Ferrari has a social conscience, British car makers should follow suit

Of all the car makers I’ve visited, a tiny firm with a quirky, almost village-like atmosphere effortlessly stands out as the best, coolest and classiest.

How could I not be honoured and impressed to be invited to Ferrari’s Maranello HQ-cum-factory, before being so warmly welcomed? My highlights included: a personal tour of Enzo Ferrari’s frozen-in-time residence overlooking his secure test track where I witnessed the sound, sight and smell of a Formula One car driven in anger by a Ferrari test pilot; lunch at the ‘works canteen’ (Ristorante Cavallino, so good it has a Michelin Star); and an invitation (gratefully accepted) to drive whatever car I fancied from the production line. Best day of my working life? Probably.

For reasons beyond its control, the company is currently having a comparatively quiet time on the road car and grand prix fronts. The war in and around Iran means that some shipments to the Middle East have been postponed. Another temporary blow is that F1 races in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have, for safety and security reasons, been cancelled.

No matter. The company is quietly diversifying as it launches into health and social care. Its road car-manufacturing, motorsport, brand-building, merchandise and money-making departments remain as important as ever. But if you’re anything like me, you’ll be impressed to learn that the company acknowledges there’s more to life than all of the above. So, from this month, its HQ is doubling as a diagnosis centre – for people, not cars.

The facility is designed to provide potentially life-saving care and advanced diagnostic services to Ferrari employees. But the firm also admits that the health of folk not on its payroll is important. So, working with local and regional health and other authorities, its hi-tech facilities are also being made available to all locals. Philips, a world leader in medical innovation, is on board. As is Med-Ex, the medical partner of Scuderia Ferrari.

So just as Ferrari’s two highest-paid workers, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, can and do benefit from the cutting-edge equipment and medical expertise at the company’s brand-new facility, a local schoolboy needing, say, an MRI scan be accommodated too. Or his grandparent whose ageing bones need accurate assessment and treatment.

Ferrari reckons that in Italy, this is the first time a firm outside the medical sector has created such a facility, working in collaboration with the relevant public institutions.

So c’mon, all you comfortably-off British firms – you can and should follow Ferrari’s fine example by finding space at your HQs, and devoting a percentage of your profits to fund and build similar facilities for employees and others.

No doubt the likes of Philips, Med-Ex and the NHS can offer appropriate guidance and support. In these troubled times, demonstrate that you’ve got a social conscience. Please.

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