“Collaboration is the only way to grow in such a changing business environment.”
Ivan Borrego, Head of the Beauty Cluster Barcelona, one of the partners of Gcc Europe, is convinced: synergy is a necessity for all those companies that want to continue growing. “Companies need to be connected to their value chain to share requests and requests with customers and suppliers – he explains –. The best way to do this is through associations working with a cluster methodology. Transformative innovation, digital transformation or internationalization are easier and more targeted when you can verify, share or develop your business with other companies“.
These are the reasons that led to the birth of the Gcc Europe project: “From this project we expect to exploit all the synergies that we can develop with the other European cosmetic clusters and provide a nice support for internationalization to the SMEs that are members of the Beauty Cluster – Borrego continues –. But we also expect this to strengthen collaboration between European cosmetic ecosystems to project European cosmetic products into the world”.
The secret is to stay up to date
This is what companies also ask of individual associations: to join together to build critical mass and increase their competitiveness: “In some ways we are like a competitiveness department shared by the members – says Borrego -. Members ask us for information, actions, projects or collaborations that are better developed together with other cluster members than alone.They are also interested in being updated on the state of the art in the value chain of the cosmetics and perfume industry. And they expect to be informed about interesting innovations, market developments and other relevant technological innovations. In addition, they expect us to provide high-quality training focused on our industry. Last but not least, the companies see the cluster as a relevant ecosystem to connect with other associations, clusters and international cosmetic companies”.
About Beauty Cluster Barcelona
“Beauty Cluster is a private association founded in 2014 in Barcelona. It promotes collaboration with the aim of promoting sustainable development and competitiveness in the value chain of the cosmetics, perfumery and personal care sector in Spain. It is made up of more than 200 companies, is the leading cluster in the beauty sector in Spain and the second in Europe. It promotes innovation, internationalization, training and digital transformation. It is the only Gold Label accredited beauty cluster in the world. Founder of the first business training entity specialized in beauty, the Beauty Business School. Creator of the first B2B Marketplace for the cosmetics and perfume industry (Beauty Connecting Business)”.