Find out how Weber Group, a national distributor of industrial, safety and janitorial products, keeps its world open despite 30 years of uncertainty by managing its commercial risks and making decisions with confidence thanks to Coface’s solutions.
“I am Mike Gazzola, Chief Financial Officer of the Weber Group.
At Weber Group, risk management is not an abstract concept—it’s something that directly impacts our ability to grow, serve our customers, and protect a business that has been built over generations.
Weber Group is a proudly all‑Canadian, privately owned company with more than 170 years of family tradition and service. As a national distributor of industrial, safety, and janitorial products, we operate across Canada through a large network of branches and distribution centres, serving customers of all sizes and across many different industries.
As Chief Financial Officer, one of my core responsibilities is ensuring that we can grow confidently while protecting the financial stability of the business. That balance becomes even more critical when, like us, you operate with a lean finance and accounts receivable team. At Weber Group, our AR and accounting function is handled by a small, highly efficient team—two people, supported by myself and our Controller. We simply don’t have the luxury of large internal credit or risk management departments.
That’s where Coface, our trade credit insurance partner, has played a crucial role for us—for nearly three decades. We focus exclusively on the Canadian market and we deal with an extremely diverse customer base, both in terms of company size and industry exposure.
Every day, we must decide who to extend credit to, how much credit to grant, and how much risk we are prepared to take, especially when onboarding new customers with little or no historical credit profile.
In today's world full of uncertainty, Coface gives us the confidence and structure to make those decisions intelligently. By leveraging Coface’s trade credit insurance, we are able to assess risk quickly, define credit limits clearly, and move fast when opportunities arise. For example, when onboarding new customers, lower‑risk profiles can automatically receive up to $20,000 in approved sales. That’s a substantial amount of credit to extend to a new company—something we simply wouldn’t be comfortable doing without protection in place.
This approach has made us highly efficient in onboarding new clients, allowing our commercial teams to focus on growth while our finance team maintains control and peace of mind. Having a portion of our accounts receivable covered means we can respond quickly to customer demand, say “yes” more often, dare to grow and still sleep well at night knowing that our exposure is managed. Because, of course – you don’t need insurance, until… you need insurance!”
Explore all of Coface’s solutions and expertise to manage your commercial risks:
