History

The business of the Burellos began with Leonardo, born in 1896 in Risano near Udine, the last but one of eleven brothers. After the war, during which he enrolled as an aviation motor mechanic, he started a small watch making, gold smithery and sawing machines business in Rivignano, also in the province of Udine. He had taste, sensibility and artistic ability, so much so that he ran professional drawing courses.

After getting married in 1926, he began his first business in Rivignano itself as a silversmith and restorer. Two years later, he transferred to Pordenone where, together with his brother Teodoro, he set-up an electroplating, chiselling and restoration workshop. In 1937, after ten years, Leonardo Burello left the business in Pordenone to his brother, and moved to Udine with his whole family which by now had been gladdened by the birth of his four children. During the war, a bombardment of the city by the American air force, which was supposed to target the train station, instead partly destroyed the area where the workshop was situated so the family were evacuated to Risano. Here, even though in a reduced fashion, Burello continued his activity in a different workshop.

Upon returning to Udine, everything started again normally in the old premises and, in fact, after a while, the business turnover increased. Since the old premises were by now insufficient, he set-up a new workshop on the outskirts of the city. By now, “Sior Nardin” (as he was affectionately called) was known and esteemed by everybody, not only for his professional competence, but also for his honesty, charm and affability. Following the death of Leonardo in 1958, it fell to his son Mario to lead the activity. In a short time, he managed to widen it both as a working place and in terms of the volume of business, opening it up to the world of industry.

He introduced to the business modern techniques of electroplating, whilst keeping an eye on environmental respect. It is thanks to him that, by the end of the seventies, there was the first use of a resins system for the purification and recycling of the cleaning waters. With the premature death of Mario Burello in 1994, his son Massimo entered into the business.

After achieving a degree in engineering, he started to expand the business in his father's footsteps, giving impetus to the industrial side of the business thanks to his technical knowledge. It was in this way that, in 1997, he built a new establishment in the Udine Industrial Area, fitting it with the most modern and technologically advanced production plants. Nowadays, thanks to the employment of new workers and the purchase in 1999 of an automated nickel and chromium plating plant, the firm has affirmed itself as a consolidated production reality in the region.