Francesco Pizzocaro, the President and Founder of the P&R Group, is the recipient of a prestigious award which celebrates Italian entrepreneurs who have succeeded in creating value with their innovative spirit and strategic vision, contributing to the growth of the economy and providing an example of courage, innovation and transformation during truly unprecedented times. The President of P&R — at the head of three leading international companies in the chemical-pharmaceutical sector: the Fidia Farmaceutici Group, the Olon Group and SIR Industriale — received the accolade yesterday evening in Milan, on the occasion of the “Entrepreneur of the Year” Awards night organised by Ernst & Young, the multinational network providing professional auditing and accounting services.
25 November 2021 – Francesco Pizzocaro, a Knight of the Italian Order of Merit for Labour and the President and Founder of the P&R Group, has won the 24th Ernst&Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” award in the “Health & Pharma” category. According to the jury, Mr Pizzocaro received the accolade “for having followed up a long managerial career by embarking upon an entrepreneurial adventure that led to the foundation of a Group which is competitive at the international level, by safeguarding, developing and relaunching the Italian chemical industry”.
Today, Francesco Pizzocaro is the President of P&R Farmaceutici S.p.A., P&R Principi attivi, and P&R S.p.A., which control the Fidia Farmaceutici Group, the Olon Group and SIR Industriale respectively. But the beginning of his entrepreneurial journey takes us back to 1984 when, after a brilliant managerial career in Montedison, he took over a small company and dedicated himself to the installation of equipment for the production and sale of chemical products. Out of this business, Francesco Pizzocaro built what has now become the global P&R Group, which recorded a consolidated turnover of €880 million in 2020, with a net profit of €79 million. This year, the Group will invest a total of €120 million in innovation and in the expansion of its production capacity, while other planned investments include the acquisition of companies and new products. In addition to its almost 4,000 employees, the company also generates work for an additional 1,500 people. Exports account for over 70% of turnover. For 2021, revenues are anticipated to exceed one billion euro with an overall expected profit of around €200 million (EBTDA).
“P&R Farmaceutici S.p.A., P&R Principi attivi and P&R S.p.A. are businesses with global significance,” states Francesco Pizzocaro. “They have never stopped growing over the years, which has allowed the Group’s companies to take their place on the international stage through a clear business strategy based on pursuing acquisitions of small and medium-sized companies, on the expansion of operating and commercial capacity, and on the consolidation of their own know-how.”
“Before becoming an entrepreneur, I myself was an employee,” continues Mr Pizzocaro. “That experience instilled in me a great understanding of and respect for work, which in turn has inspired me to conduct my business with a sense of social responsibility and with a commitment to safeguarding and promoting work as a fundamental factor in social and personal growth.”