Quadpack and IMC Toys shared with the attendees at the event their business model, corporate growth strategy and the challenges ahead for the business community in order to keep gaining in scale.
Barcelona, 18 May 2022. The Institut Català de Finances (ICF) and the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) in partnership with Pimec hosted this Wednesday a new round of the “20 to 100” Programme featuring twenty men and women entrepreneurs, M&A specialists, consultants, etc. The meeting’s purpose is to showcase business success stories of companies which have grown exponentially over recent years to inspire Catalonia’s business community to gain in scale and take the leap from small and medium-sized enterprises to larger ones.
This year, the event featured the presence and input of two firms which have posted strong growth figures: Quadpack, a global manufacturer and supplier of packaging solutions for the cosmetics industry with turnover standing at €100 million, and IMC Toys, a toy company that manufactures, imports and distributes toys internationally and has global turnover coming to €150 million.
The meeting was opened by Adolf Rousaud, chair of ACG Barcelona, and Jordi Òliva, the ICF’s CEO. In his talk, Òliva pointed out that “since 98% of the business community is made up of SMEs, as a public bank we have the challenge of powering the growth of companies which need to invest heavily in technology, innovation, digital transformation and sustainability.”
Quadpack and IMC Toys: examples of exponential growth
At the conference, Quadpack CEO Tim Eaves and IMC Toys finance and human resources director Carolina González shared their business model, the growth strategy their companies have pursued and the challenges ahead in the coming years to continue to keep gaining in scale.
Tim Eaves said that there are two key aspects which underpin his company’s surge in size. “Firstly, our global strategy, which is not restricted to national markets, and secondly, the start-up of production in Europe, which sets us apart from our competitors.” In the case of IMC Toys, González picked out as strategic factors “our Barcelona-based product design, the company’s internationalisation process and stepping up our digital marketing strategy.”
Here both companies agreed on the need to unlock entrepreneurship, ongoing innovation and talent to address growth and internationalisation processes.
The companies also shared how Covid-19 has affected them. González explained that “IMC Toys continued to grow, albeit at a slower rate than in a normal scenario, largely due to our commitment to digital.” Quadpack, by contrast, saw sales fall by 25%, although Eaves argued that “now the market is on the up, we expect to close the year with growth at between 30% and 40%.”
One of the topics discussed at the conference was the current supply crisis and inflation. Both speakers noted that today’s circumstances will have a bearing on companies’ strategies in terms of costs, pricing, etc., although the year is expected to end with positive growth rates.
This is the fifth round of the 20 to 100 Programme, an initiative started in 2019 that has already featured the stories and experiences of the companies Frit Ravich, Audax, MAT Holding, Plásticos Kompuestos, BCNonwovens, Casa Ametller and Tradeinn.
About the ICF
The Institut Català de Finances is the Catalonia public financial institution. Its mission is to foster funding for the business community in Catalonia in order to support the growth, innovation and sustainability of the Catalan economy. The ICF is complementary to the private sector by offering a wide range of financing solutions focusing on loans, guarantees and venture capital. Since 2014 it has been a member of the European Association of Public Banks (EAPB), which brings together public banks and financial institutions operating in Europe.