The tow trucks, ready to be delivered, pile up in the parking lot of the Besse et Aupy company, at the entrance to Ribérac. Behind, the large sheet metal workshop is covered with black tarpaulins. A few employees gathered in front of the closed gates, disgusted: “I was born here, it was my first job”, loose Mickaël. He has worked for 22 years in the company, which is among the five largest manufacturers of tow trucks in France. This Tuesday, October 3, he could be fired. The company goes before the Commercial Court of Périgueux, and risks judicial liquidation.
Production never resumed after the June 20 storm
The hailstorm of June 20 literally ravaged the 4,000 square meter warehouse. Ceilings collapsed, machinery was flooded, and asbestos was strewn everywhere. The labor inspectorate banned the 32 employees from returning to work insideand for three months, production has been stopped: “It’s as if you had put a bomb. There is work for maybe a million euros to leave. At the level of insurance, apparently it is not supported”explains the sales manager. “It only covers 100,000 euros. And there, we do not understand why the management has not reviewed this completely obsolete insurance contract. We do not understand what is happening to us”.
You have to see inside, it’s like you put a bomb
– Michael
Employees are angry with management. The CEO told them he was going to file for bankruptcy in an email, last Monday, when negotiations had started with the town hall, the community of communes and the prefecture to try to find aid, or even a buyer. The company has been in difficulty for four years, but it had just obtained a very large contract, the construction of 60 tow trucks for the Ministry of the Interior, for the Parisian CRS companies for the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024.
A contract for 60 tow trucks for the CRS
“We see that our order book was full for more than a year, we have this very big market that we cannot honor because we cannot resume work. And we do not have the cash to to restart”, explains Céline, another employee. The 32 employees hope that the commercial court will place the company in receivership, and not directly in compulsory liquidation. But it would be necessary to find a buyer ready to put hundreds of thousands of euros to repair hail damage, or salvage machinery full of asbestos.
Other companies have suffered the same damage and they have resumed their activity from the start
– Nicholas Plato
For its part, the community of communes of Périgord Ribéracois has asked the region to try to find a buyer, even after the possible liquidation of the company. For Nicolas Platon, the mayor of Ribérac, “it’s a bodywork that worked very well. We have to put everything on the table today, especially the directions taken by the leaders, because today we don’t understand. Other companies in Ribérac have suffered the same damage and they have resumed their activity since the start. There, we are in a situation which raises many questions”. Contacted by France Blue Perigordthe CEO of the company did not respond to our requests.