The crisis has not spared the Balsan company: with the prolonged closure of hotels, cinemas and casinos, carpet orders were lower. Similarly, the massive use of teleworking has slowed down the development of offices. In 2020, the French carpet leader experienced a decline of 20% of its turnover but held on.
“We succeeded in preserving 100% of employment, which enabled us to maintain good production capacities, welcomes Christophe Pouille, sales and marketing director for ten years and new president of Balsan since the beginning of the year.
Two sites in Indre
The company’s two industrial sites are located in Indre, in Arthon with 45,000 m2 dedicated to the manufacture of broadloom carpets and in Neuvy-Saint-Sépulchre, this second site specializing in the manufacture of carpet tiles. 222 employees work there. The carpets are made of nylon yarn, 50% of which is recycled yarn and using “green electricity”.
– Uproar communication
Since 2006, Balsan has been part of the Belgotex International group and was able to expand around the world. 50% of its turnover comes from exports to 65 countries. In 2021, the company achieved a turnover of 60 million euros. “We have made a good comeback without however returning to the level of 2019 which we hope to exceed in 2022”, says Christophe Pouille.
As with many French companies, the war in Ukraine is, he acknowledges, “a source of concern” with concrete consequences: longer lead times and higher energy costs. Christophe Pouille, however, wants to be confident: “Following the Covid, there are quite a few projects to catch up on and France will, let’s remember, host two major events: the Rugby World Cup in 2023 and the Olympics in 2024..”