UTOPIA LANDS IN BRUSSELES

The CEO Zurlo: "Our internationalization process begins. This will be our European headquarter"

Rome, 25 September 2019. UTOPIA - Public, Media & Legal Affairs company founded and led by Giampiero Zurlo - lands in Brussels with a new office on Rue Marie de Bourgogne, just a few steps from the . Last night at the inauguration ceremony journalists, top managers from multinational companies and institutional personalities attended the event, including: the Secretary General of the European People's Party, Antonio López-Istúriz; , Head of the Italian Delegation inside the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats in the European Parliament; , Head of the Italian Delegation inside the ECR Group in the European Parliament and Anna Cinzia Bonfrisco as a representative of the Identity and Democracy Group at the European Parliament. The Senator Gianni Pittella, former President of the S&D Group and former Vice President of the European Parliament, recorder a dedicated greetings video.

"UTOPIA - declares CEO Giampiero Zurlo - has been representing for almost a decade, with competence and transparency, the interests of some of the most important companies and trade associations operating throughout Europe, and Brussels has always been a point of reference, both in my previous professional experience at the Committee for European Affairs of the Chamber of Deputies, and for our consulting company. After years of constant confrontation with the European Institutions, we wanted to seize the moment of the start of the new legislature, deeming our presence to be permanently indispensable, with a dedicated team, expert in European Union Policies and able to further qualify our consulting activity. Moreover, the opening of the new headquarter represents the first step of the new international development plan of the company, which will see us open offices in other European capitals, so as to further support our economic and professional growth."

After being awarded by the Financial Times, in 2018 and 2019, among the "Europe's Fastest Growing Companies" - thanks to record growth rates - UTOPIA closed the 2018 balance sheet with over 3 million euros in revenues, thus marking a +31 % compared to the previous year; a positive trend which is confirmed also for the current year.

“In - continues Zurlo - we have successfully developed an integrated approach of our professional services, managed through four Business Units: Public Affairs, Media Relations, Digital Strategy and Legal Affairs. Now the intention is not just to export our model to Brussels, but we want to seize the opportunity of the more mature and advanced European markets to continue to innovate and constantly develop new know-how. "

The Brussels office will be headed by Carmine Nino, former Advisor to the President of the S&D Parliamentary Group and to the first Vice President of the European Parliament, Riccardo Pozzi, former Vice President of the YEPP and Advisor to the President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Italian Senate, and Federico Trenta, already a member of the UTOPIA team for years as public affairs specialist.

Founded by Giampiero Zurlo, UTOPIA is the leader in Italy in the integrated activity of public, media & legal affairs. With over 40 employees and offices in Rome, Milan and Brussels, the company assists some of the most important national and international companies in the process of building relations with institutions and media. UTOPIA has received numerous awards including: "Le Fonti Awards 2018", "Growth Leader 2019" of Il Sole 24 Ore and "FT1000 Europe's Fastest Growing Companies" of the Financial Times for 2018 and 2019. Author of the book "The Perfect Storm - The Italian Politics told to the multinationals investing in our country ", published by Giubilei Regnani, the company closed the 2018 financial statements with over 3 million euros in revenues.

Contacts: UTOPIA – Communication and Media Relations Ph. 06.97790306 - 02.3657 9180 [email protected]