«Barcelona offers a dynamic ecosystem for businesses», by Barnaby Wass

Barnaby Wass, now Chief Business Officer at TransPerfect, has shaped the language solutions industry for over 25 years. Since founding the Barcelona office in 2004, now the largest globally, he has been key in overseeing 25 offices worldwide, enhancing service quality and developing new business lines. As a board member of the Entertainment Globalization Association, Barnaby has a strategic role in expanding the media and entertainment corporate division. Holding dual British and French nationality and an ESUCA graduate, Wass is also a Board member of AFANOC and contributes actively to raising funds for families of children with cancer.

Why did you choose Barcelona?

As a language service provider, our strength is our people. We need highly skilled, qualified native speakers of their language, and Barcelona boasts an incredible talent pool in that sense. It is probably the European city with the most foreign students and many stay after their studies. Today, we have over 52 languages represented in our Barcelona office. We started in a Starbucks with three people, and we are now over a thousand people and that would not have been possible anywhere else but Barcelona, we really owe our success to this amazing city!

What aspects of the city would you highlight as being positive?

Barcelona offers a dynamic ecosystem for businesses with a strong commitment to innovation and technology services. The quality of life, architecture, rich cultural heritage, and excellent infrastructure make Barcelona a very attractive destination for people and businesses alike. Also, everything is very close; you can go skiing and kitesurfing in one day. And my personal favorite is the almost infinite number of quality restaurants and amazing food.

What do you expect from Barcelona in the coming years?

Barcelona has an incredible potential for international qualified talent, either home-grown or expat talent. I think that there is a need for Barcelona to transform itself from being the contact centre capital of Europe into a more added value services hub focused on innovation and technology. Given the environment and the qualification of the people, I think it has a real opportunity to become the Silicon Valley of Europe.

What aspects of the city must be improved? How?

I think the city is a victim of its success. I think there’s a lot of tourism, which is part of its success, but mass tourism is also an issue. I also believe it’s a city that lacks in green spaces; there could be a lot more green space. In this sense, mobility and pollution is also a problem that must be addressed. More pedestrian streets could be a solution. The new pedestrianized areas have been amazing and changed the city, so I think those are going in the right direction.

Which city do you feel as «your city»? What do you miss the most?

I’ve always been travelling. When my parents were university teachers, we would always live abroad, so I never stayed in the same place for too long. Barcelona is definitely my city and where I have set up my family and children, so being 20 years in the same city, it feels like home.