How has Châteauform' emerged from this long period of virtual inactivity?
Benjamin Abittan - A lot of people didn't give us much credit, doubted the long-term relevance of our business model. We're delighted to prove them wrong. Châteauform' has come through this crisis relatively unscathed, even though we have an extra PGE to repay. What's more, the public authorities have been up to the task, and what they've done with the short-time working scheme is extraordinary. For our part, the fact that we have maintained salaries at 100 % and our very strong corporate culture mean that a lot of our talent is still with us. I'm very proud of the commitment of our teams. Under duress, we are capable of great feats. As far back as 2008-2009, some people had doubts about our ability to overcome this ordeal. I hope that now, having survived such a crisis, we have proved that we are a resilient company once and for all!
Since the start of deconfinement, have you seen an increase in your business?
B. A. - In April, figures remained anecdotally low. But with the announcements of a possible reopening on 19 May, things started to take off, slowly at first, then with an acceleration at the end of Mayi. We wondered how strong and fast the recovery would be: we have the answer with a demand which, for us, is close to that of 2019. That said, I'm a bit worried about the champagne cork effect in the long run.
Among your current clients, there are probably few CAC 40 companies.
B. A. - It's true that it's not the big groups that are currently coming into our homes. As a precautionary measure, these companies have not yet plugged in. Fortunately, however, there is an extraordinary network of smaller, less 'processed' companies in France, where we feel that, now that we've been vaccinated, we can take the risk of going there, of letting go. And there are actually quite a few companies that have done well during the crisis! For example, I recently spoke to an entrepreneur of a company specialising in dried fruit, who probably thinks he'll never be able to beat the records set in 2020. But to keep the momentum going, he organises seminars to mobilise his teams and keep the top spinning.
What are companies looking for when they get together today?
B. A. - When it's time to go back to work, many companies don't take the time to sit down and talk about how people experienced Covid and what they learned from it. But we still suffered humanely speaking ! Talking to our customers, they all told me about a latent crisis in their business. While everything was frozen by the pandemic, everything remained as it was. But now, one resignation follows another. Companies that didn't have a very strong culture are finding themselves having to renegotiate salaries, because when a company is all about numbers, the talent is too. All this ends up in a cultural crisis. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many entrepreneurs questioning themselves and rethinking their corporate culture. And all of this involves people and personal relationships.
Information goes digital, but energy does not. That's why I'm very, very optimistic about our sector in general.
So many things that are, in a way, good for your business.
B. A. - During covid, we were asked a lot about the future of our industry. Will you still have a place in the world of tomorrow? Won't digital technology take over? Of course, information is going digital, but not energy. But a company is a human adventure, not just an exchange of information. And that's why I am very, very optimistic about our sector in general.
That bad?
B. A. - We're even preparing for Roaring Twenties. We see a desire to live life to the full among the customers we are receiving at the moment. Everyone wants to party, people want to see each other. We're even seeing an explosion in B2C demand for weddings and birthdays.
Until now Châteauform' has concentrated on B2B, but are you now responding to these requests?
B. A. - Yes, we're not cutting ourselves off from B2C sales at the moment, but we do have strong requirements to ensure segregation between two worlds that don't necessarily mix very well. As we always give priority to B2B, we offer those who want to organise family celebrations the chance to buy the nights surrounding their event. This opening up to B2C has long been a subject of discussion internally. Today, faced with demand, we are currently considering dedicating one or more of our homes to B2C.. We're building on the strength of our concept - a château, a large number of rooms, a couple who host - to make it more event-based. Nothing has been formalised yet, we're working on a case-by-case basis. In this case, we let our customers educate us.
Back to B2B. Post-covid office life will undoubtedly be significantly different.
B. A. - I see it with my brother who works for a Californian start-up. There are about thirty of them, they don't have offices, but they do get together one week a month to a kind of seminar where everyone works separately, with some time shared between them reflection or cohesion. We can also offer all this through our 'work from anywhere' service. We have a few users, but it remains marginal. Our customers are still formatted to certain types of format. However, I think that Covid will open up these chakras.
Companies, organisers and trainers will discover how to use Châteauform' differently, to its full potential.
How does your offering fit in with these changes in working habits?
B. A. - Companies, organisers and trainers will discover how to use Châteauform' differently, to its full potential, and why not with longer formats, combining work and cohesion. Playing sport, going for a walk in the countryside, all help to broaden the connections between people. The aspirations at the end of the Covid are to better living and working. And working better can mean teleworking, but it can also mean working in a natural, organic environment. Our homes are particularly conducive to this. The more people telecommute, the more they need time to get together and bond. That's why our sector has a real role to play in this area.
The rise of teleworking will also have an impact on office property. Does Châteauform' have a role to play here too?
B. A. - The reasons for returning to the office are changing. It's no longer to take up a job and do what you can do from home, but to for creative, collaborative meetingsto solve problems together, to share an experience. In this context, property owners are starting to come to us to create a differentiating offer in their building. Reception, catering, VIP lounges: there are many players specialising in each of these areas. But we have all the strings to our bow to guarantee a coherent experience, bring together a whole range of services and make it all more human. We are currently responding to a large number of invitations to tender in this area.
Are companies also taking this route?
B. A. - Some of them are determined to reinvest the savings made on square metres in the quality of the experience in their officesWe're looking at a whole range of areas, including IT, hospitality, reception, decoration, food and experience. But companies are still in an exploratory phase. A lot has been written about the end of the office, but it's not going to happen any time soon. However, with the renewal of leases over the next few years, things are bound to change. It's hard to gauge the size of the potential market and the speed at which all this will develop. The evolution will undoubtedly begin with property owners, leading to an acceleration on the part of businesses. However, the core business will always be seminars and training. And we believe in it like a rock.
As part of the takeover, what proportion of Châteauform' events will be hybrid?
B. A. - In the first quarter, events were almost 100% digital, because we couldn't get many people into our venues. It's only now that we're going to see some real hybrid formats. That said, the average format of events in our houses ranges from 20 to 25 participants. So smaller, more collaborative gauges for which videoconferencing technologies do not allow true collaboration. If the debate gets a bit lively between the participants on site, those who are at a distance don't always understand who is speaking or intervene with a time lag. On the other hand, we're big believers in multiplexes.
How is this one of the possible directions for the future of meetings?
B. A. - For example, a company can bring its teams together locally - the Italians at Châteauform' in Italy, the Germans in Germany, etc. - and we connect them for remote exchanges, but the events and social moments remain physical. It's a a highly effective model. Especially as we offer a complete technological tunnel for a guaranteed experience. Because you can organise the best videoconference in the world, with the best speakers, but in the end, if people at a distance have a bad connection, it won't work. That's the whole problem with distance learning. That's why it's so important to master all the technology by connecting our châteaux together.
Is the hybrid model here to stay?
B. A. - The word 'hybrid' represents too many things. Top-down videoconferencing with a speaker is fairly simple to organise and works very well. On the other hand, large conference-type events with workshops and sub-committees are much more complicated. A really good hybrid event costs twice as much because, in fact, you need to organise not one, but two events: one digital and the other physical. And they need to be organised almost independently, with a dedicated itinerary and content, particularly to keep participants engaged from a distance. We have solutions for this, such as sending boxes so that everyone eats the same thing for lunch, or a presenter who walks around with a camera and acts as a sort of on-site envoy for the virtual guests, interviewing a speaker to provide exclusive content for people at a distance. In the end, truly hybrid events, with two routes, will certainly exist, but I don't think they will become the norm for reasons of cost. The 100% physical event is still the most effective way of doing this.and the best value for money.
Will Châteauform''s development be affected by the crisis?
B. A. - We may be unscathed, but we're still vulnerable, with debts to repay. Building a Châteauform' requires an investment of 20 to 25 million. So we're not going to rushIt's just that we're seeing a real demand from our customers. We had it in Holland and we're going to open a house there next to Amsterdam. And we're also opening a new site in September not far from Paris in the Eure-et-Loir, the Château de Herces. Our real estate is our product. After a certain stage, it's difficult to fill our houses any more. So, to generate more sales, we have to open new homes. Development is our reserve for growth.
