On October 17, the Círculo Ecuestre hosted a colloquium with Demetrio Carceller Arce, executive president of Damm.
During the talk, presented by the club's President, Enrique Lacalle, and moderated by the journalist and lawyer Ricardo Fernández-Deu, Carceller shared his vision of business leadership, corporate social responsibility and the challenges of today's economy, offering a deep and close perspective based on his extensive career.
Carceller began his talk at the Círculo Ecuestre by reflecting on the question of whether a businessman is "born or made". According to him, there is no genetic predisposition, but rather the environment and everyday examples mark the path. "If you see the value of companies and the economic and social responsibility of many people in your home, that does mark you", he explained.
Looking back on his past, the businessman confessed that in his youth “I wanted to be president of Banco Comercial Transatlántico, like my father and my grandfather”, and then argued that his father's decision to sell the bank was the first corporate operation he was involved in. From there, he went to do a master's degree at Duke (USA), since “he did not want to be someone else's banker”. “My father was a banker, I would have been a disaster, because what I like is creating companies, transforming them and developing them”, he said.
This approach has accompanied him throughout his career, from his time at Banco Santander to his arrival at Damm, where he assumed a leading role during a complex period, even facing a strike in his first days at the head of the brewery. “Thanks to my experience I was able to assume leadership and I was lucky. We managed to get through the strike and, from that moment on, the team trusted my credibility”, he commented.
During the colloquium, Demetrio Carceller highlighted the importance of common sense as one of the basic rules in business management. “Specializations can be given to you by teams specialized in various areas”, he commented, pointing out that he has had the fortune and ability to create a solid team of 20 people who support him in the management of his companies. “I am the one who provides the finishing touches. After having been working in kitchens for a long time, you have the ability to see who does it well and who doesn’t”, he added.
Carceller stressed that a businessman’s commitment to society is not limited to the creation of wealth, but includes the training of the people around him. “It is not simply hiring a good executive, but taking care of his training and, later, letting him fly”. This approach led him to understand that companies also have a responsibility to the environment, which prompted the creation of various foundations from the year 2000 onwards, to channel this commitment.
Regarding decision-making, Carceller stressed the importance of having people who dare to make decisions, even if they make mistakes. “I don’t like executives who don’t make decisions for fear of making mistakes. The one who does the most harm is the one who doesn’t make decisions and paralyzes processes. There is very little courage in companies, rather in the boards", he said, adding that his recruitment model seeks people with determination and courage. Finally, he stressed the importance of continuous training within companies. "Each department has its own training needs, and the company's obligation is to hire people who come with some training, but also to give them the opportunity to continue training, helping them financially. We are doing that at Damm", he concluded.
During the colloquium, Carceller placed special emphasis on digital transformation and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in companies. "AI is a new language that we will have to learn to speak", he commented, pointing out that, although it is not yet capable of being creative, it has great potential to improve efficiency in data-based tasks. However, the businessman warned about jobs that could become obsolete due to these technological advances and stressed the importance of promoting creativity and courageous decision-making in the business environment.
As CEO of Damm, Carceller also spoke about the challenges of the energy sector, referring to his experience as leader of Disa, one of the main energy companies in Spain. The businessman stressed that the energy market is a financial market in constant evolution, where the demand for energy continues to grow, especially in developing continents. "The cleaner the energy, the better, but it must always be abundant and cheap," he said.
Regarding Damm's role as a company with roots in Catalonia, Carceller concluded the discussion by highlighting the following: "We did not change the corporate name of Damm because it is the DNA of the company. It was a decision of the Board of Directors, but one that the entire company shared". "We are a Catalan company and, therefore, Spanish", he said, and then assured that: "I never had any pressure of any kind regarding Damm's headquarters in Catalonia".
Finally, Carceller assessed the competition between Barcelona and Madrid and then assured that, although “much more could have been done in Barcelona than has been done”, “I would choose Barcelona to live in because its quality of life is superior”.