Moventia and UNHCR

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused immeasurable human loss and untold havoc for Ukrainian society. This situation has led non-profit organisations, such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to focus their efforts on providing as much aid as possible to the territory.

UNHCR has been working from day one to provide Ukrainian society with essential resources and to offer protection. That is why we at Moventia decided to contribute to the cause by collaborating with the NGO through in-house fundraising.

We encourage our employees to contribute privately to the cause through the UNHCR’s fundraising platform. Additionally, the company made a financial contribution, bringing the total funds raised to 12,442 euros.

On 14 February, UNHCR representatives visited Moventia’s headquarters and reported that 786 refugees in other countries who were displaced by the invasion have received protection and assistance, as well as warm clothing, sleeping bags, and hygiene supplies, as a result of our charity efforts.

This is the first time that Moventia has worked alongside this United Nations entity. The company has also expressed its firm commitment to continue contributing to social causes, in line with principles that it holds dear, such as corporate social responsibility and a spirit of solidarity.

 

Moventis wins contract to manage intercity buses in Saudi Arabia

Moventia, a family-run multi-national company specialising in the mobility sector, has been awarded a tender to manage intercity buses in Saudi Arabia for the next ten years. More specifically, the company (which is celebrating its centenary in 2023) has been given one of three lots in the contract governing this service in the north-west of the country valued at more than 500 million euros. The new project will be operated by Moventis, the public transport division of Moventia, as part of a consortium with Al Qaid, a Saudi bus company. The transport network consists of 23 lines and an estimated 1.5 million passengers per year, with a hub located in Jeddah covering the entire Red Sea corridor as well as branches that head inland for connections to other cities, including Mecca, Medina and Riyadh.

The project will be launched in September of this year, for which the consortium will purchase 150 12-metre buses and all the technology needed for sales and operation. It will also include the management of six bus stations, eight bus depots and nearly 100 bus stations in several cities. The team working on this project will consist of 500 people from a number of different countries.

Jordi Castells, the Managing Director of Moventis B2B and head of the division for Saudi Arabia, said “with this new project, Moventia continues to make progress on its growth strategy in Saudi Arabia, where our knowledge in the sector and excellent relations with the local authorities and our local partners mean that we are consolidating our presence and actively contributing to the development of the passenger transport sector in the country”.

In 2017, Moventia was given its first contract in Saudi Arabia to operate the urban transport service in Mecca. Following an initial five-year period in which the company completed the roll-out process (bus manufacture, the implementation of on-board technology, employee recruitment and depot construction; including garages, control centres, offices and employee housing), service operation successfully began in 2022. This service has led to mobility improvements for not only the inhabitants of Mecca but also the millions of pilgrims who travel to this city every year. With operations fully up and running now, Moventis has a workforce of 1,200 employees, 12 bus lines and 400 vehicles in the country, with which it successfully carried more than 25 million passengers in 2022.

It should also be noted that these concession contracts form part of a Saudi nationalisation plan embodied in its ‘Vision 2030’ strategy. This roadmap seeks to diversify business activity in the country beyond oil production and to boost such sectors as finance or industry with a view to becoming an international tourist destination.  

 

 

International strategy

Moventia is a benchmark multi-national company in the mobility sector that is focused on growth and internationalisation. It began a process of expansion in 2016 through a public bicycle service in Helsinki. Seven years later, it now operates on three continents (Europe, Asia and America) through various public transport services. 

Under this international expansion strategy, France has consolidated itself as a significant market for Moventia alongside Saudi Arabia. In 2017, the company won a contract to manage the urban, intercity and school bus service in the Montbéliard region and, in 2022, it was given another contract to manage the urban and school bus service in the Pays de Grasse agglomeration community in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region of France (PACA).

 

 

Miquel Martí Pierre is appointed as new CEO of Movento

The Moventia Board of Directors has unanimously agreed to appoint Miquel Martí Pierre as the new CEO of Movento, the division offering private mobility solutions from Moventia, a company engaged in the sale, after-sales services and rental of cars and industrial vehicles.

 

Until now, Miquel Martí Pierre has been the Head of Expansion and Investment Analysis at Moventia and General Manager at Moventis. He will now take over the role previously held by Miquel Martí Escursell, his father. Following a 44-year career as a top executive at Movento, the latter will now focus on his role as Chairman of Moventia.

 

By appointing Miquel Martí Pierre to this position, the benchmark mobility group is launching a process of generational succession and made him the first member of the fourth generation of this family to take on the leading role at one of its two divisions. Miquel Martí Escursell, Chairman of Moventia, said “the generational transition at any family business is an extremely important moment in the life of that company. In our case, we have followed our protocol and I’m convinced that Miquel will serve Moventia according to three essential values that form part of our DNA: commitment, professionalism and respect for the company that he has lived with since he was a child”.

 

In turn, Miquel Martí Pierre, the new CEO of the division, added that “it is an honour that the family and especially my father trust in me to lead this project. We live in a time of disruptive change in the automotive sector, with an uncertain future that will require us to take very fast decisions if we want to adapt to some as yet unknown new realities. I therefore accept this challenge with all my heart and commitment, and I hope to at least equal the extraordinary legacy left by my father at the company and in the sector”.

Miquel Martí Pierre has also been one of five members of the Moventia Board of Directors since 2022, alongside Miquel Martí Escursell (Executive Chairman), Josep Maria Martí (CEO of Moventia and Executive Vice-President of Moventis), Sílvia Martí (Vice-President of Corporate Affairs at Moventia) and Santi Colomer Martí (Managing Director of Movento).

 

About Miquel Martí Pierre

 

Miquel Martí Pierre (Barcelona, 1983) holds a Degree in Business Administration (ADE) from the Ramon Llull University and an MBA from the IESE Business School.

 

He began his career at multinational companies of recognised standing, such as HP and KPMG, where he specialised in finance, and mergers and acquisitions. He joined the family business in 2010 as Head of Expansion and Investment Analysis at Moventia. Eight years later, in 2018, he also took on the role of Managing Director for the Discretionary and Recreational Transport Division of Moventis. He was appointed to the group’s Board of Directors in 2022.

 

It should also be pointed out that Miquel Martí sits on the boards of a number of Moventia’s investee companies, such as INURBA Mobility, the bicycles and private mobility division of Moventia; SOC Mobilitat, the company operating T-Mobilitat; Barcelona City Tour, which operates sightseeing buses in Barcelona; Smovengo, the company that operates the bicycles in the city of Paris; and SHOTL, a multinational on-demand transport software company.

Josep Maria Martí receives ‘Honour Award’ from Etalentum

The CEO of Moventis and Executive Vice-President of Moventia, Josep Maria Martí, was given the Honour Award for his personal career at the Etalentum Awards on Tuesday. This is the first time that Etalentum, a leading Spanish staff recruitment company, has organised these awards and they coincide with the celebrations surrounding the centenary of Moventia.

Josep Maria Martí was chosen by a committee of experts made up by representatives from prestigious public-private entities in the region, such as Sabadell City Council, the Chamber of Commerce in the municipality, the Banc de Sabadell, the School of Economics and Business at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and Etalentum. After studying the profiles and careers of numerous executives from the region, the panel of judges from various backgrounds unanimously decided to recognise Josep Maria Martí for his career and the success he has achieved over more than 35 years of professional life.

In turn, Josep Maria Martí expressed gratitude upon receiving this important recognition by saying “I would like to express my thanks for this magnificent award, which I receive on behalf of the entire Moventia team, the family and the teachers we have had over the years, whose lessons have taught me to trust in people, let them work, train them in the necessary skills and treat them with empathy and respect. I would also like to stress that I am particularly pleased to receive this award at the start of a year in which we are celebrating the centenary of a company set up by my grandfather in 1923”.

The Etalentum Awards are local awards and have begun their history by recognising companies based in Sabadell and surrounding towns. The main goal for this project is to highlight the value of people-centric purposes at local companies based on such diverse factors as the promotion of internal and external talent, the level of commitment to employees, the creation of opportunities for training and professional development, the application of work-life balance, integration and healthcare policies, and best practice in internal communication and transparency.

The award ceremony took place at the Sabadell Chamber of Commerce and was also attended by the Mayor of Sabadell, Ms. Marta Farrés, as well as other prestigious representatives from the business world in El Vallès Occidental. Future editions will take place in other Spanish towns.

 

A benchmark for 100 years

Besides the award given to Josep Maria Martí, it should also be noted that Moventia, which is celebrating 100 years in 2023, was one of six companies nominated for the Etalentum Award in the category of ‘companies with over 100 employees’, all of which were selected by the quorum of experts for their sound projects to promote and develop human capital.

In statements from the co-founders of Etalentum, Jaume Alemany and David Boixader, these awards were created to “recognise the work undertaken by many companies to manage their human capital, to ensure employee motivation, to identify talent and foster it, and to facilitate work-life balance”, among other issues of a fundamental nature to business success.

 

Moventia and Sant Cugat Local Council strengthen ties

On Tuesday, 10 January, Moventia received an institutional visit from the Mayor of Sant Cugat, Mireia Ingla, to its premises. The local council mayor was accompanied on her visit to the mobility company by the Deputy Mayor for the Presidency, Urban Services, Mobility and Safety, Pere Soler; the Deputy Mayor for Economic Promotion, Elena Vila; the Head of the Mayor’s Office, Víctor Punes; the Head of Communication for the Mayor’s Office, Mikel Vilalta; and the Head of the Economic Promotion Department, Anna Álvarez.

The local council delegation was received by the Chairman of Moventia, Miquel Martí Escursell; the CEO of Moventia and Executive Vice-President of Moventis, Josep Maria Martí; the Corporate Vice-President for Internal and Institutional Communication of Moventia, Sílvia Martí; the Manager of Moventis SARBUS, Júlia Gilavert; the Head of Operations at Moventis, Enric Fauste; the Assistant Manager, Aram Vidal and the Head of Marketing at Moventia, Sandra Llunell.

After a tour of the company premises, the mayor and her team showed interest in Moventia’s operations control centre. The senior management team from the company explained how the technology is responsible for comprehensively tracking the buses that operate on a network spanning 270 kilometres and providing a service to 97,000 inhabitants of the local municipality.

 

After visiting the company and its various departments, the senior management team then told the local council representatives about the company’s future intentions. They placed special focus on the internationalisation strategy, quality and commitment to the team, innovation and sustainability. They also provided in-depth information on the services provided by the company’s two divisions: Moventis and Movento.

The visit represented another step along a shared path aimed at offering the best possible service to the residents of Sant Cugat.

 

Moventia reaches 25 million passengers in Mecca

Moventia carried 25.6 million passengers in Mecca (Saudi Arabia) in 2022. This was achieved via its urban bus service, which provided mobility services to the inhabitants of Mecca and the millions of pilgrims who travel to the city every year.

On this first incursion into the Saudi market, the service has been rolled out through the Moventis subsidiary, TCC, alongside a consortium of Spanish and Saudi companies.

The operation, which required an investment of 250 million euros from the consortium, was partially launched in February 2022 and has been fully up and running since October of the same year. With 12 lines and 438 stops, the service has experienced constant passenger growth and eventually carried 200,000 passengers/day in December.

After completing the roll-out stage (bus manufacture, the implementation of on-board technology, employee recruitment and depot construction; including garages, control centres, offices and employee housing), we are now busy with the operation and maintenance stage, which will continue until 2030.

The company owned by Moventia in Saudi Arabia and that has 400 vehicles in the region, known as Makkah Buses (240 standard 12-metre buses and 160 articulated 18-metre buses), has given jobs to more than 1,200 people from several different countries, 25% of them Saudis. This falls in line with the Saudi nationalisation plan, which has been enshrined in the Vision 2030 strategic plan, a roadmap that seeks to harness the strengths of Saudi Arabia to improve international trade and its investment power.

Another of the milestones reached under the operation in Mecca is the inclusion of women in the team. We have successfully integrated the female sector into the offices, the control centre, the training department and customer support service. This is another major factor that forms part of the goals set by the country.

Jordi Castells, Managing Director of Moventis, said that “our goal was to create an urban transport service in Saudi Arabia that meets the high quality standards set by Moventis. There is no doubt that the growing number of passengers that we carry every day and the excellent passenger satisfaction levels confirm we have achieved that goal. Following the success of this first project in Saudi Arabia, Moventis is ready and excited to embark on new contracts in the country as a partner that can help achieve its 2030 Vision”. 

 

In turn, the CEO of the Royal Commission for Makkah and Holy Sites, Saleh bin Ibrahim Al-Rasheed, stressed to the Saudi media that the increase in bus use surpassed expectations for 2022. He went on to add that the authorities will get involved in the next stage, aimed at adapting the technology, in order to provide a unique experience capable of meeting the needs of residents and visitors to the city and its temples.