The issue of re-offending by former prison inmates is a significant challenge facing society in Italy. It’s a problem that PwC Italy is helping to tackle through an innovative initiative – an ‘in-jail’ restaurant that operates as a social enterprise to help inmates prepare for life beyond prison walls.
Building whole leadership skills, including social leadership, is a key focus of PwC Italy’s senior manager development programme ‘Compagni di Viaggio’, that encourages our people to explore society’s most pressing challenges. One of the senior managers on the programme in 2014, Daniele Magnoni, was tasked with coming up with a business plan for the restaurant.
Following this, and with support from other parts of the firm, PwC Italy partnered with ABC catering and II Casa di Reclusione di Milano – Bollate to open InGalera, a restaurant located within the Bollate jail-house in Milan. InGalera opened for business in October 2015, with an event attended by senior government officials and covered in the New York Times and other publications.
Staffed by nine employees including seven prison inmates, the restaurant provides the prisoners with permanent jobs, monthly salaries, training, qualifications and practical experience of a working restaurant, with the aim of helping them find long-term employment in the hospitality industry.
The venture also looks to reduce re-offending rates by integrating ex-offenders back into society, while also raising awareness of the social issues associated with the rehabilitation of ex-offenders.
The venture proved an immediate success. Through using our skills, leveraging our relationships to identify strong partnerships and making a small financial investment alongside contributions from two partner foundations, InGalera served 5,040 dinners and 2,970 lunches in its first five months, producing higher than expected profits and cashflows. At the time of writing, with a TripAdvisor rating of 4.5/5 based on 145 reviews, InGalera ranks 102 out of 6,156 restaurants in Milan.
Francesco Ferrara, PwC Italy’s Corporate Responsibility leader, comments: “It’s wonderful to see our idea coming to life and making a real difference.”
