Spanish companies may not be the first to spring to mind when you think of some of the world’s largest multinationals, but Spain is
a major player in the global market thanks to huge overseas investments over the last couple of decades. You may not have realised it, but Spanish companies are behind some of the best known brands on your high street.
Brands like Zara, Zara Home and Pull and Bear are high street staples throughout the UK. Behind these and 5 other brands is one of the world’s largest fashion retailers, the Inditex group, which has its headquarters in Arteixo, Galicia. The company was founded by Amancio Ortega, the richest man in Spain and 4th on the Forbes ‘Richest People on the Planet’ list 2014. Inditex began in the textiles industry back in 1963 and moved into fashion retail with the opening of the first Zara store in La Coruña in 1975. Inditex is now a global presence with over 6,000 and 128,000 employees around the globe.
In other fields, Spanish companies are also strong. In telecommunications, Telefónica is one of the key players and it staked its claim in the UK market with the purchase of O2 in 2006. Already a strong presence in Europe, Central and South America, Telefónica moved into the rapidly-expanding and lucrative Chinese market when it entered into an alliance with China Unicom. In banking it’s a similar success story, with the Santander group acquiring Alliance and Leicester and Abbey National amongst others.
With Spanish firms among the most successful in the world, there could not be a better time to start Spanish tuition. Our native tutors provide Spanish language courses throughout the London area, whether you want to learn for business or pleasure.