Evelyne Hamon, the founder of the small Caen business, has chosen to pass the torch to her team.
In 2021, as she approached retirement, Évelyne Hamon, founder of Système Risp in Caen (Calvados), thought about selling her company to an external buyer. That was without taking into account her very particular activity, velotypy: the simultaneous transcription and subtitling of live events using a specific keyboard. Unable to find a buyer, she passed the torch to her seven employees. “Évelyne Hamon wanted to pass it on to someone who shares her vision, who has the drive and the desire to serve deaf and hard of hearing people.”explains Vincent Deffes, employee since 2011 and now co-manager.
In March 2023, the seven employees bought back the shares of the SARL from its founder and the shareholders who had supported her. Système Risp was transformed into a workers’ cooperative company (Scop). To set the sale price, a double valuation was conducted by an expert from the Regional Union of Scop and Scic of the West (Scop Ouest) and by the chartered accountant of Système Risp. The employees benefited from the support of a delegate from the Regional Union of Scop. “Although we knew the principle of a Scop in broad outline, we did not know how it worked operationally, nor in legal, financial or governance terms”specifies Vincent Deffes.
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The transfer of Système Risp took place in less than two years. The only hitch was the failures of the one-stop shop for business formalities during its chaotic implementation on 1is January 2023. “We were unable to obtain the K-bis extract and therefore to unblock our bank loans»says Vincent Deffes. The employees borrowed from Crédit Coopératif, France Active and Socoden, the financial body of Scop Ouest. They also each contributed at least 5,000 euros, matched by the Normandy region as part of the Émergence ESS Coopérative scheme. “That’s a total of 35,000 euros.”specifies Vincent Deffes. He holds 26.32% of the shares, and the other co-manager, Camille Ribeiro, also a velotypist, 12.28%. “The distribution was made according to each person’s resources and their initial personal contribution.continues the leader. The number of shares has nothing to do with whether you are a manager or not. The ideal is that everyone has roughly the same number.”
“Democratic governance”
Thanks to the choice of joint management, Vincent Deffes and Camille Ribeiro can both continue their activity as velotypists. “As we cannot manage the whole time, we can share out the tasks.”underlines the co-manager. For governance, the seven employees now associated apply the principle of a Scop, which is based in particular on collective decision-making. “The principle is one employee, one vote, explains Vincent Deffes. If necessary, we proceed by vote. In the event of disagreement, the decision belongs to the co-managers. It is a kind of democratic governance. We feel both actors and masters of what we do. It is very pleasant.” Système Risp’s clients include the Élysée Palace, the Ministry of Health and groups such as Orange, Sanofi and EDF. With a turnover of 873,000 euros in 2022 for 2,000 to 3,000 services, Système Risp is banking on its new Scop status to attract candidates to a profession for which no diploma exists, with the company providing the training itself.
