The cluster held an Extraordinary General Assembly at the end of December at Adoberia Bella.

A significant number of members took part in the assembly, whose main item on the agenda was the renewal of the Board of Directors of Leather Cluster Barcelona.

A renewed Board of Directors was presented and subsequently approved, with broad representation of the entire value chain of the leather industry, as well as of the different company sizes and the presence of all stakeholders.

The proposal for the new Board of Directors was drawn up with a view to strengthening the presence of the whole value chain and to promoting cross-cutting projects to address the strategic challenges in areas such as the circular economy, sustainability, innovation and communication and image, among others.

Bernat Vilarrubias, representing Igualadina de Depuració i Recuperació, was appointed president; Xavier Badia, of the company Curtidos Badia, vice-president; and Jaume Suriñach, of the tannery Adovinbe, secretary. The new members of the Leather Cluster Barcelona board are: Xavier Marginet of Fontanellas y Martí, Salvador Esquerra of Quimser, Raquel Camacho of the La Gaspar school of art and design, Blai Paco of Intarex, Sandra Quílez of Nquart, Simó Escayola of Loewe and Marc Rius of Komunícalo.

One of the cluster’s objectives for the coming years is to move even closer to the consumer of leather goods in order to gain in-depth knowledge of purchasing habits, consumption trends and the perception of the image of leather products. With this in mind, and to bring Leather Cluster Barcelona closer to that reality, representatives of ateliers and fashion brands have joined the new Board of Directors.

Once the appointment of the new members of the Board of Directors and the new redistribution and designation of posts within the Board had been approved, the activities carried out by the cluster over recent months were presented.

Leather Cluster Barcelona is a competitive cooperation environment for promoting cross-cutting, transformative strategic projects with the aim of driving forward the ecosystem of the leather sector. The cluster is an accredited body within the Catalonia Clústers programme and has the support of Acció.

Committed to sustainable fashion, the circular economy and shared value, Leather Cluster Barcelona brings together 55 companies and stakeholders with an aggregate turnover of more than 700 million euros, employing over 2,100 people, from livestock farming and the food industry, tanneries, universities and research, through to chemicals, sustainability, design, leather craftsmanship and manufacturing, and fashion.