Positioned for growth
 RINA is a young company with a long history – long, because in 2011 it celebrates its 150th anniversary, but young, because almost all its employees are under forty years of age. The group’s aim in 2010 was to position RINA to harness the energy of this young and active workforce more effectively and to direct the company’s activities to industrial sectors and geographical areas where RINA can grow.
Turnover growth continued in 2010 and margins were maintained. Human capital, the real resource of RINA, grew in terms of numbers to 1,438 staff. And it grew in international expertise, as those staff now represent forty-six different nationalities, and over 60 per cent are graduates. Those staff were close to their clients, in 120 offices in 42 countries, including several new countries during 2010.
Behind those global figures, the trend was clear. Activities in Europe and mature markets were static, while growth came from Asia and developing countries. So that is where RINA is focusing its resources and expanding its personnel. The intention is to be local everywhere.
Practising what it delivers to clients, RINA has put in place a three-year integrated QHSEA (Quality, Health, Safety, Environment and Administrative responsibility) scheme which will set and implement global safety and quality standards. Moving to BS OHSA 18001 and ISO 14001 standards, RINA has a series of programmes in place to embed the right cultural values across its multinational staff. The whole Group has to be thinking green, thinking safety, thinking quality and thinking customer care.
Investment in the Oracle ERP system continued, as did investment in new offices. That will continue in 2011, with the emphasis on growing countries. In 2010, over seventy per cent of Group revenues came from Europe. Asian revenues are growing strongly, and the changes begun in 2010 to group organisation will ensure that effort is focused on growing those revenues further in 2011 and beyond.
That does not mean that RINA is neglecting its traditional markets. It has its heart, roots and core business in Italy, and will continue to nourish and grow those. This report shows how the client base for RINA in Europe has changed towards larger companies and more sophisticated services such as energy management.
One of the key ingredients of RINA’s ability to maintain growth even during the global crisis has been the synergies built between individual divisions. This year a substantial part of the turnover was delivered by multi-disciplinary teams working across industry sectors to deploy the relevant expertise. Revenue from interdivisional activities grew over seventy per cent during 2010. RINA began planning to extend and consolidate that during 2011, by creating a new matrix-based organisation which will draw on relevant expertise to meet all the needs of major clients by tailoring service teams to their needs, rather than to internal structures.
Ugo Salerno
RINA CEO
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