Zeste Research
Zeste Research is an agency specialising in international market research in the health and pharmaceuticals fields, and created in July 2006 by Sarah May Hall, a young English woman based in Lille. When asked about the reason for the company’s location, Sarah May Hall is quick to reply : Zeste Research has English, German and Italian customers. The Nord-Pas de Calais Region, at the crossroads of these "target" countries, was the natural choice, "the place to be"...
Eltete TPM Ltd (Finland) / Cartonneries de Gondardennes - CGW (France)
Finland’s, one of the world’s leading processors of compacted cardboard, teamed up with France’s CGW to create a paper conversion plant producing edgeboards / Corners and carton pallets in Tatinghem near Saint-Omer.
“This alliance will boost our production potential and allow us to react more quickly to changes in the market. Les Cartonneries de Gondardennes make corrugated cardboard sheets and rolls, and Eltete turns these into products ranging from edgeboards to PallRunners (cardboard pallets), air cushions and other types of protective packaging for transport. [...] Setting up a new production site with a local company will allow both partners to take best advantage of our complementary service offering, to share our technological know-how, and to pool our shared expertise in card production. It will also give Eltete a chance to forge closer links with its customers in France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the UK. [...] The plant’s strategic location will favor growth in Eltete France sales given reduced transport costs to Northern Europe, and will consolidate regional know-how in cardboard technology, introducing an abundance of raw materials. The company will also benefi t from the near-absence of local competitors.”
Eltete France
2,500 sq m of factory space
32 jobs planned in 3 years
55 jobs in 5 years
Investment: €2.6m
From an interview with Max Lamiot, CEO of Les Cartonneries de Gondardennes (CGW) in Saint-Omer Développement in April 2006.
Abacus
Didier Farge, CEO of Abacus, definitely has no regrets about the choice of Lille as a base for his business - as he says: "Lille has played a central role in the growth of France’s remote sales business, where it accounts for 60% of nationwide sales, and it has developed a special culture in the sector". Which is clearly ideal for a business specialized in the mutualization of data on mail-order and other remote sales to better identify customer profiles, helping members to consolidate the loyalty of existing customers and win new business.
In less than a year, this division of US group DoubleClick has built up an enviable client base including industry majors and bringing 35 catalogues into the Abacus Alliance, which thus covers over 80% of remote customers in France or no fewer than 12 million people.
Encouraged by this success, Didier Farge is now looking forward to further progress. "France is the last big mail-order market to see the benefits of mutualization and our members can look forward to the same sort of results as have already been recorded for sector businesses in the US and the UK." Which means plenty of promise not only for his business but also for the Lille region.
Source: Interview with Didier Farge, CEO of Abacus France, featured in an article by Jean-Luc Decaestecker published in Gazette Nord-Pas de Calais, December 1, 2005.
ECOVER
Founded in 1980, Ecover has built an international business on environment-friendly washing powders and other cleaning agents, rejecting the phosphate-rich products that cause not only unsightly foam in rivers but also much worse damage. And as CEO Michaël Bremans, heading the business since 1993, is happy to report, the market has readily adopted Ecover’s offering. Based on vegetable oils and biodegradable, renewable minerals, its popularity is reflected in steady expansion across Europe and other parts of the world. Ecover has also moved to build its image in other ways, sponsoring skipper Mike Golding who came in third in a nail-biting dash to the line in the Vendée Globe round-the-world sailing race.
While there is no strict legal definition of what an environment-friendly product really is, Ecover applies a set of demanding standards. These include the exclusive use of renewable raw materials that are fully biodegradable after use, that have minimal undesirable effects on aquatic environments, and that are not aggressive on contact with the skin. The concept has won a growing following since its launch with organic retailers in Germany, the Netherlands and France in the early 1980s. Those moves were followed by breakthroughs with UK supermarkets, ready takers for environment-friendly products, then supermarkets in Belgium in the late 1990s.
Today, Ecover products are on sale in 22 countries, reaching the US as well as Europe. The UK is the largest single market by volume ahead of the US, while over recent years growth has also been firm in France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. Annual rises have averaged 20% over recent years and sales are expected to be up a further 19% to EUR 33 million in 2005, double the figure for 2000. Success is underpinned by commitment to research and development, with 10% of the company’s workforce of 90 and investments equaling 5% of annual sales dedicated to the enhancement of existing products and fundamental research in association with Flemish universities.
In 2003, Ecover acquired a small unit in Switzerland, but the bulk of production is still located at Malle, a town to the north of Antwerp. However, considering fast-growing demand in the UK, Germany and France, Ecover began exploring possibilities for a new plant in Europe at the end of 2003. The company aimed for a quick start following site selection, with the target deadline the end of 2006 at the latest. With this in mind, CEO Michaël Bremans contacted NFX for help in identifying sites meeting criteria that included proximity to the UK and a port, as well as efficient transport links with Belgium, France and the UK. Other requirements were the availability of skilled labor and ISO 14001 environmental certification of proposed sites, matching the company’s business focus.
Several possible sites were quickly identified and inspected before the final selection of a 17,000 sq.m. plant on 45,000 sq.m. of land at Landacres near Boulogne sur Mer - an ideal location in Michaël Bremans’ view. This is to be Ecover’s main site for the production of liquid products, leading to the recruitment of 30 people, while production of powdered products will remain at the existing facility near Antwerp.
NFX teams provided their support for the decision, giving an attentive hearing to the ecological concerns of the business-which not only aims for environmental quality on its sites but also translates it convictions into daily practice with the use of hybrid vehicles, bonuses for employees sharing cars or cycling to work, and careful selection of materials in its buildings. All of which Michaël Bremans considers an essential part of a business philosophy built on respect for consumers. Commenting on the new site, he says, “Landacres is exactly what we looking for. Being so close to Boulogne sur Mer and Calais will make it easy to supply our main markets. And I am impressed with the quality of the local labor force. I am convinced Landacres will help us to step up the pace of expansion.”
While Ecover cannot compete with detergent-industry leviathans on size, it has already won a lead on the environmental segment of the market and will be counting on the Landacres site to consolidate its strengths in liquid detergents with a difference. Here in northern France we are already looking forward to seeing Mike Golding sailing up the Channel in triumph.
Company : Ecover
Founded 1980, acquired by Jörgen Philip-Sörensen in 1993
Headquartered in Malle on the outskirts of Antwerp
Home country : Belgium
Business : production of biodegradable, environment-friendly detergents and cleaning products
Key figures :
2005 sales : EUR 33 million
Employees : currently 90, plus 30 at the Landacres site, Northern France, at the end of 2006
Production plants : Malle (Belgium), plus Landacres (France) from the end of 2006
Markets : present in 22 countries including the UK, the US, France, Belgium and Germany
Main customers : organic retailers, supermarkets and hypermarkets in the UK, and supermarkets in Belgium and France
SIAC - From Italy to Northern France - selecting the right base
Italian firm SIAC has been making cabins for tractors and earthmoving equipment at a site in Auby, near Douai in Northern France, since June 2000, working in close cooperation with customers to define specifications before moving on to industrial development and production.
Masimo Eritale, who headed up SIAC’s move into Northern France, explains that his company began considering more effective ways to target northern European markets, particularly France, Belgium and the UK, in 1998, then set about looking for site large enough for its operations, which take up a lot of space. France was a natural choice for reasons of language and culture, but the company still had to choose from different regions, with Northern France in competition with others including in particular Lorraine. Northern France came out on top for reasons of three kinds.
- Infrastructure - a dense network of multi-lane highways, high-speed rail connections to London, Paris and Brussels, nearby airports in Lille, Brussels and Paris, and immediate access to the Channel Tunnel
- Availability of quality sites on the required scale and with room for extension if necessary
- Effective support from NFX and authorities in Douai at every stage in the project, with services including coordination of administrative procedures that might otherwise have been burden for the Italian firm.
Work on the site finally got under way in September 1999 and was completed in May 2000 Production started up in June with two products for two different customers. Today, SIAC serves four large customers - AGCO, Renault Agriculture, JLG and Pinguely Haulotte - with six products made in small to medium-size runs generating annual sales of €18 million. Results have thus been more than satisfactory for SIAC, which plans to maintain and possibly expand its presence in Northern France.
SIAC at a glance
Headquarters in Bergamo, 3 production sites employing 450 people in Italy
1 site in France employing 130
1 site in Brazil employing 300
