The Cecot brings together Catalan business leaders again in a gala that will award Joan Planes

The main actors of the Catalan business landscape gather this Monday in what will be the 29th edition of the Cecot Business Night. Around a thousand people will meet, convened by the employers' association in L'Auditori of the Catalan capital, where Cecot will present its Recognitions for Business Progress.

Among the awarded companies and professionals, the recognition as Personalitat 2024 to the honorary president of Fluidra, Joan Planes, stands out. Born in 1941, Planes co-founded in 1969 the company Astral de Construcciones Metálicas, which he directed and evolved into the current Fluidra, now led by his son Eloi Planes. President of the company's board of directors until 2015, Joan Planes promoted the internationalization of Fluidra as a benchmark in the pool and wellness sector, which now has 7,000 employees and operates in 45 countries.

In addition to recognizing Joan Planes, the jury, made up of various agents linked to the business sector, has decided to recognize Comexi in the category of Digital Transformation of the industrial sector, while Mat Product & Technology will be recognized in the services sector. For its part, Torrons Vicens has been named Innovative Retailer, and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners has been recognized in the field of Energy Efficiency and Sustainability.

The Best Young Business Initiative has recognized Centres Mercè Torguet for having consolidated itself as the first chain of psychology centers in Spain, with nine clinics opened in two years and with the goal of reaching 50 by 2030. In addition, the CaixaBank Recognition for Responsible SMEs has gone to Escola Ginebró, and the Vitaly Healthy Company Award, to the company specialized in the development of technology for medical products Azbil Telstar.

Furthermore, the Institut Industrial de Terrassa-Gremi Tèxtil and the Gremi de la Fusta have been recognized for promoting business associationism. During the Nit de l'Empresa, in addition, the trajectory of three companies that have recently reached their centenary will be recognized: Editorial Clie, founded in 1924; CASAS The Shoe Town, created in 1923, and Companyia General Càrnia, whose origin dates back to 1920.

With its Business Progress Awards, Cecot "gives visibility to companies and teams that are advancing in the development of their operations, while also being able to inspire other organizations," defended the president of Cecot, Xavier Panés. "We need role models," Panés claims, defending that the Nit de l'Empresa highlights the work, commitment, and socioeconomic contribution of Catalan companies. According to him, "it is essential to maintain spaces like this to remember that business activity is a collective task and a shared responsibility, key to guaranteeing the levels of well-being we desire as a society."

With L'Auditori as a meeting point, the employers' association has chosen to organize its annual gala again in Barcelona this year, after last year it was held for the first time outside the city, in Sant Cugat del Vallès. L'Auditori is not a new space for Cecot: the institution already hosted its gala in 2015 and 2016. In what is its 29th edition, the Nit de l'Empresa will serve as a meeting point for businesspeople, as well as a platform from which to launch its demands and from which to assign tasks to institutions.