Italian stone care product company Fila celebrated its 70th anniversary in June by inviting some of its leading customers from around the world to join it at its headquarters near Venice to celebrate the landmark. Natural Stone Specialist was there with them.

Those from the UK included Matt Williams from Tops Tiles, Richard Friebe of W B Simpson & Sons (Midlands) and Katharine Hughes from Mandarin, as guests of Lisa Breakspear, who heads Fila in the UK and last year delivered for the company its biggest market outside of Italy.

As well as the UK, the visitors came from all over Europe, The United States and Canada and the Arab Emirates, where Fila also has branches, and some of the other 60 countries around the World where Fila products are sold.

They were given a tour of Fila’s factory in the town of San Martino di Lupari where the company was formed and remains, and where it has opened a museum tracing its history from its early days producing shoe polish and household detergents during World War II.

Brothers Guido and Pietro Pettenon founded their business as Fabbrica Italiana di Lucidi e Affini. The company is still run by the family and since 1970 has been headed by the current President, Beniamino Pettenon, who has moved it into the production of specialist products for treating floors and walls of natural stone and ceramics.

“We are proud to celebrate our 70th anniversary with the achievement of many prestigious goals,” said Beniamino Pettenon when he welcomed the international gathering to his factory. "I am happy to share them with all our collaborators, because the strength of our company also lies in the professionalism and enthusiasm of the people who work with us every day. We aim to grow further in order to be increasingly closer to our clients, to exceed their expectations and provide them with an even better service and consultancy".

There is more about Fila and its 70th anniversary celebrations in the next issue of Natural Stonme Specialist magazine.