Fluidra explains the challenges that a family-run business faces when it becomes listed, and its future strategies

Fluidra’s CEO, Eloi Planes, was the protagonist today at the event organised by
the CEFIE (Centre for Family-Owned Business and Entrepreneurship) and the
Inforpress Group at the headquarters of Barcelona’s business school. After an
introduction from the CEFIE’s manager, Mathieu Carenzo, and before the fifty
or so in attendance, the CEO of the multinational Spanish business spelt out the
main challenges that a family-run business needs to overcome in order to be
successful in the stock market, and went on to outline the strategic changes
carried out by the company in order to adapt to the current economic situation.
In his presentation, Eloi Planes went over the most notable aspects of the
journey of his family-run business: from its beginning in 1969 as a company
specialised in the manufacture and distribution of pool equipment, to becoming
a listed company and market leader dedicated to the world of water, present in
32 countries and that distributes to more than 170.
Fluidra’s CEO stressed that the company’s international aspirations have
always been a part of its DNA. Its first activity outside of Spain was at the
beginning of the 1970s, with the creation of the first French branch office in
1976.

International expansion and diversification in four business units (pool, water
treatment, fluid handling and irrigation) have allowed the company to withstand
even the most turbulent economic environments. Eloi Planes outlined in detail
the difficulties that the companies must overcome in the current economic
climate and explained the solutions that Fluidra has proposed. The multinational
business reviewed its strategic plan and decided to focus on
internationalisation, innovation and diversification, whilst simultaneously
strengthening its position in terms of efficiency. Therefore, the company is
currently applying a lean management philosophy based on a culture of
continual improvement focused on customer satisfaction.
The Inforpress Group’s chairwoman, Núria Vilanova, explained the importance
of communications in a public stock offering. Communications are a key
strategy in this type of transaction that must be applied throughout the process.
From the preliminary stage when a company is looking to promote its brand and
build up its reputation, through to creating expectations for its public stock
offering, to giving support to the sale in the final stages of the project.
The organisers of the event
The Centre for Family-Owned Business and Entrepreneurship (CEFIE), created by
IESE, is an interdisciplinary work platform set up in order to study in depth and
increase awareness of the problems and challenges that family-run businesses and
entrepreneurs face. The Centre aims to promote and support business initiatives and
family-run businesses through research, and the disclosure and exchange of
information and experiences between the academic and business communities, as well
as boosting support activities for entrepreneurs and investors.
The Inforpress group, the largest public relations consultancy in Spain and Portugal,
was created in 1988 with the aim of providing efficient communication channels
between businesses and the general public. With over 160 consultants making up its
workforce, it has teams specialised in both vertical (health, consumption, financial,
technological and institutional) and transversal sectors (corporate communication,
crisis, internal affairs, public affairs, events, publications, design, corporate
responsibility, research and training). With offices in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia,
Bilbao, Seville, Malaga, Santiago de Compostela, Lisbon, Oporto and Brussels, it is the
only Spanish company that appears in the ranking of the one hundred best agencies in
the world. The Holmes Report, the ultimate point of reference in the field of public
relations, named Inforpress in 2009 as the fourth best company to work for in Europe.