Sir Rocco Forte, Chairman of Rocco Forte Hotels, has become a Board Director of the ‘Partners of the Palazzo Strozzi’, a new association of key international business leaders with strong links to Florence created to raise the profile of the city and reinforce its position as one of Europe’s key cultural centres. 

The philosophy of Rocco Forte Hotels is that each hotel, which is always designed to reflect the city in which it is located, plays an active role in local community life, which is why Sir Rocco was delighted to accept the invitation to join the high profile committee.  Rocco Forte’s Hotel Savoy is the city’s leading luxury hotel.

Sir Rocco will sit alongside other influential members of the city’s business community including François Henri Pinault, Chief Executive of PPR (which owns Gucci); Jacopo Mazzei, Chairman of Italian property development company Fingen and leading Italian fashion designer Leonardo Ferragamo. 

The partners will collectively donate approximately three million Euros over a three-year period, which will go towards ensuring that Florence remains at the heart of European art and culture.  Some of the money will contribute to the costs of the refurbishment of the Palazzo Strozzi, a key Florentine cultural institution and the building after which the Association is named. 

The Palazzo Strozzi reopened on 2 March 2007 after an extensive six month refurbishment and is currently hosting a Cézanne in Florence exhibition, which runs until 29 July 2007.
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