Challenging biases and clichés means growing the business.
A one-to-one conversation with Chiara Freri, Partner & Marketing Manager at 4Bild.
Building and construction materials: a sector that, until recently, was seen as an exclusively male domain.
Today we discover that things are changing.
And how fast!
We’re talking about 4Bild, a company operating in the distribution of building materials and home finishes, shining as an example of care and development in the culture of Diversity and Inclusion.
Chiara Freri is Partner & Marketing Manager, and in just over a decade she has been able together with her colleagues to transform the company culture and place ESG values at the centre.
Hi Chiara, it’s a pleasure to meet you!
Let’s begin the way all our interviews begin: what is the world to you?
When I think of the world, I think of my mind, because it’s full of things.
The world is thought, wonder, imagination, words.
But also curiosity, being together, and life.
And since the company you work for operates in the construction sector… what does “home” mean to you?
Home is care, it’s a safe place, it’s loved ones.
Tell us how one of your “homes” was built: 4Bild.
4Bild was founded in 2006 as a corporate aggregation project, born from three micro-enterprises, with the aim of reorganising the distribution model for building materials and redefining supply-chain relationships. At the time, the market was made up of family-run retailers and purchasing groups, each with their own commercial dynamics and business management approaches.
By coming together, we chose to create a new model of offering: a sales network based on a franchising model.
Today 4Bild has 24 outlets and showrooms, and a workforce of 210 people.
This strong growth also brought the awareness that we needed a structured vision for the future one that put people at the centre.
To do that, we wanted to build a shared language.
What is 4Bild’s “shared language” when it comes to ESG sustainability?
We can’t talk about ESG without talking about the supply chain. A company cannot implement an ESG strategy, policy, or vision without thinking of doing it collectively.
One of our payoffs, created within our 4Bild Academy, is: “Construction is a collaborative work.”
We started from the G. First of all, we carried out a generational shift in leadership, and we implemented a franchising model in which the franchisor took on strategic functions such as safety and credit management systems, while leaving to the franchisee the customer relationship and commercial matters. Over the years, extraordinary operations were carried out to govern business growth, such as the transformation from S.r.l. to S.p.a. and the merger by incorporation, with the aim of giving the companies an increasingly solid structure.
Why do I say the G is a fundamental step? Because without excellent Governance, you don’t have the tools to think about the other two letters in the ESG acronym. Of course, there are values and there is business. But these two things must go together, because a company is also healthy thanks to profitability and a strong financial reputation.
After the G, which letter did you move to?
To the S for Social.
The S is a large container, constantly evolving and full of initiatives.
Starting from Model 231, we implemented our code of ethics and the behavioural principles for our people.
We introduced a welfare plan and obtained a legality rating.
We created the 4Bild Academy, because when a company grows, it must not lose the ability to communicate its vision, to transfer company values, and to channel distinctive skills that aim for more conscious and also more competitive development.
So, in addition to the necessary technical training, we designed a programme that also expands into values-based areas.
Because people need to be trained to respect the different identities within the company, and to understand the responsibility each of us has in being part of it.
We therefore began the journey that led us to obtain UNI/PdR 125:2022 certification for gender equality.
On this topic, 4Bild is truly ahead of the curve in the construction sector.
I always say that yes, there are regulations but it’s the market, citizens, people who change business strategies.
The gender equality certification also came thanks to the fact that, in a relatively short time, we transformed from a micro-enterprise into a medium-sized company.
More structured companies are called upon by Europe to take certain steps. Regulations stimulate processes, but a company must be ready to embark on a journey and be ready to sustain it over time.
Can you explain, step by step, where you started in order to get where you are today?
During 2020, in the middle of lockdown, we launched a “virtual coffee” with everyone working in the company.
We took the opportunity to write the company’s story together.
In a real, concrete, up-to-date way. That was the first step.
The second step was work on identity, which also involved Campo Teatrale, a historic theatre and training organisation in Milan.
For me, identity is not simple. A company’s identity is not just linked to the brand: it is a collective responsibility. Each and every one of us brings a personal imprint, an interpretation of what the company is.
When I think of brand identity, I don’t think only of a good brand manual, but also of the collective narrative of all the people who are part of that brand.
And through the Academy we realised that gender equality was an important value.
We started a path together with Bureau Veritas, a well-known audit organisation, and we obtained the certification.
Today we continue to work, because the certification lasts three years: there is a plan the company commits to and we have many projects moving in this direction.
For example, a few weeks ago, in April, we organised together with Diversity Lab a two-day event titled “Think New”. Numerous expert voices took turns offering an overview of trends and insights for the construction sector of the future.
An inclusive, accessible and sustainable construction sector aligned with new real estate market trends.
For instance, in Italy 24% of the population consists of people with disabilities (permanent or temporary), yet in 2022 only 6% of homes for sale (on Idealista) met key accessibility criteria creating an extraordinary opportunity space for construction companies willing to invest in the future.
The first thing that comes to mind when talking about a building materials company is that it is a predominantly male environment. Think of the professions: builder, worker, electrician. The feminine forms of these nouns are very rare, or at least uncommon.
I was once asked, while I was working to obtain the gender equality certification: “Why did you do it, if it doesn’t matter in your sector?”
And my answer was: “We did it precisely because there is still someone who thinks it doesn’t matter!”
Because we are a company of pioneers, because the road ahead must be traced together and we are doing it.
Because a plurality of thoughts is richness, and it brings knowledge, and knowledge leads to thinking.
It is a matter of consistency, of ethical value, of economic value.
Until about fifteen years ago, women working in construction were essentially confined to administrative and accounting departments. Until a few years ago, it was rare to see a woman as a site technician, wasn’t it?
And when she did show up on site, she had to work twice as hard as a man, because before speaking she had to lay out her entire CV.
That’s why we work for a culture of inclusion.
We want to become opinion experts on these topics. To open doors and show that another world is possible. Showing that behind these themes there isn’t only innovation… but also business!
Attention to Diversity helps win market share and strengthens reputation: it’s people who choose where to buy, and it’s people who make your numbers.
So sustainability is no longer only a regulatory issue.
It is a competitive advantage.
Let’s move on to the E for Environment. The construction sector is called upon to send strong signals in terms of environmental sustainability.
We joined the REC consortium (Circular Construction Recovery), an initiative launched within Federcomated our trade association within Confcommercio which enabled us to install, inside our stores, preliminary collection points for construction and demolition waste materials.
Until yesterday, construction companies in the best case took waste to landfill; in the worst case, they dumped it along national or provincial roads. Today, construction companies come to 4Bild, enter our stores, buy materials and unload their waste with us. It is collected according to EWC codes (European Waste Catalogue) so it can become a product again: circular construction, precisely.
We rolled out a project developed by the consortium in collaboration with Mapei, Comieco and Saci paper mills: “Make a difference, one bag at a time”.
After using materials on site, companies bring the empty paper bags to 4Bild Points. There, a Green App van collects them, compacts them, and takes them to a recycling plant to produce recycled paper for a new production of bags… which will hold other products, in a true circular economy process.
Reduced environmental impact, technology and digitalisation are shaping the future of construction: 60% of Gen Z in Italy are willing to pay a premium price for a sustainable product, while the Italian Smart Home market is already growing strongly worth €900 million in 2024, with 11% growth. A market that, not by chance, responds to all the sector’s innovation drivers: accessibility, a hi-tech approach, and a green mindset.
We want to be key players in this environmental sustainability journey, which is not only a service for construction companies and therefore a business increase for us retailers but clearly represents a benefit for the whole community.
What kind of communication tools do you use, or intend to use, to communicate sustainability?
To start, in 2024 we will close our first 4BILD sustainability report.
And we strongly believe in cultivating relationships. This is our key to communicating with the market, and it sits at the heart of an initiative launched five years ago. The project is called “Premio Metro d’Oro” and aims to recognise the work of construction companies, to build culture: it is the final act of a rigorous process to identify excellence in the technical and cultural skills linked to the construction world. It is a supply-chain project that connects the world of production with the world of companies, and links our world with what happens outside environment, community, sustainable living.
We try to take part in as many conferences and round tables as possible, in order to share these issues, which are at the heart not only of 4Bild, but, I believe, of the whole country. (Despite the breezes or rather, the hurricanes we hear about from other parts of the world.)
Finally, we work closely with associations and support cultural, sports and charitable activities near our 24 locations, with the goal of creating community by promoting initiatives of aggregation and civic coexistence.
We believe that returning to a sense of community is a way to build relationships of value.