Within the Deguillaume company, although accustomed to economic upheavals, employees feel “resigned, stunned” after the announcement of the judicial liquidation of the Pelaude company, pronounced at the end of October. “Imagine, some of them have spent their entire career there,” confides an employee.
The dismissal letters were sent on Thursday, November 7 to the 29 employees who remained at the manufacturer of skips and large agricultural tools, while there were still thirty-seven jobs three years ago, when the company took over. undertaken by Steva.
The reasons for the liquidation
In 2021, however, the buyer said he had no concerns, the order books being full. “Deguillaume faced difficulties from the moment it took over, with a major approval issue, a building that was not suitable and a decline in the agricultural market which penalized orders, which led to a recovery and then liquidation. judicial”, comments Philippe Lassablière, president and CEO of Steva.
Explanations that former cowardly employees do not share. “The market has changed, it's true, but it would have been possible to adapt,” underlines one of them, who also highlights a commercial service that was not up to par and a lack of knowledge of the agricultural market by the buyers.
Public aid that raises questions
One million 300,000 euros of public money – in the form of repayable advances – was nevertheless paid to Deguillaume on the occasion of the resumption, in December 2021. These sums of 500,000 euros from the region and 800,000 euros from the State were to be repaid in future years.
The Steva group's 1.5 million euro takeover plan – with 200,000 euros provided in equity – was to be used either for the rehabilitation of a building and the reorganization of production flows, or for the construction of a new building.
“I am angry at these holding arrangements which take public aid and then do not do the promised work,” reacts Mélanie Plazanet, mayor of Eymoutiers.
“Material investments have been limited since the recovery has been complicated. We faced unforeseen events which generated operating losses, which delayed the restart of Deguillaume by a year. In these conditions, it was difficult to get out of it,” explains Philippe Lassablière, president of a group which had also taken over the Bessines company F2J before selling it very quickly.
Is a recovery possible?
In Eymoutiers, the disappearance of Deguillaume, in the scene since 1964, proved disastrous. “For a town of 2,000 inhabitants, this is a big undertaking. These are families who live in the community of communes and I don't know where they will be able to turn to find work. It is also a company which was part of the landscape of Eymoutiers and which made it proud, through the quality of its production,” comments Mélanie Plazanet.
The mayor says she has been working for several weeks to find an investor who would revive the business. “We have had positive meetings in recent days,” declares the elected official.
Guillaume Bellavoine
