The South Aveyron representative of the union reacts to the numerous changes in faces that have taken place in recent months at the head of the Millavois establishments.
The Union of Hospitality Trades and Industries (Umih) brings together nearly 650 members in Aveyron – “the third or fourth at the national level with 5 votes when the others only have one” – including nearly a hundred in the Millavois basin. Its South Aveyron representative, Yannick Chopin, welcomes these changes at the head of the establishments in the glove city in recent weeks.
What is your reaction when you see young people taking over well-established businesses for their first time as managers or partners?
Another clarification, these are young people aged 21 to 28! It’s great to have a generation of kids who are taking over great businesses. Some have been inducted into the Horecad association which brings together hoteliers, restaurateurs, cafe owners and the Millau nightclub or Umih. They are the ones who work and who bring new working methods. And then in Millau, everyone gets along well. We see it with certain profiles who make extras here or there.
Does this dynamic make you want to take it to another scale?
Already at the department level, this raises questions, yes. And then this also creates a certain emulation between them. Personally, I am admiring. We are just a little guarantor of their new ideas. The Umih office will change within two years. The pool of young people to invest in it.
Is it a good sign to see so much change in such a short time?
Undeniably, yes! We have seen it since the health crisis, there is a total overhaul of the catering world and we still do not know how to respond to it. Sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone in the kitchen, take the right turn, all with increasing costs. As with everything, you have to find the right price. In France, there are 200,000 positions to be filled in the field with guys who only open for four days, because of a lack of staff, including in Millau.
Would you have any advice to give them, any pitfalls to avoid?
Be conciliatory with the laws and the authorities when you want to liven up the city center like that, listen especially as the police commander, the sub-prefect or the CLSPD coordinator do it very well, especially for the musical terraces. And there are little tricks like being conciliatory with the neighborhood. For the rest, I don’t have any advice to give them: they are all doing very well.
What can they then seek within the Umih?
They are almost all adherent, we weigh a little all the same. Being at Umih allows them, for example, to have reductions from Sacem (Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers) or to be legally supported to manage problems, claims or a good deal of administrative work. Because catering these days is not just about cooking. The rest sometimes takes precedence.
