Testeral exports 95 per cent of its production to the markets of Western Europe and America, and one of the company’s goals is to become the leader of its sector in the Balkans. Testeral is committed to keeping pace with world trends, the specialised training of its employees and investing in technological and production capacities
Here Testeral CEO Sanja Stanimirović speaks to CorD Magazine about business challenges, ever-more demanding clients, the state’s attitude towards family businesses, market and product range expansion, as well as the future of the construction industry.
You’ve implemented façades and windows on many beautiful and prestigious buildings, both here in Serbia and abroad. How challenging has that work been for Testeral?
Yes, that’s correct, some of the most outstanding buildings certainly include the Embassy of German and Hotel Rubin in Kruševac. And abroad there’s the largest logistics centre in Zurich and a 5-star hotel that’s located right next to the World Trade Center in Manhattan.
Those are projects that attract attention. It wasn’t easy to deal with them from a technological aspect, but they certainly now represent the pride of our company and employees. What’s important is the experience gained working on them, which is precious to us and contributed plenty to the actual development of the company.
However, each individual project is a story in itself for us, and each project demands equal attention and commitment. Our work is extremely dynamic, but that’s what makes it interesting.
Some of the most outstanding buildings in our portfolio certainly include the Embassy of Germany and a 5-star Hotel in Manhattan
Being an entrepreneur during these turbulent times is a challenge, and when you add to all that the accepting of responsibility to implement the most demanding product on buildings, then you are compelled to be professional, courageous and tenacious on your path.
It could be said that your work demands constant improvement and investment. Are we mistaken?
You are right. Considering that we handle all processes – from project design to production, delivery and installing of aluminium façades, structures, windows and doors – we’ve become the number one choice for many architects and investors. We are committed to keeping pace with world trends in architecture and construction, the specialised training of employees and investing in technological and production capacities and innovations. The multiplying of turnover has led to us quadrupling our production capacity. We are currently finalising one of the most modern production facilities in the Balkans, equipped with the latest cutting-edge CNC machines, while in parallel we’re carrying out the digitalisation of the company.
You have representative offices in Geneva, Lugano, New York and Chicago, as well as major plans to open new branches. Does this mean that you satisfy the most stringent European and American standards?
Taking on the challenges of the most technically demanding markets and succeeding provided the company with additional strength to launch its expansion to another continent. The U.S. is now our biggest export market. Each new order represents further confirmation of the quality of our work and demonstrates that we can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the world’s biggest “players” in our sector.
Clients can expect us to be even better in all business segments, and that we will work to promote energy-efficient solutions and elegant architectural solutions.