This will undoubtedly be the major event of 2018 for the Châteauform' group. On 3 April, the Palais des Congrès Paris Saclay will officially open its doors in Massy-Palaiseau. Extremely well served by the RER B and C lines, the venue can accommodate from 9 to 1,500 people with its eight modular meeting rooms, a 1,000 m² exhibition space and a 600-seat auditorium. Designed by the Christian de Portzamparc agency, as is the surrounding new district, the new congress centre can count on the immediate economic environment to support its business, with Carrefour headquarters right next door, campuses of companies such as Safran, SFR and Thales, and the Saclay technology cluster. But it is also an ideal meeting point on a national level, with a TGV station just a stone's throw away with links to 40 destinations and 650 rooms, and even on an international level, with Orly airport just 20 minutes away.
This opening accompanies the change in scale of the group founded in 1996 by Jacques Horovitz. Chateauform' has doubled in size in the space of two years, in terms of sales, product range and number of employees. There are now around sixty sites, the group claims to be a european leader in hosting seminars, but also - and this is new since last year - corporate events.
The takeover of Eurositesin January 2017, opened the door to prestigious venues such as Les Docks de Paris and the Salle WagramIn addition to several training centres in the Paris region and the acquisition of a new area of expertise, that of catering. In September, the acquisition of IDEAL Meetings & Events, the French leader in Venue Finding, completed the picture, leading to the development of an events marketplace. "Châteauform' can now respond to all requests for corporate accommodation and catering events, even those organised outside its premises anywhere in Europe."says Daniel Abittan, Chairman of the Group.
A wealth of openings - 15 in all, including two châteaux in the Ile de France region and four residences in Germany - 2017 saw, above all, the conversion of Eurosites establishments to the Châteauform' experienceAs the group defines it, ".carefree, all-inclusive packages and the values of friendliness, generosity, flexibility (...)". Several of them have gone under the College banner, offering low-cost training courses.
After a period of accelerated growth, 2018 looks more like a year of consolidation for Châteauform', without its development being neglected. In January, a new College establishment, La Manufacture, opened its doors in Issy-Les-Moulineaux, near Porte de Versailles, in a former tobacco factory that produced the famous Gitanes. From February, another heritage site - the Val St Lambert crystal glassworks in Liège, Belgium - will become a City venue, a brand that brings together meeting venues in the heart of major cities.
In the spring, another of the Group's brands - Campus, the low-cost counterpart of the Seminar Houses that form the the core of the Châteauform' offer - will have a new establishment in Spain. Located near Barcelona, the Campus de la Mola will be the result of the conversion of a former Hilton building. Another project in progress, a City facility is being prepared in Marseille. Housed in a former private mansion close to Saint Charles station, this establishment will have both a seminar offering and a residential component with around fifty rooms. This will be a first.
