The company Ergosanté, based in Anduze in the Gard region, is to benefit from an €800,000 grant which will enable it to expand and recruit around thirty people. The company is benefiting from the part of the recovery plan designed to support industry in the regions.
Inflatable lumbar support, reclining position, adapted backrest... Ergosanté manufactures office chairs according to the morphology, pathologies and budget of its customers. The 90-employee SME is located in Anduze, in the Gard region of France.
"Workers' comfort" first
The rate of production should increase in the coming months in the workshop where 15 people work, including 12 people with disabilities. The DNA of our company is the protection of people in their work, in their physical integrity," explains Samuel Corgne, the company's founder and manager. Both internally and in the products we design, we ensure that workers are comfortable. Ergosanté is one of the winning companies of the fund for the acceleration of industrial investment in the regions, which is part of the government's recovery plan.
Endowed with €150 million in 2020 (€400 million by 2022), this fund has absorbed the "Territoire d'industries" programme launched by former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe in November 2018.
Internalise 80% of production
A grant of €800,000 from this programme was awarded to Ergosanté to relocate its production. Of the 10,000 chairs we sell each year," explains Samuel Corgne, "7,000 are manufactured in Great Britain, " where there is specific know-how in chair upholstery. "We want to quickly bring 80% of our production in-house. This is a pragmatic move, but also a way of promoting local employment," he adds.
This relocation, also linked to the Brexit, has already started little by little, thanks to the acquisition of a machine designed in Occitania. "To integrate the necessary know-how, this machine makes our job easier. For the moment, it is largely underused by the employees, due to a lack of space," explains Samuel Corgne. In order to grow, Ergosanté needs square metres, and quickly.
30 new hires planned
Of all the company's employees, about fifty work at the Anduze site, in offices that are becoming increasingly cramped. Opposite the existing building, a vast car park is being purchased from the town hall. A hangar will be built there at a total cost of 2 million euros, financed in part by a subsidy from the recovery plan.
Inside, there will be offices and workshops. "We want to increase our production capacity and therefore our storage capacity. This extension will allow us to develop our activities and to recruit around thirty people, in addition to the 25 we have already hired this year," explains the boss.
A favourable context
Even if it remains below forecasts, Ergosanté's activity is doing well and is expected to increase by 15% in 2020. In a context where teleworking is becoming more widespread, Ergosanté's know-how is very timely. According to a study by Santé publique France last October, 10% of teleworkers have developed low back pain. The company has therefore worked to bring cheaper chairs to the market and to develop online sales for individuals and large companies.