The third generation has broken the door of the world market
-When someone goes out into the street and contemplates any of your designs, the first thing they should know is that everything we see out there and bears the Ximénez signature has a long period of work behind it.
-We have two aspects. The first is made up of a series of materials stored in our stock, which has rotating figures that can be placed in Cádiz, Valencia or Burgos. Every five or six years, the materials used in these designs are renewed by manufacturing new motifs using the latest technologies and always respecting the environment. The second aspect occurs when cities like Madrid or Malaga ask us for a specific design that our team can take care of, although there are cases in which they bring us the product they want, which is sometimes taken care of by professionals from the world of design, such as the architect. German Ben Bucher and fashion designers like Devota y Lomba or Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, who altruistically collaborate with us with a sketch. As soon as the motif is developed, studied and, above all, observed in proportion with a view to pleasing the colors and its size, the manufacturing process begins. The project is carried out with the appropriate measures and Ilmex, one of the companies of the Ximénez Group, manufactures the materials. Once done, we develop a technical test in an indoor or outdoor location for the client to see and confirm that the final result is the desired one.
-In which national and international cities is Grupo Ximénez present?
-In total we have installed between 45 and 50 million light points around the world. This year we illuminated almost all of the provincial capitals of Spain. As a novelty, we have consolidated in Galicia and we have entered the Balearic Islands. We are in cities like A Coruña, San Sebastián, Logroño, Vigo, Valencia, Ibiza, Granada, Córdoba or Seville. We are present in more than forty countries around the world and, for example, in Ostende (Belgium) we have installed a tunnel with characteristics similar to the one on calle Larios in Malaga. In addition, in El Salvador we have set up a Christmas pine about 40 meters high. We are also entering Morocco. The tradition of putting light on Christmas or fairs is in Andalusia. Abroad what is installed is a reflection of what we have here, because outside our borders they illuminate their facades, gardens, houses or shops in a different way. Something that we have already done before and that this year will be visible on all the storefronts of the Tiffany & Co located on Fifth Avenue in New York. They ask us for all kinds of designs. In Dubai we have put a kind of giant diamond, which means that we are open to a very wide range of possibilities to establish collaborations, purchase and sale relationships.
-They always treat Puente Genil, the place where the company is located, with special affection. What has been Ximénez's bet for this Christmas in the municipality and in how many of the province of Córdoba do they serve?
-Speaking of the downtown area, in La Matallana in Puente Genil we have installed an enchanted forest with elements ten meters high with dual led lights that change tone and methacrylate to decorate during the day. And on Thursday we inaugurated a sixty-meter-long tunnel on Paseo del Romeral with an intelligent LED that constantly changes color and plays synchronized music. We do it because it is our town, which for twenty years has been our testing laboratory. In addition, I always tell the mayor and his councilor for Festejos that we make a feeling budget for them because the City Council could not pay what that lighting costs. Speaking of the province, we work with municipalities such as Montoro, Aguilar de la Frontera and Córdoba capital.
-The Ximénez group is breaking its own records. What moment is the company going through?
-It is at the tip of the iceberg and we are not going to set limits, although things do not happen by chance. The Ximénez Group is prepared for any type of event, budget or work that can be entrusted to us, regardless of size, distance or capacity. We have our own fleet of 120 cranes, 12 trailers and 25 light trucks. And in the last ten years we have gone from having just over a hundred employees to over three hundred. Now we have a permanent workforce of about 290 employees per year distributed in all the companies of the company and at Christmas we increased to more than 500 for a very simple reason: in Spain and abroad everyone wants to be the first to have their lighting, and in many capitals it is already turned on on the last Friday of November. There is no other choice but to do it. In addition, we ensure that all our direct or indirect services are provided by people from Puente Genil, because it is a family business that we all have the pleasure of getting to know each other and getting to know each other. We are a company close to Puente Genil for Puente Genil.
-The Town Hall of Puente Genil has just awarded Grupo Ximénez the Villa's Gold Medal. What does such a distinction mean for a company with a local spirit but with an international soul?
-It is important and very special. My father, Francisco Jiménez Carmona, received the Silver Medal in 1996. Now the Ximénez Group receives the Gold Medal and it is to express my joy and gratitude to the City Council, as well as to all the people and estates that have made it possible. Receiving an award of this category is the pinnacle of our company. Our employees are proud of the recognition received, which, like me as president and partners, we are going to enjoy and feel for what we have fought for so that the result is the growth and evolution that we have had.
-A great present. But, where are the expectations for the future?
-It is not the same to fix a street as to put lighting on it, which is the attraction of the whole world. That excites you. My father used to say that if a mother goes shopping with her son, the little one will always feel attracted to the street with lights. And he's going to ask his mother to take him for a walk around. The future belongs to the third generation of the family, and it is guaranteed because it is prepared and the whole world already knows the Ximénez brand. If we have to challenge ourselves, it is that we need to locate ourselves in a larger place because we do not fit in this building, nor in the land that we have acquired next to the A-318 between Puente Genil and Herrera, which total ten hectares. The problem we have with space is not serious, but it is painful. The family business is much faster in reactions but sometimes more complex to decide. It is made up of young people, with a reasonable average age, and we have to get several brothers to agree. We have between 80,000 and 90,000 square meters of occupation and we need a plot of about 300,000 in order to unite all the group companies that we have in Puente Genil. The City Council, and in this case the mayor, is already aware and when the time comes we will sit down, but what do we do with all the spaces we have now? This building was made in our image and likeness. It was for us and we turned it into a kind of hotel. In particular, I am very nostalgic for this building and it would be difficult for me to move, but I understand that it would be necessary for the proper functioning of the future of the company.
-Where is the secret to maintaining the ambition of the company?
-In the illusion. The third generation of the family has broken down the door to the world market because they know that the future of the company is there, and they want to fight because it took us ten years to enter it. We did it through the Christmas World fair in Frankfurt (Germany), where we have a stand that costs about 250,000 euros. Today we do not stop receiving requests from all over the world, and the world loves what we do because we are trained to create a custom suit. In addition, the fact that three generations of the family have coincided in time, from my father, who was the founder, to those who make up the third, that makes them understand the work.
