Italy has played a significant role in TBF’s work since more than 30 years. In fact, the Italian projects in the field of wastewater and waste treatment were among the first, that took place beyond the Swiss market for TBF. Many of those business partners and companies were based in Milan itself.

Soon after establishing connections to the Italian market, thanks to the work and experience of Thomas Vollmeier and Antonio Castorini, a fairly stable work volume developed. For this it sufficed to use the Ticino office as a base and attend to the projects from there. But this routine started to change significantly about six years ago: Suddenly Ticino’s team started working on two to three big projects simultaneously! This shift can be traced back to the evolving Italian market – an upturn that is continuing.

"Milan is booming. For us this was the perfect time to set up a branch here.", Lucas explains. The combination of economic growth and increased work volume laid the foundation for an autonomous office in Milan. It wasn’t just an opportunity to grow as TBF but also to collaborate more closely with existing clients and expand the services offered in Italy in general.

In short, the city's strategic location, its proximity to Switzerland and to Ticino office, made it the ideal choice. Rome might be the place to settle for government-related projects, for example big infrastructure projects in traffic routing or railway engineering, but Milan offers a different environment – and an intriguing one at that! How Kilian puts it, "Milan has a unique mentality that fits in well with our TBF vision." Lucas, a native of Milan, adds with a smile: "My personal connection to Milan certainly favoured the decision. I know the city through and through!"

Apart from the geographical proximity and the personal connections that Lucas, Kilian and Sergio share with the Italian city of design, the three agree: Milan is lively, vibrant. A place open to innovation. You can feel that! And that's exactly why it was clear from the start: this is where the opportunity exists to bring new TBF services to Italy. Kilian explains: "Our strategic work, our organisational structure and our network thinking differ from the local norm. This opens up opportunities for innovation. It is now our task to explore business areas and markets where this type of innovation could flourish."

A strategic location and promising business opportunities are one thing, but cultivating awareness of cultural differences and peculiarities is almost as important. What is new, what is different, where can we learn something new? And also: Where do we already have experience?

Kilian and Sergio from Zurich investigated this question. Both have close ties to Milan: Sergio was born and grew up in Milan, while Kilian has lived and worked in various parts of Italy. Together, they invited a wide variety of experts from the TBF network to a first meeting, all of whom share a cultural and linguistic Italian background. In a second step, they supported the diverse group in developing a common understanding. "Our aim was to identify our combined expertise and decide which of our services would add value for our Italian customers," Sergio explains. For the young network of Italian-speaking people at TBF, coming from a wide range of work areas - from energy management and sustainability consulting to graphic design - the focus was on exploring possible forms of collaboration. The cultural peculiarities in Italy were taken into account from the outset - so as not to simply imitate what had already worked in Switzerland or Germany. Lucas, Sergio and Kilian agree that this is exactly how these idiosyncrasies can be utilised as opportunities for development.

Networks are built on connections. Not only between the Italian-speaking people at TBF, for example, but also between the new office in Milan and the one in Zurich. On the one hand, to support the flow of experience and knowledge and, on the other, because services such as business or sustainability consulting, which are now to be offered in Italy, are mainly based in Zurich.

When Sergio, Kilian and Lucas think about the future, they see the next step in a joint project. Firstly, to continue to grow together as a network and secondly, to promote a common understanding - this will create a basis for expansion into new markets. To put it in Sergio's words: "You learn best together!" Once again it's "Exploring Together" for us!