Interview with the president of the Montpellier commercial court, since 2020, Nadine Baptiste, who looks back on the economic year and the current difficulties encountered by companies and their managers.
The current economic context is marked by the difficulties of large and medium-sized businesses. What about in the Montpellier basin?
We are in an economic area made up of many small businesses, this is its characteristic with many service companies. As a result, we are less affected than in certain industrial regions. We see difficulties, particularly in the construction sector, a very important sector in our jurisdiction. Thus, in terms of collective procedures, liquidations, reorganizations, safeguards, there is an increase of around + 18% at the end of November compared to the same period of 2023. Prevention procedures, conciliations and ad hoc mandates are also increasing.
Which sectors are affected by collective measures? Is the situation worse than at the end of 2023?
We know that the main activities concerned are catering and construction. This is confirmed and it increases a little compared to 2023. We see this with the few sales in real estate, including in Montpellier where the sector is extremely buoyant. We are seeing an increase in summons for legal recovery from Urssaf when companies do not pay their charges. Compared to the 911 procedures at the end of November, we are at 397 summons, that’s 45%. At the national level, a statistic mentions that 60% of collective procedures concern companies where there are no employees. It's important to make the difference. Indeed, the economic situation is complicated, we lack visibility, but that skews the figures. We must not say that everything is bad.
In your interventions, you emphasize preventive measures. For what ?
Prevention means that we anticipate difficulties and that people come to us beforehand to try to find solutions with creditors. I encourage professionals and those around leaders to do so, so that people are not afraid to walk through the court door. In the context of prevention, there have been 92 procedures since the start of 2024, which is already quite a lot. Not all preventions succeed, but we see that 75% of these cases succeed while 75% of judicial recovery cases end up in liquidation.
Bio express
Judge in the jurisdiction since 2013, Nadine Baptiste was elected president of the commercial court in 2020. A voluntary mandate which runs until the end of 2026. This native of Vaucluse comes from the banking sector, more particularly from the Caisse d' Savings where she held the management of the corporate sector and other subsidiaries of the bank. The commercial court is made up of 50 judges. In 2023, the court rendered 12,000 decisions. “There are orders for payment, summary proceedings, litigation, orders, there are not only collective procedures, for us this is not the heart of our profession.” The jurisdiction of the Montpellier commercial court includes the sectors of Sète, Clermont-l'Hérault, Lodève, Ganges and Lunel.
Why are they also important for entrepreneurs?
I believe in these measures, because it allows the leader not to be alone. Because, today, we see, to our great dismay, that business leaders are putting their heads in the sand, and we are ending up with employees who are no longer paid. It's a bit dramatic for us. I cannot accept it because, when you are a leader, you have to face it.
How do you react in these cases?
We are notified either by the public prosecutor's office or by the employees. So, we summon the company manager, and we ask him for explanations. We explain to him that he must file a declaration of cessation of payments. That employees are not paid is conceivable, but there are mechanisms which take over such as AGS within the framework of collective procedures. Some are in denial, but it can happen. There may be the failure of a customer for example, but there is a lot of emphasis on the responsible nature of the entrepreneur.
Last year, the representative of the prosecution insisted on the problem of non-filing of accounts. Is this still the case?
It has improved a little, but we have to continue to follow up. The prosecutor's intervention got entrepreneurs talking a lot at the local level, and it bore fruit. Lawyers alert their clients to the subject, and then it's the law. This still remains a priority for us. We had 28,000 accounts submitted at the end of November, which is not enough.
Is the economic fabric still dynamic?
Yes. We have approximately 60,000 businesses in our area. This year, until November, 4,361 businesses were created. There were 1,415 radiations. We maintain a very positive balance. Despite everything, we are in a dynamic economy.
Does the court have a breakdown by sector?
No unfortunately. But there are quite a few start-ups and companies created in the audiovisual sector. There is now a whole favorable ecosystem, an interesting breeding ground. I'm not going to say that there are no difficulties, but let's avoid catastrophizing. I find that business leaders are anxious, because nothing is stabilized, particularly in terms of taxation. It's not a very favorable climate.
Related News :