Veronafiere changes governance: no managing director, more delegated powers to CEO Maurizio Danese

Veronafiere, one of Italy’s most important trade fair and wine & food players, with kermesses such as Vinitaly, Italy's premier wine event, and the historic Fieragricola, to name only the most important, not forgetting Sol & Agrifood or Fieracavalli, for example, is changing its structure with a view to greater streamlining and competitiveness: the new governance, approved today by the shareholders (the City of Verona is the one with a relative majority with more than 39% of the shares, then Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Verona, Vicenza, Belluno and Ancona with 24%, and the Verona Chamber of Commerce with 12.9%, among the main ones), provides for more concentrated operations in the figure of Maurizio Danese, already at the helm of the Verona fair from 2015 to May 2022, who, already managing director, sees his delegated powers further expanded by the board of directors, which has thus waived the appointment of a new general manager (after the retirement of Giovanni Mantovani, ed.).
“At the meeting, shareholders were also shown the rationalization plan for the group’s companies - which aims to streamline management, make it more efficient by shortening the decision-making line while ensuring cost efficiency - and the new internal organizational structure”. And while Veronafiere President Federico Bricolo emphasized “the positive trend of the exhibitions realized in 2022, from Vinitaly to Marmomac, from Fieragricola to Fieracavalli and ArtVerona just to mention a few, which are one of the engines of the city, regional and national economy”. Maurizio Danese (who is also president of Aefi, the reference association of the Italian trade fair industry), highlighting the 49 trade fairs (35 in Italy and 14 abroad) made in 2022, pointed out difficulties and increased energy costs “that we had to absorb directly. Increases that we should almost certainly foresee for 2023 as well, given that fairs are promoted and sold well before they take place and therefore rates for services and square meters are determined well in advance. We are optimistic, however, both because businesses have shown great confidence in the trade fair system and its ability to return turnover to investment, also from an export perspective, and because of the planning we are putting into outlining the new face of the Verona Trade Fair. The goal is to arrive in 2024 with a structure that is increasingly competitive and ready to seize all possible alliances to ensure its international development”.