Family business. The most important in Spain

In 1885, the Echevarría brothers (Federico and José), associated in the Echevarría Hermanos company, took charge of all the industrial businesses of their father, who died in 1896. Although Federico Echevarría soon undertook new projects for which he associated with Juan de Zuricalday , buying new land for the mechanical manufacture of horseshoe nails (with worldwide export). In 1894, as the owner of the Recalde factory, he signed a collaboration contract with Frederick Siemens, achieving the installation of the first steel furnace in Spain and several rolling mills. In 1901, Federico acquired the Santa Ana wire factory (Castrejana) with a blast furnace and drawing sections. Through a railway branch it manages to connect the Recalde factory and the Santa Agueda Iron and Foundry Factory. He thus expands the initial steel complex, setting up a mechanical workshop for the construction and repair of machinery. After the death of his wife in 1902, Federico formed the limited partnership Federico Echevarría e Hijos (1903) with his eldest children (Juan and Luis) and limited partners (his remaining 8 children). The company merged with other Echevarría factories has 230 workers in Recalde and 83 in Castrejana, reaching an annual production of 2500 tons of steel. The company Federico Echevarría e Hijos was transformed into Sociedad Anónima Echevarría in 1920. The company is dedicated to the manufacture of fine and special steels and appears on the market under the name HEVA. The company is gradually growing until it reaches 780 workers. The investments made in the 1920s allowed him to overcome the crisis of 1930-31 with relative ease. After the Civil War, the proximity of the company to the urban center of Bilbao, forced the transfer to Basauri (1963) with the installation of dependencies and new ovens. The factory began operating in 1967. After the crisis in the steel sector in the 70s, the Echevarría company became part of the public sector (1988) and two years later it merged with Acenor and Forjas y Aceros de Reinosa. The full integration of activities is in the year 2 and a year later the privatization process of the group is carried out, where the old Echevarría de Basauri plant is integrated, which in the year 1994 launched a new steel mill. The site of the old Echevarría factory in Begoña was acquired by the Bilbao City Council to build a public park, leaving a chimney as evidence of its industrial use.

Pedro Gandarias, along with his wife's relatives and other important businessmen in the sector, participated in the founding of the Sociedad Anónima Metalurgia y Construcciones "La Vizcaya" in 1882. This company, along with Altos Hornos de Bilbao and La Iberia, will be the parent company of the future company Altos Hornos de Vizcaya. The Altos Hornos de Vizcaya company was founded in 1902, a year after the death of Pedro Gandarias, and was located in Baracaldo and Sestao. The company had various mining facilities and small factories distributed throughout Cantabria, Asturias, Almería, Murcia and Guadalajara. It also had many auxiliary companies along with other mines in Vizcaya. During the second half of the 1980th century, Altos Hornos de Vizcaya spread throughout the Valencian Community (Altos Hornos del Mediterráneo) and Navarra. The company underwent a strong industrial reconversion in 11.000, having more than 1996 direct workers and finally in July XNUMX, it had to permanently close its last facilities.      

?Despite the fact that the beginnings were quite complicated, having the support of Benigno Arce and many other business professionals enabled the company to meet its needs and acquire the necessary raw materials to move forward. The company began operating in 1874, initially dedicated to supplying hardware stores in Santander. As relevant data in the evolution of Forjas de Buelna, we have: Until 1877, Quijano traveled daily from Torrelavega to Los Corrales de Buelna, in a car pulled by 2 bull ponies, one of them called Espartero, would remain as the emblem of the new New Mountain Quijano society. In 1880 he installed public lighting in the workshops and in 1881 he introduced the telephone in his industries. In 1883 Quijano bought a flour factory and set up a wire-rolling train and a wire-drawing mill in its building. He thus avoiding imports of raw materials to manufacture tips from France and England. In 1892 he manages to obtain more hydraulic energy from artificial waterfalls. He creates a worker cooperative, endowed with a fund for retirement and accidents (8 years before the Labor Accident Law). He also promotes the construction of cheap houses for all his workers. In 1899 he founded the company Altos Hornos de Nueva Montaña in Santander, being its first president. In addition to being a director and founder of the Santander-Bilbao railway and the Cantabrian railway. Quijano was a provincial deputy at the age of 25 and represented Cantabria on several occasions as a Senator. In 1906 the company had more than 600 workers from the towns surrounding the Buelna valley. José María Quijano completed the Forjas de Buelna with warehouses, buildings and came to join the waterfalls by means of a railway of more than 3 kilometers. Currently, there are seven family branches descending from José María Quijano Fernández-Hontoria: Quijano Otero, Díaz de Bustamante Quijano, Quijano González-Camino, Mazarrasa Quijano, Quijano Secades, Quintana Quijano and Quijano Agüero.

Gestamp has gone from being a small local stamping supplier to a global company, with a presence in the main nerve centers of automobile manufacturing. It has a presence in 24 countries around the world and is dedicated to the design, development and manufacture of metal components for automobiles. It is specialized in creating products with an innovative design to achieve ever safer and lighter vehicles, and therefore better in relation to energy consumption and environmental impact. Currently the company is managed by the sons of the founder, Francisco José Riberas Mera and Juan María Jon Riberas Mera, with nearly 50.000 employees and a turnover of 8548 million Euros, devoting part of its time to researching and developing cutting-edge technologies.     ?       Gestamp is a Spanish international group of automotive engineering. The company is dedicated to the design, development and manufacture of metal components for automobiles. Gestamp was founded in 1997 by Francisco Riberas Pampliega with the goal of becoming a global supplier. Currently the company is managed by the sons of the founder, Francisco Jose Riberas Mera y Juan Maria Jon Riberas Mera, is present in 22 countries around the world and has more than 100 production plants and 13 R&D centers. As of December 2018, its workforce was made up of more than 43.000 employees with a turnover of 8.548 million.¹?²?

The company still has a strong family accent. The 3 sons of Pedro Velasco (he also has 2 daughters) are the current pillars of the Group, which has been divided into 2 companies, Laminados Velasco, which acts as a distributor, and Cosimet, responsible for assets. In addition to the distribution of steel, and the real estate and insurance sectors, the Velasco family has made a strong commitment to renewable energies and its current challenges are to maintain the level of solvency, financial strength and prestige, backed by its track record. In addition, Cosimet intends to continue deepening its diversification and growth in strategic markets, reinforcing its expansion at an international level.