Eloi Planes, Fluidra CEO, will give the forthcoming Matins ESADE talk: ''Fluidra, from family firm to multinational''
Eloi Planes, Fluidra CEO, will give a straightforward, informal explanation of the company’s evolution from his dad's beginnings in a small workshop in Barcelona in 1969 to becoming a world leader in swimming pools and wellness operating in 46 countries. He will give an insight into its success factors, main obstacles, the crisis, the impact of becoming a listed company, the real importance of innovation and new technologies.
Eloi Planes
Eloi Planes Corts was born in Barcelona in 1969. He earned a degree in Industrial Engineering at the Technical University of Catalonia and a master’s degree in Business Management at EADA business school.
A member of the second generation of one of the founding families, Eloi Planes joined Fluidra (then Astral) as Director of R&D in 1994 and, in 1998 was appointed the Director of Logistics and subsequently General Manager of AstralPool España, a position where he was responsible for a number of mergers with Spanish sales companies and he acquired in-depth knowledge of the business.
In 2000, Eloi became the Managing Director of AstralPool and continued his work to expand the business in international markets.
In 2002, the family group took a decisive step: under the leadership of Eloi Planes as Managing Director, the Fluidra group was created (under the name of Aquaria at the time), which brought together the group’s pool production and distribution companies. Banc Sabadell bought into the family concern by acquiring 20% of its share capital. Eloi Planes implemented the change of the logistics model.
In 2006, Fluidra grew into what it is today when it was joined by the holdings of the four partners that had been independent until then. In the same year, Eloi Planes was appointed CEO of the Fluidra group and oversaw some of the company’s major milestones: its listing on the stock exchange in 2007, and its restructuring in 2008–09, both of which saw the rapid internationalisation of the sales division and the implementation of lean management in the group’s industrial division.
In 2014, Eloi Planes created a start-up accelerator, Fluidra Accelera. In 2015, Fluidra presented its 2018 Strategic Plan. In January 2016, Eloi Planes became Fluidra's Executive President. In the same year, he created a foundation, Fundació Fluidra. In 2017, an important corporate operation lead by Eloi Planes was announced: Fluidra’s merger with the US company Zodiac, which took place in July 2018.
Eloi Planes is also the President of the International Swimming Pool Exhibition of Barcelona.
