“If nothing is done, we could move from worry to disaster. » The president of the Niort commercial court, Bernard Baré, went straight there this Monday, January 20, 2025 during the solemn back-to-school hearing. When, during the year 2024, he found himself face to face with business leaders in difficulty, the litany of subjects discussed was endless: decline in growth, lack of professionals, loans guaranteed by the State to be repaid, professional exhaustion, burn-out.
“Judicial recovery is not a shame”
In Deux-Sèvres, if we look at the number of collective procedures (judicial adjustments, liquidations among others), 2024 was relatively stable compared to 2023: + 5% compared to + 15% on the scale of the New -Aquitaine and + 30% in Bordeaux. But we remain at high levels compared to 2022. New safeguard procedures have doubled, from 5 to 10 in three years. In the same interval, suspensions of payments increased from 106 to 159, judicial reorganizations from 33 to 45, direct judicial liquidations from 86 to 143. Leading sectors affected: catering and construction.
The fragility is there. “The year 2024 was marked by significant challenges. Many businesses are struggling to adapt to an uncertain environment »underlined during this solemn hearing the deputy public prosecutor, Nicolas Leclainche.
A “problem of survival”
In this context, Bernard Baré considers the model of commercial justice all the more valuable: justice rendered by volunteer judges, business leaders or executives, capable of speaking the same language as entrepreneurs. “It allows you to say: I understand your problems. » The opportunity to recall a leitmotif: business leaders often do it too late to knock on the court's door.
“The business leader is an optimist. Moreover, it is because he is an optimist that he is a business manager. But this can encourage denial”observes Bernard Baré. Faith in one's lucky star dissuades people from asking for help. Fear too. Yet, “judicial recovery is not a shame for the company”underlines the president of the court, recalling that it could be an opportunity for a rebound. And legal recovery is in any case not an obligatory step when you go to court: “At the commercial court, we not only deliver justice, we patiently try to help businesses resolve their survival problems […] Experience shows that those who came only regret one thing: not having come sooner. »
-The year that begins will be his last at the head of the court. This former construction entrepreneur, elected judge seventeen years ago, succeeded Dominique Pluviaud in 2020.
Two new judges
The commercial court has nineteen judges, five women and fourteen men. Two new judges were installed during this solemn hearing. They are Fabienne Gréteau and Vincent Louis.
Fabienne Gréteau spent a large part of her career in the world of banking, particularly within Crédit cooperative. Since 2008, she has managed the Niort-based firm Cofingest, specializing in the sale and transfer of businesses. Cofingest shines throughout Poitou-Charentes and Pays de la Loire.
An engineer by training, Vincent Louis was a consultant in the Paris region before creating his company in 1993. In 2006, he took over the Niort-based company Sodip, a paint manufacturer and distributor. He is today at the head of Sodip Industrie whose clientele is national and even international.
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