Business demography in the provinces of Treviso and Belluno as at 30.06.2023

Source: press office Presidency of the Chamber of Commerce of Treviso Belluno|Dolomiti

Treviso, 24 July 2023

President Mario Pozza’s comment

The data on business demographics for the second quarter confirm the trends already recorded in the first quarter, – commented Chamber of Commerce President Mario Pozza. – In the province of Treviso there is a slowdown in growth, while still registering positive values (+62 business offices, they were +422 a year ago), while in Belluno there is a contraction, with -63 business offices lost, in addition to the -47 of last year.

The figures in June confirm another trend: the contrast between the contraction of business locations and the increase in dependent branches as a result not only of multi-localisation, but also of business acquisition or transformation processes. This phenomenon can be observed particularly in the manufacturing sector where there are -83 branches in Treviso and -16 in Belluno in the last year, but +65 branches in Treviso and +22 in Belluno.

Analysing the territory of the Marca – Pozza continues – the construction sector (+153 branches) and the business services sector (+321 branches with reference to real estate and advanced tertiary activities), continue to support the business demography, slowing down, however, due to the progressive reduction of tax incentives linked to restructuring. It is becoming increasingly important to find solutions to stop the haemorrhaging of retail trade (-142 locations) because it is an issue that is linked to the liveliness and security of our urban fabric.

The area of Belluno shows similar dynamics, with a greater contraction in retail (-60 locations), not offset by widespread growth in other sectors. The sector showing the greatest growth is business services, where real estate and advanced tertiary activities register an increase of +22 locations.

Finally, to be monitored – Pozza concludes – is the catering sector which loses -100 locations in the territory: -78 in Treviso and -12 in Belluno.

In the province of Treviso both business locations (+62) and dependent local units (+291) continue to grow on a yearly basis, but with a significantly decreasing intensity of growth, especially for locations. The reasons are basically the following ones:

• growth in the construction sector slows down, although it remains in positive territory (+153 compared to +271 recorded between June 2021 and June 2022);
• the downturn in retail trade worsens: -142 companies when the Marca had already lost 77 companies in the same period last year. Firms specialising in the sale of non-food products in particular decreased. In retail trade, branches remained unchanged;
• agriculture in the last twelve months, from June 2022 to June 2023, shows a decrease of -114 enterprises, in contrast to the same period last year when there was no change. Cereal cultivation, dairy cattle breeding and mixed crop-livestock activities are the activities in which the year-on-year contraction is mainly concentrated. In contrast, the increase in grape growing activities continues;
• the negative decline in manufacturing is accentuated (-83 companies, compared to -14 last year), partly offset by a growth in branches (+65) in addition to the +39 already recorded between June 2021 and June 2022. Most affected by the contraction of business locations are the clothing and wood sectors;
• the contraction of catering activities is confirmed (-78 locations, in addition to the -59 last year), while hospitality activities register a growth of +26 locations over the year;
• the advanced tertiary sector continues to grow, particularly professional and technical activities: +106 locations, in addition to the +91 locations recorded from June 2022 to June 2021.

So, construction, business services and, to a lesser extent, personal services continue to support business demographics in the Marca Trevigiana, which as at 30 June 2023 had 79,800 active business premises and 19,101 local employee units. There are 22,746 artisan companies, up 114 units compared to the previous quarter, and +34 units on an annual basis: the offsetting effect is, in essence, between +84 artisan companies in construction and -78 in manufacturing. The small craft sector continues to suffer (-41 locations year-on-year).

In the province of Belluno there was a contraction of -63 company seats on an annual basis (compared to June 2022), against a growth of +79 local units in the same period.

The dynamic of business locations is affected by retail trade, which, compared to June 2022, loses -60 locations (a year ago there were -35 locations on a year-on-year basis). The comparison with the second quarter of 2022 sees in particular a decrease in the number of mini-markets, but also in the number of establishments specialising in the sale of foodstuffs and those specialising in the sale of non-food products.

It is possible to observe other trends from the second quarter data can be summarised as follows:

• the decline in catering-related activities is confirmed (-12 locations compared to June 2022, -13 the result in the previous year). The number of dependent local units also decreased over the past year: -13, compared to a growth of +19 units last year; on a slightly positive counter-trend are hospitality-related services, which grow by +8 locations and +12 local employee units compared to June 2022;
• manufacturing lost -16 locations compared to June 2022, but the loss was larger in the same period last year (-38). The decline in the last year particularly concerns eyewear and wood-furniture. On the other hand, dependent local units increased (+22 compared to June 2022);
• there is a slight increase in the construction sector (+8 premises on an annual basis), but the craft sector has lost 17 enterprises in the last year; real estate activities are stable (-1 premises in the last year, equal values in the comparison June 2022 on June 2021)
• scientific and technical professional activities are growing (+13 locations, in addition to the +10 last year);
• There was a slight decrease in the number of locations in agriculture (-6), a dynamic offset by equal growth in branches (+6).

As at 30 June 2023 there were 13,730 active company branches in the province of Belluno, plus 4,596 dependent local units. The total number of craft enterprises is 4,617 units: +22 compared to March 2023, -36 compared to June 2022.

Dependent branches by location

The mid-2023 figures confirm the growth of dependent local units, both in Treviso and Belluno, for all periods considered: branches increase both in the last two years and compared to the pre-Covid period.

This trend, as already observed in previous monitoring, is the result of multi-localisation strategies, but also of company incorporations/acquisitions. It is therefore interesting to observe the distribution of these subsidiaries according to the location of the registered office, i.e. where the company’s governance is located.

On average, more than 60% of branches in Treviso and Belluno are dependent on companies based in the same province. This dependence link extends to a branch located in another Veneto province for 15% of the branches in Treviso, and for 18% of the branches in Belluno; this share rises to about 20% if we consider the branches whose head office is located in an Italian region different from Veneto. Residual, for legal reasons, are the shares of local units dependent on foreign-based companies: in reality, the foreign presence in the local production fabric occurs mainly through forms of Merger & Acquisition that leave unchanged the status of ‘head office’ while changing the ownership control, or through chains of control in which the so-called ultimate owner does not appear as the first owner node.

This distribution changes if we consider the different sectorial areas: in the transport and forwarding activities and in insurance and credit, the share of branches having their registered office in an Italian region different from Veneto is important (about 40% in Treviso and 50% in Belluno). Even in business services, the incidence of branches that depend on companies in other Italian regions is higher than the average figure and is about 25%. In Treviso, this is the sector where dependence on business branches outside Veneto increases the most.

A different distribution is also observed in trade: the incidence of local units based in an other Veneto province, different from their own one, appears higher than the average datum and is around 20% both in Treviso and Belluno. In this case, it is in the province of Belluno that we notice an appreciable growth both in the share of branches dependent on companies based outside the region (from 17.5% to 19.7%), and in the share of branches dependent on companies based outside the province (from 21.5% to 22.6%).

There are some interesting differences in the two provinces as regards agriculture and manufacturing: in Treviso, for these sectors, branches linked to branches in the same province clearly prevail (for shares over 80% for agriculture, and 74% for manufacturing). In Belluno, on the other hand, ‘only’ 59% of branches in agriculture are linked to Belluno companies; almost 26% are linked to companies located in other Veneto provinces, plus another 15% of branches linked to companies based in other Italian regions. The same can be seen in manufacturing, where the share of branches dependent on Belluno-based companies “stops” at 68%, while 17.6% depend on branches located outside Veneto, to which is added another 14% of branches linked to Veneto-based companies but not in the province of Belluno.

Attached graphs and tables:

• ANNUAL absolute changes in enterprise locations and local dependent units active
• Absolute trend changes by economic sectors. June 2019 – June 2023
• PROVINCE OF TREVISO – Company headquarters and active dependent local units by sector
• PROVINCE OF BELLUNO – Company locations and dependent local units by sector
• Artisan company locations active by economic sectors in the Provinces of Treviso and Belluno
• Distribution of dependent local units by sectors in the Provinces of Treviso and Belluno

Translated by Cecilia Flaccavento
Intern at the Chamber of Commerce of Treviso – Belluno|Dolomites