Is the upturn in business living up to your expectations?
Gérald Coutaudier - I'm pleasantly surprised. Especially as we were quite worried after 11 May. We thought the phone would start ringing again from that date. But no, nothing until 29 May and the announcement of phase 2 of the deconfinement by Edouard Philippe. In people's minds, this triggered a number of things, including the reopening of restaurants and authorisation to travel more than 100 km. Because, before that date, there were still quite a few obstacles, from closed schools to short-time working and the use of teleworking for...
Is the upturn in business living up to your expectations?
Gérald Coutaudier - I'm pleasantly surprised. Especially as we were quite worried after 11 May. We thought the phone would start ringing again from that date. But no, nothing until 29 May and the announcement of phase 2 of the deconfinement by Edouard Philippe. In people's minds, this triggered off a number of things, including the reopening of restaurants and authorisation to travel more than 100 km. Because, before that date, there were still quite a few obstacles, from closed schools to short-time working and the use of teleworking for most employees.
How many homes are currently reopened?
G. C. - In June, we received the equivalent of 60 % of booking requests for the coming months compared with those received in June 2019. This trend continued in July. This is a real pleasant surprise. In the end, we expected to reopen around twenty homes before the summer. But, driven by this demand, around forty have resumed their activity. Even our event venues such as the Docks de Paris and the Salle Wagram were back in operation in July.
Were you expecting this recovery?
G. C. - Frankly, at the start of the lock-up, we didn't think much of it, just keeping the order book we had for March to June. Our teams worked hard on this. We recorded mainly postponements and few cancellations. And, of these postponements, most of the meetings were shifted to the period from September to November, and a smaller number to 2021, but also last June. This confirms that people need and want to get together. While companies had not yet reopened their offices, some had even asked us back in April to be able to receive their teams the day after deconfinement. But we didn't yet have the authorisations to do so. So we had to make them wait, as our Paris offices only reopened on 22 June.
What types of meetings do companies organise today?
G. C. - These are mainly small meetings to get out of the crisis, focusing on reorganisation and strategy. Companies need to give their staff a roadmap to prepare for the end of the year without waiting for the autumn. We have strong sectors here, with companies for whom life goes on, notably in energy, bancassurance and pharmaceutical laboratories.
How have your companies organised themselves to host these professional events?
G. C. - The strength of our facilities lies in their versatility. With all today's constraints, agility is paramount. If you have a small team, we can give them a medium-sized room to meet the distance rules. Similarly, for a medium-sized seminar, we can give it a larger room. As for larger meetings, they haven't come back to us yet. We've done a lot of work with Socotec on the health aspect adapting our protocols while taking care to retain our DNA. The aim has been to find the right compromise so that everyone can feel good while respecting what is imposed. We want to let participants make the most of the generosity and freedom offered by our venues.
We want participants to make the most of the generosity and freedom offered by our venues.
How do you give your customers this freedom, despite the health constraints?
G. C. - Gel and wipes are available everywhere, in the rooms, around the table football or near the coffee machine, without someone being there all the time to serve them. Participants can do it themselves in complete safety. They also receive a kit for the day to limit handling, with a mask and an envelope in which they can put it on a table, as well as a notepad, a pencil and sweets.
What impact do you think the economic crisis will have on your business?
G. C. - In the short term, we do not expect a return to normal before 2022. The recovery is fragile. A lot can happen, as we see from day to day. All it takes is an announcement of a reconfinement to the right or to the left and, immediately, demand slows down. Then, once it's forgotten, it picks up again. To date, no one has yet measured the economic impact of the current crisis. First, everyone needs to take stock, get a clearer view of the recovery, and redo their budgets. However, as a precautionary measure, some companies have frozen meetings and training sessions until the end of the year.
With the rise of distance learning, will demand from companies change?
G. C. - The cursors will certainly move. But one of our convictions is that people will emerge stronger from this crisis. You can't create a corporate culture by teleworking. That's why we're optimistic in the medium term. Our places, our homes, our concept will be even more useful to companies tomorrow than they were yesterday. Perhaps in different ways, as some things may change. We've started interviewing our customers to see what they've learnt from the crisis and how they see themselves in the future. Let's listen to our customers and their needs, and we'll be able to meet them tomorrow. But I'm sure that seminars, training courses, team-building meetings - in short, face-to-face meetings - will continue to be just as important.
People will emerge stronger from this crisis
Is videoconferencing a passing phenomenon or is it here to stay?
G. C. - This crisis has democratised videoconferencing and it will surely be used much more in the future. However, everyone has tried it a little too much in recent months, and it's not always easy to get used to, whether it's the children at home, the connection or sound not working, or the participant not connecting to the right interface. This solution will remain an alternative. However, we're preparing for it. All our homes are equipped with fibre, which is already a prerequisite, but we have gone further by joining forces with a number of partners to develop a streaming offer. This will enable us to duplex remote speakers and broadcast them in our rooms. We were already able to do this on request, but now we have a truly packaged offer.
Are your development ambitions still the same?
G. C. - Nothing has changed. All planned developments remain unchanged. Our City establishment in Marseillewhich was due to open in the middle of the lockdown, will finally be inaugurated in mid-August. This is a major first, as it is the first time that a Châteauform City will offer rooms. It's an idea we've had for a long time, but we haven't managed to find the right business model in Paris. In Marseille, where property prices are lower, we had the opportunity to do it. What's more, we'd like to replicate this urban residential offering in other French cities. In 2021, we will be opening a new seminar house in the west of Paris, the Château de Berchères. For 2022, we have two other houses in the pipeline near Lille and Bordeaux, as well as another in Seine et Marne, Château de Champgueffier. Abroad, we will open our first house in the Netherlands, near Amsterdam, in 2021. Our campus project with Deloitte is also proceeding apace. Everything is moving forward and will enable us to complete our offering.
