European Family Businesses (EFB) recently had a directors’ retreat in Bilbao, Spain between the 20-22 September. Here we had the privilege to have Velatia’s President Mr Javier Ormazabal host us on the 21 September at the Ormazabal  Research and Development Centre, where the largest high power laboratory in Europe is located.

As a second generation family business, Velatia is an industrial technological company which was founded in 1967 and is part of a family-owned group of Aefame, the Family Business Association of the Basque Country and the Spanish Family Business Institute – Instituto de la Empresa Familiar.

We are grateful to Mr Javier Ormazabal for taking the time to explain the fascinating history of his family business and share his views on the importance of communication and learning from one another. We are also grateful to the team at Velatia for their support throughout the meeting which enabled us to explore and discuss a wide array of important topics.

EFB had the opportunity to discuss important topics including policy updates which will impact family businesses, the 2024 European Elections and how to further increase communication and engagement within member chapters.