Some good news from investors in Provence

Entrepreneurs' ambitions remain intact

Following on the first series of testimonials published last week, Provence Promotion is highlighting another three businesses, as well as their respective plans and efforts to continue their economic journey in the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolitan Area. Ongoing investments are a positive sign in this period of economic recovery. Although projects have slowed down, companies that have recently chosen to invest in Provence with help from Provence Promotion are showing off their adaptability.

Over the course of the interviews Provence Promotion is conducting with companies that recently moved to the region, many are reaffirming their commitment to their investments.

They have all adapted to their respective situations and are heralding the resumption of operations in accordance with health and safety guidelines.

Bureaux & Co begins construction in Marseille

With 12 sites in France and several new projects in the works, the co-working specialist Bureaux & Co was eagerly awaiting the reopening of the economy.

For Nordine El Ouachmi, who founded the company in Montpellier in 2014, the end of confinement means construction can begin. Work on the first Bureaux & Co site in Marseille at the Belle de Mai Media Hub in the Euroméditerranée district starts this week. "We are launching construction work on a project that will occupy 1000 m2. We're going for contemporary spaces that feature a lot of exposed metal support structures. We will take advantage of large bay windows and the offices will be designed to resemble artist's workshops," explained Nordine El Ouachmi.

The planned investment is €700,000 with a grand opening in the fall, but that is just the beginning for Bureaux & Co, which is growing organically and through franchises. Other projects could emerge quickly in other cities in the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolitan Area. Opportunities are being studied and Provence Promotion will monitor their progress to again lend its real estate search expertise.

A business continuity plan for Elyse Technologie

With its industrial demonstrator/prototype, Elyse Technologie is developing a circular economy project called "Combigreen" in the industrial-port zone at Fos within the PIICTO Innovex platform. Its purpose is to qualify the performance of a patented pyro-gasification technological process (CarbolyseTM) on industrial waste and non-hazardous secondary raw materials for energy recovery.

Since signing its lease in February with the seaport authority, its founder Philippe Dalles has carefully planned every step, including a series of tests scheduled for mid-March when sheltering-in-place orders were announced. Despite the challenging context, 80% of the tests were completed thanks to a new deployment plan that enabled work to take place on a staggered basis to prevent simultaneous activities.

"We did not want to interrupt progress on the project", explained Philippe Dalles. "The majority of stakeholders, subcontractors and suppliers went along with the plan and complied with all the necessary health requirements. It was a real boon that we had chosen to work with local companies. We saved time on assessing the entire system and, at the start of this week, we were able to implement new settings."

The demonstrator is the first stage toward building a plant that will feed 5 MW of electricity into the power grid. Provence Promotion, which helped the company with its move as part of the Provence Industry’Nov call for projects, is closely following this energy transition project and the financing that will be needed to construct the plan in 2021.

Amiltone: building digital transformation momentum

The new Amiltone office in Aix-en-Provence is part of the Lyon-based digital company's growth strategy. The company outgrew its space and needed new offices quickly. As a result, in 2019, Amiltone moved into 160 m2 of new office space in the Parc Cézanne. A new branch opened in January and will soon welcome new employees. "COVID-19 slowed down our recruitment plan. However, the crisis has clearly shown the urgency and importance of digital transformation, as regards a company's internal tools and its customer relations. Thus we are very confident about the future and hope to get right back on track with our goal of hiring two new employees in southern France per month. We are mainly looking for internet, applications and mobile developers," noted branch manager Jean-Luc Chambron.