Up to 428 companies have left Lleida in the last 6 years, according to a study by UdL and UPF-BSM

Up to 428 companies have left Lleida in the last six years, a figure that accounts for 3.2% of the total company in the territory, according to the Study on the relocation of companies from the counties of Lleida, commissioned by the University of Lleida (UdL) and the UPF Barcelona School of Management(UPF-BSM), with the Board of Economic Promotion.

Of these, 39.4% have been moved to Barcelona for the profits of the capital, such as infrastructure or growth opportunities; 18.9% to Aragón for administrative agility and soil availability, and 14% to Madrid for tax incentives and subsidies. Instead, from 2015 to 2020, 341 companies moved to Lleida, an "insufficient" figure to compensate for the departure of companies, says researcher Jordi Moreno, one of the studie's authors.

A 3.2% of the total of companies have left and almost 40% have moved to Barcelona, 19% to Aragón and 14% to Madrid

In addition to Moreno, researcher at UdL Business Administration Department; the study has been prepared by Andrei Boar, researcher at UPF-BSM Observatory of Sustainability, and Oriol Montanyà, director of the UPF-BSM Observatory of Sustainability.

All three have presented it in the Auditorium of the Center for Cultures and Transfrontier Cooperation of the University of Lleida. Among others, Jaume Saltó, President of the Chamber of Commerce of Lleida; Jaume Puy, rector of the University of Lleida; Joan Talarn, president of the Diputation of Lleida; Miquel Pueyo, mayor of Lleida and director general of the UPF-BSM, José M. Martínez-Sierra, assisted the presentation.

The obtained data, during the period studied (2015–2020), show that all sectors are mostly relocated to Barcelona, except agriculture, livestock and fishing, which chooses Huesca as its main destination.

According to this study, although this phenomenon affects companies of all dimensions, it does so especially to commercial companies (21.26%) and construction companies (14.02%). "Relocation has affected Lleida, rather than other populations in both Catalonia and the State of similar characteristics", Moreno warns that Lleida is in danger of being in the middle of two very powerful logistic hubs; Zaragoza with the Central Corridor and Barcelona with the Mediterranean Corridor; which could further exacerbate the problem of the relocation of companies.

All sectors are mainly relocated to Barcelona, except for agriculture, livestock and fishing, which chooses Huesca as its main destination

To avoid this, Boar proposes some strategic solutions, such as improving infrastructure, obtaining a connection with rail corridors and giving new uses to Lleida-Alguaire Airport; favoring administrative agility, through a "one-stop shop" for entrepreneurs; creating a pole of investment attraction, with specialized agricultural-food sector polygons and fostering collaboration between university and businesses; and increasing the prestige of entrepreneurship and companies, through an ambitious communication plan that values the benefits that the productive economy brings to the well-being of Lleida's society. In view of the fact that over 40% of GDP and 60% of Lleida's land exports are from the agri-food sector, the study also proposes the creation of a large agro-industrial development plan that includes specialized agricultural-food industrial estates, with available soil and adequate services, in order to attract companies and generate synergies between them. Thus, they point out that the Torreblanca-Quatre Pilans Polygon project could be a good opportunity to exploring this way.

"Now that we know the scale of the problem and the main causes of the companies leaving, an opportunity is opened to work and define the proposed solutions"

"Now that we know the scale of the problem and the main causes of the companies leaving, an opportunity is opened to work and define the proposed solutions, always in collaboration between Administration-University-Companies," Boar says.

For Montanyà, "the study shows that companies do not seek subsidies or cheap wages, but value security, agility and support from administrations".

In any case, the study concludes that all measures to curb this exodus, be promoted by the Catalan public administrations, be designed in collaboration with the business sector, be translated into concrete projects and be dealt with as a matter of urgency. In this sense, Boar argues that "some causes of business march could be avoidable, but all actors, and especially the Administration, must participate to prevent it."