The owner of Bodas.net will locate its international technology operations center in Barcelona

The Knot Worldwide group, specialized in digital wedding planning, will strengthen its business position in Barcelona by choosing it as the headquarters to boost its international operations technology center, through its Bodas.net division.

The company has chosen Barcelona for "its privileged position" in the technology sector and its ability to attract talent. Also weighing on its decision was that Bodas.net, one of the group's main brands in the world, with facilities in Barcelona and offices in Sant Cugat del Vallès, is a benchmark in the online organization sector ---for both individuals and companies--- for the celebration of weddings. The current workforce in Catalonia reaches 500 people.

Currently, the group's international technology headquarters is located in Sant Cugat del Vallés, although it has a complementary technology center in Barcelona city, on the central Balmes street. From both offices, technological products will be developed, as well as different innovations for the global business. In addition, from Barcelona, more than 850 employees in total, a large part with a tech profile, from 23 nationalities, and mostly women (61.6%), will be coordinated. The forecast is to continue expanding this team soon, according to the company.

To boost the technology center from the Catalan capital, the multinational has chosen the current president of the International & Growth division, Àngel Llull. The executive explained that it is an important challenge for them to unify, lead the development, and be at the forefront of diverse and multicultural teams from Barcelona, as the center will manage operations in 14 markets where the multinational The Knot Worldwide is present, spread across Europe, Asia, and Latin America. The United States market will maintain its own operations center, which also handles the Canada area.

To reinforce the team of the new technology hub, the US multinational has hired David Xicota ---from Simon Electric--- as vice president for the engineering area, and Anna Bisart as human resources director, with more than 20 years of experience in the sector working in companies such as Johnson & Johnson, General Electric, and Hewlett Packard.

Currently, worldwide, The Knot Worldwide has a detailed database with more than 700,000 professionals in the wedding sector ---nearly 50,000 in Spain--- and offers couples or companies tools to prepare their guest list, manage their budget, find their suppliers, etc.

In the various markets where it is present, The Knot Worldwide operates with different domains such as WeddingWire, TheKnot.com, Matrimonio.com, Mariages.net, Casamentos.pt, Bodas.com or Hitched.co, among others.

The center will manage operations for 14 markets in Europe, Asia, and Latin America

The multinational's announcement coincides with the celebration last week in Barcelona of one of the most prominent events in the world of bridal fashion, Barcelona Bridal Fashion Week, which this year was limited to a gala under the motto A new beginning. A slogan that refers to the recovery of the sector ---which generates some 3.500 million euros--- after the pandemic period in which many weddings were canceled and postponed.

According to data from Bodas.net, forecasts for the second half of 2021 are positive, because during the third quarter there has been a 37% more registrations on this website compared to the previous quarter, and the figures for the first quarter have doubled, with a growth of 94.5%. For 2022, it is expected to exceed pre-pandemic figures with an increase of more than 20% in wedding celebrations, compared to 2019. The platform estimates the average price of a wedding in Spain at 20,500 euros, with an average of 130 guests.