sector works, in what situation we are in and more or less how to make progress. Now we have the problems of extensions of Port Molinar, Club de Mar and Port of Palma. They also want to do something in Moll Vell. But at the end of the day it seems like nothing goes ahead.
To change a subject - what services does Dinatec provide for their clients?
Mainly installations, maintenance and sale of materials and products in our shop.
How is Dinatec preparing for the coming seasons?
With caution, but as always, we will adapt. Even during the boom years we progressed with calm as we could see that the situation could not carry on for long. Although I didn´t think the crisis would have hit as hard as it did.
No comments:
Post a Comment