Gio Benedetti - Thursday 14th October - Blythswood Square Hotel, Glasgow

Giovanni Benedetti came to Scotland from Italy at the age of 9 and worked in his Uncle’s café during his spare time. At the age of 19 Giovanni purchased a small Dry Cleaning Shop which expanded within 8 years to 16 shops servicing Ayrshire and the Glasgow area. In 1981 a new company “ICS” was formed to exploit his new and innovative process development for reclaiming industrial gloves. ICS grew to £12m turnover servicing customers including Ford, Vauxhall, Rover, Nissan, Lucas, GKN and Tesco. It was sold in 1989 for £15m. In 1987 Giovanni took over Silcock Express. The company grew from £36m to £120m and was sold in 1993 for £52m. Wrapfilm, a small £2m turnover Cling Film and Foil converting company was purchased in 2000. This grew to £36m and was sold to Management at the end of 2007 for £21m with Giovanni remaining a Director and retaining a major shareholding.

Today, Giovanni is Chairman of Benedetti International PLC, consisting of Wallace Cameron, UK’s leading First Aid Company and Benedetti design division. Gio has been recognised for his business acumen in both Italy, with a Commendatore Gold Award in 2005 and in the UK in 2006 with a CBE.