La Farga chairman to step down

Vicenç Fisas Comella is leaving the position of chairman of La Farga after 35 years at the helm, and having re-founded the company in 1980. The company is headquartered in Les Masies de Voltregà, Spain.

On 30 Oct. 2015 Fisas chaired the board of directors for the last time and bade an emotional farewell to its members. This was followed by a ceremony at the company’s Copper Museum with all the partners and representatives of the executive employees to commemorate the 35 years that Fisas has devoted to La Farga.

Fisas is credited with having created a rigorous protocol at La Farga that governs the rules of the company and that serves as a point of reference in the country.

The new chairman will be current CEO and partner of the company, Oriol Guixà. Guixà will combine the two posts by serving as executive chairman, La Farga says.

The other members of the company’s management team remain intact, with Miquel Garcia as managing director of La Farga Lacambra and La Farga Rod, Jordi Magnet in charge of La Farga Tub, Carles Camprubi in charge of La Farga Intec and Inka Guixà in charge of strategic management and planning.

Fisas’ position on the board of directors has been taken by Fisas’ youngest daughter, Cristina Fisas, leaving Guixà as chairman and Fisas with an honorary chairmanship. The shareholder structure of the company remains intact.

Fisas’ beginnings with La Farga date back to 1980, when the law firm of which Vicenç Fisas formed a part was tasked with solving the serious financial and industrial crisis in which the company, then known as Francisco Lacambra Lacambra of Les Masies de Voltregà, found itself.

Although the company was near bankruptcy, Vicenç Fisas, with the assistance of his colleagues in the law firm and the collaboration of his son-in-law Oriol Guixà, fought for its restructuring and viability, in turn setting up La Farga Lacambra SA, the company reports.

Since 1980, La Farga’s revenues have multiplied exponentially, the company says, increasing its productive capacity and its international presence and developing technology patents that have been sold all over the world.

Fisas leaves a company that is situated in the major business areas of the sector. In 2014 the three Spain-based La Farga entities realized revenue of €905 million ($968 million). In addition, the international investment for U.S.-based SDI La Farga has reached its maximum viability, having secured, by 2016, the orders needed to ensure that the plant will operate at 100 percent of its capacity.

In terms of new investments, La Farga reports it is investing in a new copper pipe production project designed to yield efficiency improvements and ability to market its copper pipes in new regions. The company says the 2015 investments are being carried out at both the La Farga Lacambra and La Farga Tub facilities in Spain.

Fisas also has played a key role in the creation of La Fundació La Farga, a foundation that devotes more than €100,000 (nearly $107,000) annually for higher education scholarships to employees, the children of employees, residents of Les Masies de Voltregà and the business family.

At the closing ceremony, Fisas said, “I am proud of having spent these 35 years at the head of a company that is now the world leader. All of this success that we now have has been made possible thanks to effort and dedication to teamwork, to good ideas, to the enthusiasm for the work displayed by each and every one of the people who have participated. I leave confident in the knowledge that I am leaving Oriol and the entire team of professionals who lead La Farga at the head of the company.”