A husband and wife team, both worth billions of dollars, took spurring job creation within Spain’s crumbling economy into their own hands last year by creating thousands of jobs for the country.
Juan Roig and Hortensia Herrero, who control Mercadona SA, the largest chain of supermarkets in the country, saw a seven percent rise in revenue in 2012, which allowed the company to hire 4,000 new employees, according to a report from Bloomberg.com.
Spain has been facing a recession for the past 21 months. Unemployment in the country has risen for to a 40-year high of 27 percent, resulting in an expected 1.6 percent contraction in the economy overall in 2013, economists predict.
The company rose to 19.1 billion euros ($24.5 billion) thanks to “low-priced, private-label goods” to lure in “cash-strapped Spanish shoppers.”
According to David Blain, head of research at London’s Campden Weath, said that while under Roig’s control, Mercadona has “posted extraordinary growth” throughout the past decade.
“Roig is a big believer in the family business model, and is strict about his family actually contributing rather than providing a nice place to hang out in a high-paying non-job,” he added.
Back in 2008, Roig reportedly told a group of suppliers during a meeting that in response to the recession, “We must eliminate anything that does not add value and that the customer will not pay for,”
(Photo by M.Peinido via Flickr)