The Richardson company, today, does that represent how many employees and sites in France?
We have more than 100 agencies throughout France, mainly in the south-east quarter, part in the south-west, near Anglet, Biscarosse, as far as Bordeaux and four agencies in Île-de-France. In all, this represents 2,000 employees.
And on the Grenoble site?
We are a management unit, with a parent agency in Grenoble and three satellites: Saint-Marcellin, Voiron and Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux. If we take this unit as a whole, we are 80, including 70 on the Grenoble site. In terms of activity, the Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux branch only offers air conditioning and ventilation. Those of Voiron and Saint-Marcellin offer, like us in Grenoble, all activities: sanitary, plumbing, heating, tools, tiling, etc.
“We are amputated”
How long has the company been established in Grenoble?
Since 1974. The Grenoble management unit is one of the largest in the company.
What does Richardson’s activity in Isère represent?
It is especially the Auvergne-Rhône Alpes activity which represents a significant part of the overall activity. It is higher than the activity in Provence Alpes-Côte-d’Azur. This is linked to the fact that the Irigny (69) management unit is the largest in the group with nine agencies, including one in Saint-Etienne.
What are the development prospects for the Richardson group?
External development is done quite regularly. There have been takeovers of companies such as Mattout Carrelage in the South or Magelec, online electrical equipment, in Île-de-France. Development is also taking place through the opening of new agencies, like the one in Nantes, which specializes in plastics. As soon as there is a space, we establish ourselves.
Is the ambition purely national or is the group also aiming for establishments abroad?
No, we stay on French soil.
On your Grenoble site, you were the victim of an arson attack on November 20th. What about today ?
The fire ravaged our 2500 m warehouse2built in 2006, which stored more than 60% of our equipment for Grenoble and our three agencies. We are amputated, we have practically no more equipment. We lost customers who came for emergencies.
You do not have the possibility of storing elsewhere, while waiting for the reconstruction of the warehouse?
We organized ourselves in relation to the national platform which is located in Reventin-Vaugris and which distributes the equipment throughout the national territory. A space is being set up for our deliveries of equipment on site. Even if there are deliveries every day, it’s an hour and a half from our Grenoble site…
“We clear, then we’ll see!”
Work only started at the beginning of February. Is this delay due to insurance?
Above all, we were waiting for our demolition permit. There were several expert visits to determine whether a total deconstruction of the warehouse was necessary or not. There remained a frame but according to the expertise it was not possible to keep it.
Are you going to rebuild a new one identically?
For now, we’re clearing and then we’ll see! The demolition work should normally be completed at the end of this month. We’re going step by step. The project is not completed. For a reconstruction, it takes anyway between 12 and 18 months.
Finding another room to rent in the meantime, wasn’t that possible?
We looked, but there is nothing around Grenoble…
Does the insurance cover the costs?
We do not know anything. We are currently assessing the damage. We gave all the evaluation elements to the insurance companies: building, stock, handling equipment… It lasted quite a long time. It is quite a difficult ordeal to overcome.
“We are alone in the face of our destiny”
This fire, is it something you feared?
Concerning the squat which was behind, the public authorities were alerted on several occasions by the companies including us. It didn’t move. The squat was dismantled only after the fire. It’s unfortunate. We are waiting for the disaster to do something. Fortunately, there was no one in the warehouse when it caught fire. It happened on a Saturday afternoon. The intervention of the firefighters made it possible to preserve the other buildings. In all we had 8000 m 2of surfaces built on a plot of 11,000 m2
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Have you filed a complaint against X?
Yes. At the level of the investigation, we know that the person who set fire to the shed has been identified and imprisoned. He will be tried, but we don’t know when.
Did this fire force you to revise your activity downwards for 2022 and 2023?
We will have an impact of at least 18 months and a fairly significant operating loss.
How much do you estimate this loss?
At least 50%. We look forward to obtaining a reconstruction permit quickly to avoid accumulating months of loss of activity. We are alone with our destiny and we are trying to get out of it.
Will there be a social impact?
I can not tell you. Today, we are in reorganization. It takes a little more work on everyone’s part. A task takes longer. We also have a lot of absences linked to the Covid.
“It’s a lot!”
Do your loyal customers support you?
Yes, but some no longer come because we can no longer respond to emergencies. A boiler that slammed, a water heater to be changed quickly, we can no longer manage it today. What we process are orders. Customers who have a bathroom project, etc.
Before the fire, what was the activity in 2021 compared to 2020?
2020 and 2021 were not good years unlike 2019 which was very good. We took the Covid, 2021 did not see a return to normal and bim, we had the fire which announces a very dark year 2022. It’s a lot !
Interview by TR
-The preserved buildings are the administrative offices, the showroom, the self-service part and a small warehouse which was used for customer preparations and which is being reorganized to store equipment.
