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Stephane FIGUEROA MD of Fluidra Commercial (France) and Eloi PLANES CMD of Fluidra Group
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During the international Piscine Global exhibition in Lyon, we had a talk with Eloi Planes, CMD of Fluidra Group, and Stéphane Figueroa, MD of Fluidra Commercial (France).
EuroSpaPoolNews: "Mr Planes, what would be your assessment of 2014 for Fluidra, and more generally for the pool market?
Eloi Planes: Over the last 4 years, we have carried out a thorough restructuring of our group. In 2014, we began to see the results of this process. This was a year of consolidation and stabilisation of our results. At the European level, we recorded good growth in North and East European markets and a slow but steady improvement of the Spanish and Portuguese markets. The French market by its size and potential, is still the architrave of the European market.
At the global level, we are witnessing the growth of the Asian and Australian markets, and also those of South America.
We are pleased with the 2014 results of the Group.
EuroSpaPoolNews: What are the most important product innovations Fluidra presented in Lyon?
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"... we are witnessing the growth
of the Asian and Australian markets,
and also those of South America."
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Our stand Fluidra Connect generated enormous interest from visitors to the event; we are introducing our new steering and remote management system for pools on the stand.
We had a very good response from professionals and also for the AstralPool for Mac and our new Fluidra Pro online programme.
EuroSpaPoolNews: Mr Figueroa, what are your development priorities for the next year?
Stéphane Figueroa: Largely speaking, we will be introducing many more services, and also training for professionals.
We have three main axes of development: the first concerns our 13 agencies in France, which we are in the process of renovating and organising as self-service outlets, allowing professionals to serve themselves directly.
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"... a logistics centre
of 5,000 m²
in Perpignan..."
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We are setting up a logistics centre of 5,000 m² in Perpignan, which will be linked to the logistics centre at Gerona in Spain: in addition, Perpignan will have an agency of 1,000 m² in the city centre to serve professionals from the region.
Last but not least, we have strengthened our after-sales service to provide a more efficient service to professionals, especially during high season.
EuroSpaPoolNews: What are your predictions for 2015?
Stéphane Figueroa: In 2015 we expect a growth rate of about 3 to 5%."
