Artifex’ chief executive officer, Bernard Cheere, remembers that when he took his current position in 2010, the company had 950 employees and RON72 million revenue. Its revenue now stands at RON120 million and the headcount at 1,500. Artifex is one of the largest companies in its industry in Romania by revenue and number of employees.
“We will continue to recruit 100 to 200 people over the next couple of years because of significant demand from customers,” he said.
Artifex’s owner Akris is a Swiss company that holds the luxury brand by the same name, whose customers include Princess Charlene of Monaco, according to the company officials. The Artifex plant in Focsani makes 1.1 million items a year, and 30% of them go to various lines and collections of Akris, while the rest to the other customers of the company, Cheere said.
Artifex will operate at capacity over the next two years, its CEO says, adding the current customers will continue to develop and the production in Focsani along with them. Moreover, new customers will be possible to attract with an expanded production capacity.
Artifex owns two buildings, a 10,000 square meter and 12,000 square meter one in the complex it operates in in Focsani. It plans to buy the last 3,500 square meters in that complex in 2016 so it will be its sole owner. It does not need to buy a new plant, it has enough space to develop where it is now, Bernard Cheere says.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)