The university recognises the Murcian businessman’s commitment to the agro-food sector, research and job creation.
“Each person has an incalculable value. To succeed is to bring the intrinsic values which each one of us posesses to light”.
Tomás Fuertes, president of Grupo Fuertes, has received an honorary doctorate from the University of Murcia this morning, in a ceremony presided over by the chancellor of the university José Orihuela, in the function room of the faculty of Economics and Business.
The nomination of Tomás Fuertes was approved by the university cloister on 14th December 2017 and was based on “his permanent commitment to the agro-food sector of the Region of Murcia, his connection with the university in terms of R&D&I, patronage and employability”. It is the first time in the history of the institution that an honorary doctorate nomination is proposed simultaneously by two faculties, Economics and Business and that of Veterinary science.
The recognition of his work in the economic field and especially, in the agro-food industry, is added to other notable distinctions which the businessman holds, such as the Gold Medal for Work Merit (2011), The Gold Medal from the Region of Murcia (2013), The Medal for Merit in Business (2013), Favourite Son of Alhama de Murcia (2015), or The Award for Business Career from the National Meat Industry Association (2017).
In his acceptance speech, under the title ‘Discover your positive qualities and apply them’, Tomás Fuertes highlighted the importance of “exploiting the values which all of us have inside”, for which it is necessary “to put yourself to the test, be enthusiastic and prepared to make sacrifices”. In his opinion “that is real success” and the only advice that he gave to the more than 500 people who attended the ceremony.
In this sense, he remembered the effort they have made to keep the principals and values with which they started in tact: excellence, humility, integrity and honesty. “It is the best legacy that my father Antonio Fuertes, the founder of ElPozo Alimentación, left me”.
For Tomás Fuertes, life is “a constant interpretation”, and it is not necessary to be a “phenomenon to succeed”. It is enough to have “a constructive spirit, courage, self—respect, a sense of shame and dignity”. Values which “are not to be had 24 hours a day, but to use when appropriate”.
Sponsored by the lecturers Gaspar Ros and Juan Monreal, the businessman also highlighted the importance of common sense. Regardless of age, he said, “you must never change what you have done for what you would do”, because the “past doesn’t belong to us, what belongs to us is the future and what we are going to do”.
Accompanied by his siblings, Juana and José Fuertes, the new honorary doctor remembered that the business trajectory of Grupo Fuertes is the union of many people who have believed in it and the result of “having wanted, having known and having had the means to start up new initiatives”.
Grupo Fuertes, an exciting project
Grupo Fuertes is an international benchmark of public consumption thanks to a powerful core of agro-food companies and a collection of diversified investments which guarantee its soundness and future. Reinvestment, work, honesty and perseverance are the four parameters which make up the DNA of the holding Company.
Among the twenty companies which make up Grupo Fuertes, ElPozo Alimentación or Procavi stand out for their leadership in their respective sectors. With more than 6,400 direct employees, 32,000 indirect jobs and a turnover which exceeds 1,500 million euros, the business philosophy of the company is based on continuous improvement, reinvestment and sustainable development.
Tomás Fuertes applies the philosophy which has marked his life and which can be summarised in “you must have the desire and enthusiasm to do the job well”. He advocates “life is a business, it is necessary to manage it and get a positive result” and he strongly believes that people must have a spirit of continuous improvement to achieve excellence.
