Pablo Izeta, new president of Eskuin

Pablo Izeta, CEO of BELLOTA, has been elected president of the association, succeeding Miguel González.

Pablo Izeta has been elected president of the Clúster de la Ferretería y el Suministro Industrial which represents 20 companies that manufacture hand tools and locksmith products in Spain.

Pablo Izeta, 56, from Donostia-San Sebastián (Gipuzkoa), has a degree in Economics and Business Studies, specialising in Marketing. He started working at BELLOTA 10 years ago as head of the Mexican branch, where he was responsible for

Mexico subsidiary, where he spent four years before moving to Legazpi to serve as general manager of Europe, Asia and Africa. Today he is the company’s president for Europe and LATAM.

Founded in 1908, Bellota Herramientas is a company based in Legazpi and belongs to the Venanpri Group, with its origins in the former Corporación Patricio Echeverria, whose first company was founded by the Guipuzcoan businessman himself in Legazpi in 1908 with a forge workshop.

Bellota Herramientas is Spain’s market leader in hand tools and specialises in the design and manufacture of hand tools for professionals and users in agriculture, gardening, construction and industry. It is part of Venanpri’s hand tools division, which employs 1,066 people worldwide and has production plants in Legazpi, Navarra, Colombia, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

The new president of the sectorial association also has extensive experience in ESKUIN. During the years 2011-2012 he participated in the incorporation of AFACE (Association of Locksmith Manufacturers) in ESKUIN, during the transition from Herramex and in the years 2017-2018 he represented BELLOTA in the ESKUIN board of directors.

ESKUIN is the Hardware and Industrial Supplies Cluster that integrates 20 companies that manufacture hand tools and locksmith products, under the highest quality and safety standards. Its objective is to carry out actions aimed at improving the competitiveness of the sector through inter-company cooperation.

ESKUIN companies reached a turnover of 443 million euros at the end of 2022, practically identical to that of 2021, the year in which they beat their turnover record. The year went from better to worse; the domestic market was slightly more dynamic than the international markets, totalling 208 million euros, and an increase of 2.85% over the previous year. On the other hand, exports fell by 2.7%, compared to the sales achieved in 2021.

After the first half of the year, the outlook for 2023 remains positive, despite the fact that, unlike the domestic market, the foreign market has shown some slowdown. Despite this, sales in the sector are expected to remain the same or even grow slightly compared to 2022.