Whirlpool leaves Comerio

The news has been in the air for a long time. Whirlpool leaves Comerio. President Esther Berrozpe (in the picture below) announced the decision of the multinational to move the headquarters of the company to Pero. “We’ve already met the mayor of Comerio, the administrators of the other towns and straight after our employees. The decision had been taken ten days ago and we will move to Pero,” explained the President herself. “We are staying in Varese for the production. We are also working with all the suppliers to find solutions so that they’ll go with us. Only for the headquarter, we move values for over €400 million. We will meet them and then we will also meet the syndicates for a series of consultations in order to consider the relocations of the employees. The new headquarters will be operational from the beginning of 2017.”

“Already from tomorrow we are starting meetings to consider what to do with the headquarters in Comerio,” continues Berrozpe. “The offices will be closed and we won’t carry out any activities related to the headquarters. 500 people will work in the new offices. A lot will come from Varese but we are only 40 kilometres away from it. The new area is one of the best from a logistic and mobility point of view. We understand that we are asking a big change, also emotional. Our associates were informed about the possibility of moving. The industrial schedule is continuing both as for the investments and for the employment. We strengthen our presence in Italy and even more in Lombardy. We look at the future with trust and the fact that we invested again in the Region is a precise sign.”

In July the president had released a long interview in which she affirmed that Whirlpool “needed a more efficient and modern facility. We are considering all the options:  reshaping this space, finding a new facility or working in other areas by building a more modern and functional new edifice. We can’t just make little adjustments and the decision will be taken by the end of the year. We will respect what we already declared: the new headquarters will be placed in the area between Varese and Milan.”

The new facility in the Expo area in Milan will be the new headquarter, that will host the core business functions for region EMEA. From here, the company will manage more than 30 towns, 15 industrial sites and over 24,000 employees, for a total turnover of €5 billion in 2015. The new headquarter will receive around 500 people coming from 28 different countries and speaking 21 different languages, therefore enriching even further the local community. Whirlpool expects that the new headquarter will be fully operational at the beginning of 2017.

The attempts of mayor Silvio Aimetti, were useless:  several meetings, and in the end an open letter in which the administration told they were ready to implement services in a perspective of cooperation between the company and the public institution.”

“I’m happy to announce today our new house for Europe, Middle East and Africa, located at the heart of the Expo area in Milan. Looking proudly back to our past, now we are ready to continue our way towards the future, starting by a modern, pleasant and comfortable working environment, in a true “Winning Workplace,” declared Esther Berrozpe Galindo, president of Whirlpool EMEA and executive vice-president of Whirlpool Corporation”. This decision confirms the central role that Whirlpool gives to Italy, where we can already count on exceptional talents, competences on all company functions, as well as on the great know-how and on  the skills that the country is able to offer to the sector of white goods.”