Europe’s business backbone looks abroad to survive
Aug 8 (Reuters) – Europe has 23 million small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), according to a 2011 report by
the European Union. They made up two-thirds of all private
employment and created around 80 percent of new jobs over the
previous five years.
With the euro zone economy in crisis and several of its
members needing billions of euros in rescue funds, how are SMEs
coping with scarce financing and weak domestic demand, and what
are they hoping for in the years ahead?
Reuters has spoken to SMEs in Germany, France, Italy and
Spain and will follow their progress over the coming year,
looking at the challenges they face, the policy changes that
affect them and the strategies they use to protect and grow
their business.
SPAIN: Unidesa-Odi
Unidesa-Odi, the only manufacturer of artificial teeth in
Spain, has been through crisis before in its 60-year history.
Eleven years ago, its distribution arm had over-reached
itself and was making losses that threatened the future of the
business, so it retrenched to its manufacturing base, closing
stores and slashing its staff from 250 to just 52 today.
“What saved us then was exports,” said Soraya Dominguez,
daughter of the founder and now export
We recommend you visit the following site for more complete information and related topics. Article source: http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/08/08/europe-sme-idINL6E8IV3JM20120808