Florence has unveiled its annual ranking of the city’s 500 leading companies, confirming the strength of some of Tuscany’s most influential industrial and commercial players. The findings were presented at an event organized by PwC Italy, in collaboration with the University of Florence, now in its seventh edition and hosted at Serre Torrigiani.
A central theme emerging from the meeting was the need for businesses to continuously reinvent themselves. “Reinvention is not synonymous with incremental innovation,” noted PwC partners Francesco Forzoni and Alessandro Parrini. “It is a transformative process that involves the entire corporate architecture. At stake is not only survival, but the ability to create sustainable competitive advantages in increasingly fluid markets.”
For yet another year, Nuovo Pignone secures first place among Florence’s top companies. Part of the international Baker Hughes group, the centre of excellence for turbines and energy-sector machinery reported over €7 billion in sales and €3 billion in equity. In second place is the Menarini Group, which climbs one position this year. The pharmaceutical giant posted €4 billion in revenue and €3.6 billion in equity for 2024. Third place goes to Gucci, which slips one spot compared to last year. The luxury fashion house recorded €3.3 billion in sales and boasts nearly €13 billion in equity, along with a global workforce of roughly 20,000 employees.
The ranking from fourth to sixth is dominated by logistics and large-scale retail. Unicoop Firenze holds steady in fourth place, with €3.2 billion in sales and nearly €2 billion in equity, supported by 14,000 workers and more than 700 Tuscan suppliers. In fifth place remains Gruppo Hera, a major player in waste treatment and utilities management, with revenues of €3.1 billion. Savino Del Bene, a logistics leader, keeps sixth place, generating €3 billion in revenue and holding €792 million in equity.
Rounding out the top ten, Arval, active in long-term vehicle rental and mobility services, rises from eighth to seventh place; Alia Servizi Ambientali climbs from tenth to eighth; Gucci Logistica, overseeing the brand’s global supply chain, drops from seventh to ninth place; and the Ferragamo Group takes tenth. Lilly appears just outside the top ten, while Sammontana, the iconic Italian ice-cream producer, ranks fifteenth. Two major fashion manufacturers also rank highly: Yves Saint Laurent at seventeenth and Dior at twentieth.
Florence’s top 500 highlights the strength of several distinctive Tuscan industries. In olive oil production, Oleificio Salvadori ranks twenty-fourth, with a 125-year history encompassing some 30 brands. Carapelli, another historic name based in Tavarnelle Val di Pesa, places twenty-eighth. The region’s robust caravan industry is represented by Laika Caravans, ranking thirty-eighth.
