Treviso, October 31, 2024.
President Mario Pozza’s comment.
As a result of the publication of data on business demographics as of September 30 by Infocamere, we can see that the province of Treviso has seen an increase of 17, reaching 78,116 active businesses. Behind this apparent stagnation lie important developments, especially in business services, which grew by 314 locations, driven by the financial (+101) and consulting (+124) sectors. However, – Pozza continues – this growth is balanced by declines in trade (-212 locations) and catering (-100 locations). Also worth noting is the drop of -70 manufacturing locations, due in particular to difficulties in the wood-furniture and fashion sectors.
The province of Belluno, the President continued, suffered a contraction of 69 entities, bringing it to 13,473 active businesses. Trade and manufacturing remain the hardest hit sectors in this survey as well, with an overall reduction of -72 and -26 locations respectively. The lodging and restaurant sector also continues to lose ground (-33 locations), despite a slight increase in branches (+23).
In both provinces, says Pozza, artisan enterprises maintain a significant presence: 28.3 percent of companies in Treviso (for a consistency of 22,080 units) and 33.8 percent in Belluno (equal in absolute values to 4,559). There is a slight contraction from last year, with a loss of 17 units in Treviso and 3 in Belluno.
Lastly, there is evidence of underlying growth in corporations, Pozza concludes, which increased by +640 units in Treviso and +80 in Belluno. This transition to more structured legal forms happens even in sectors that are experiencing trends of contraction in the overall number of companies.
Recent dynamics: reading notes and main evidence
The picture of business demographics at the end of September 2024 shows an increase, though weak, of +17 units in Treviso compared to a decrease in Belluno of -69 units. Specifically, the stock of active businesses as of September 30, 2024 is 78,116 locations in the province of Treviso and 13,473 locations in the province of Belluno, plus 19,360 dependent branches in the Marca and 4,676 in the province of Belluno. Artisan firms at the end of September 2024 accounted for 28.3 percent of the total number of firms in Treviso (amounting to 22,080) and 33.8 percent of those in Belluno (equal in absolute values to 4,559 firms).
For the province of Treviso, the stock of active businesses as of September 30, 2024, was 78.116, up 17 from the same period last year. Behind this apparent stationarity, there is significant growth related mainly to Business Services with +314 locations; in particular, within this sector, the +101 locations in financial services and +124 locations in business management and management consulting activities stand out. This growth is unfortunately offset by marked declines affecting trade with -212 locations: weighing down the -121 firms in wholesale trade and the -118 firms in retail trade, with just slight growth in trade and repair of motor vehicles (+27). Retail trade also sees significant contraction in branches (-83). Also in negative territory is accommodation and catering: 113 restaurant-related businesses close, year-on-year, partly offset by an increase in branches (+23), probably food chains. Lodging holds up, with growth in both locations (+13) and, to a greater extent, branches (+31). For manufacturing, the decline of -70 locations is concentrated particularly in the wood furniture -41 and fashion system -35 sectors. The number of branches is stable. Still growing are construction companies (+70).
But on the demographic balance of the latter two sectors, a suspension of judgment is necessary: because it is precisely manufacturing and construction that is most affected by the ex officio cancellation of 112 cooperative societies in the second quarter of 2024.
For the province of Belluno, the stock of active firms as of September 30, 2024 is 13.473, the decrease is -69 locations compared to the same period of the previous year, of which 7 are office cancellations. The decline is particularly concentrated in trade, a sector that overall loses -72 locations (-16 in wholesale trade and -51 in retail trade), which is also associated with the decline of -6 branches (opposing dynamics between wholesale trade -10 and retail trade +5). This trend continues to be negative as also shown in previous reports. Similar decline is also seen in manufacturing with -26 locations with a decline in branches of -15 as well. Accommodation and food services activities are also declining: there are a total of -33 locations (impacted by the -44 in catering compared to the +10 recorded in accommodation), which, however, as in Treviso, are partly offset by the slight increase in dependent branches: +23 equally distributed between the two sectors.
Artisan enterprises, at the end of September 2024 are 28.3 percent of the total number of enterprises in Treviso (amounting to 22,080 units) and 33.8 percent of those in Belluno (equal in absolute values to 4,559 enterprises). In the comparison with September 2023, artisan enterprises in Treviso decreased by -17 units. Overall, artisan enterprises in Belluno decreased by -3 units year-on-year.
Looking at the legal nature of business establishments for both Treviso and Belluno, there was an increase in joint stock companies (+640 in Treviso and +80 in Belluno), which tend to consolidate not only in the expanding sectors, but also in those that are going through a downturn, such as accommodation and catering and trade.
