A “business watch” in the Gard launched by the CCI to support the most fragile companies

Eric Giraudier, Jean-Marie Albouy et Jean-Marie Chabaud unis pour aider les entreprises gardoises. Midi Libre – Y. B.

The CCI du Gard, chaired by Eric Giraudier, joins forces with the future honorary president of the commercial court Jean-Marie Chabaud and Jean-Marie-Chabaud, president of the CIP (Information Center on the Prevention of Business Difficulties).

From mid-February, a “CCI business monitoring” system will be set up in the Gard to prevent any difficulties, especially in a complicated economic context against a backdrop of political instability. An approach presented at Bodeguita on Tuesday, January 21 by the president of the CCI Éric Giraudier, the future honorary president of the commercial court Jean-Marie Albouy and the national president of the CIP (Information Center on the Prevention of Business Difficulties) Jean-Marie Chabaud.

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The situation requires it according to the president of the CCI Gard: “We are as close as possible to companies to support them. There was strong action at the time of Covid. Now, the virus is more economic and the situation has been blocked for companies since the dissolution. This is slowing down employment and investment. In 2024, there will be a record number of bankruptcies.”

Companies with fewer than 20 employees helped in priority

For the monitoring unit, it is a question of going towards companies to prevent any difficulty, especially since most of them will have to repay by 2026 the loan guaranteed by the State set up during the Covid crisis. “In September 2024, there were a number of procedures that had not been reached since 2010 with 250,000 jobs threatened. This is why we must come early enough to meet entrepreneurs because often they present themselves with so many difficulties that there is only compulsory liquidation as a way out”, noted Jean-Marie Chabaud.

The typology of companies to monitor closely in the Gard is already known: they are mainly those with fewer than 20 employees. The system could make it possible to reach a quarter of the 50,000 Gard companies. This will involve sending emails and holding meetings to break the deadlock. Everything will be free and confidential.

From his experience as an entrepreneur and president of the Nîmes commercial court, Jean-Marie Albouy recalled that it is very small businesses with fewer than five employees that most often file for bankruptcy: “In 2024, 606 collective procedures were recorded. 561 cases concerned companies with fewer than five employees and 533 had a turnover of less than €750,000, meaning they fly under the radar. But above all, there are more than €108 million in liabilities at the start, that's huge!” The construction, automotive and technology sectors are the most exposed.