How do you define your business?
Thierry Pigeon: Above all, it is 100% family-friendly. Created in 1929 by my grandparents from quarrying, it developed around the recovery of materials. I am the majority shareholder with my cousin Laurent at my side, and I have been president of the group since 2009. My son Thibault, general manager since 2019, today manages the operational management of almost all of the subsidiaries.
Thibault Pigeon: We are present in 14 departments, mainly in the Grand Ouest. We work in almost the same jobs as my great-grandparents.
The activity is divided between four branches: Aggregates and environment, Infrastructure and works, Construction and concrete, Engineering and services.
What is your view on the evolution of the group?
Thierry Pigeon: Throughout its history, Pigeon has developed by capillary action in external growth within a two-hour radius around the headquarters [à 30 km à l’est de Rennes, NDLR] until becoming a federation of SMEs. Between the 1980s and 2000s, the group quadrupled in size. We experienced a peak of activity in 2014 with the Bretagne-Pays de la Loire LGV project for which we supplied the aggregates and carried out, for Eiffage, all the earthworks between Rennes and Laval.
Following this important project, we have evolved our service offering within an integrated logic of territorial intelligence, by refocusing on our original businesses.
Thibault Pigeon: We then quickly implemented a new strategic plan which looks towards the future, around the circular economy. Our ambition is to be an actor and partner in the environmental transition of territories.
What does your historical career branch represent and what are its prospects?
Thierry Pigeon: Our 60 careers represent around 25% of our turnover and our workforce.
Some 40% of our production, which amounts to 9 million tonnes, is sold within the group, the rest is sold to other construction players.
Thibault Pigeon: This branch was renamed Aggregates and environment to reflect a major change consisting of integrating second-use materials and projecting itself as a player in mineral recycling. For a historic quarry, this is a major shift which results in work on our 60 sites and the creation of around twenty recycling platforms by 2026. The objective is to save our resources even if we always looking for new deposits. Of the six opening projects we had in the pipeline for 2021, three have already been completed.
“By offering a global offer, we operate in all public works professions except civil engineering, and we wish to develop in professions linked to water. »
Today, TP represents half of your activity.
How is this branch evolving?
Thibault Pigeon: With 11 asphalt stations, including a mobile cold station, two major works agencies (earthworks and road works) and a network of local multi-trade agencies, our activity is divided equally between public and private in order to be more resilient. By offering a global offer, we operate in all public works professions except civil engineering, and we wish to develop in professions linked to water.
To respond to the demand from communities to see more players in this field, we have just created Pigeon Eau et Solutions, a water treatment entity which promises to be full of promise. We have already won two public service delegations in Sarthe and a private contract for an industrialist.
Do you anticipate an evolution of your concrete activity from a low carbon perspective?
Thibault Pigeon: The carbon footprint is indeed a major issue for this activity which achieves more than €100 million in turnover, with 270 employees.
Our 21 plants will have produced around 500,000 m3 of ready-mixed concrete this year and we have two heavy prefabrication plants in Ille-et-Vilaine (up to 20 t) as well as our Sfac entity which manufactures drainage paving stones, borders, slabs, etc. We are integrating more and more recycled gravel and crushed sand, and we have developed our own range of low-carbon concrete, Gennova, with cement manufacturers. We are also considering using one of our quarry co-products, clay. Our first outlet is Géomur, a new industrial process composed of honeycomb blocks of raw earth stacked dry and linked by earth concrete poured inside. A first project will start near Rennes for a social landlord. This is a great example of synergies between our quarries, the concrete activity and our CBTP laboratory.
This laboratory is precisely one of your particularities. How does it fit into your strategy?
Thierry Pigeon: We created it thirty years ago when the State withdrew from the Ponts et Chaussées laboratories which came to control aggregate production. The large national groups immediately set up their own structures. In the interest of autonomy and securing key expertise, we decided to do the same.
Thibault Pigeon: Today, the CBTP laboratory, which employs nearly 130 people, generates more than half of its turnover outside the group. We recently created Acimat, a company which brings together Laboratoire CBTP and the environmental and social impacts engineering group O2m, to support professionals on the path to decarbonization (greenhouse gas emissions assessments, analysis of life cycle of products and projects, research and development of new materials in short circuits, etc.). Our laboratory also brings together our engineering and, since 2019, hosts our R&D center where 10 people work. We have made innovation one of the pillars of our strategic plan. We are working on the replacement of cement-based materials, the evolution of our coatings and even subjects linked to agronomy because the developments of tomorrow will increasingly link minerals and plants. Since 2022, with Bretagne Sud University, we have created the CoLoRe research laboratory (for “Construction with local resources”) where we are thinking about innovative products with low environmental impact.
Are there other manifestations of this quest for independence?
Thibault Pigeon: Yes. For example, within the Engineering and Services branch, our ABSI entity manages our information systems and helps us successfully complete our digital transition. We also created a training organization, Ouest Formation CBTP, which notably has a 5-hectare platform for operating machines.
He provided more than 29,000 hours of training last year, around 30% of which was outside the group. This structure helps us to secure our know-how and train young people: 6% of our workforce is in apprenticeship and we are aiming for 10%. Because, before the deposits, the men are the main strength of the group.
Dates
1929: creation of the Carrière Pigeon company.
1994: launch of the company Laboratoire Carrières Concrete Public Works (CBTP).
2017: implementation of the Excellence 2020 strategic plan.
2018: sale of the construction materials trading activity.
2021: implementation of the Pigeon 2026 strategic plan.
