In twenty years, SAS Franck Fabre has carved out a reputation for itself that extends beyond the borders of Lozère

Franck Fabre et ses salariés travaillent de la matière première brute, comme ce block de granit de Margeride. Midi Libre – Célian Guignard

The company, which specializes in stone and lime work, as well as masonry and sculpture, is celebrating its two decades of existence. It works almost exclusively on historic monuments.

Franck Fabre has come a long way since he launched, on September 1, 2004 to be precise, his eponymous SAS (simplified joint-stock company), specializing in stone and lime work, as well as masonry and sculpture. How far away the days of Saint-Julien-du-Tournel (Mont-Lozère-et-Goulet) seem, when the craftsman had no building and worked directly on construction sites.

Established since 2014 in the Economic Activity Zone (ZAE) of the Causse d'Auge, he had a workshop built in Mende that was both comfortable and functional. The boss now employs eighteen people. "Workers, site managers, technicians, an executive assistant, he explains. In our small companies, the social ladder works very well."

50 % of its turnover in Lozère

"At the beginning, I was alone, remembers Franck Fabre. I started by restoring small vernacular heritage. Then I moved on to larger unlisted buildings, such as churches. Now we specialise in historic monuments, which represent 95% of our business. We work mainly in Lozère, in the east of Cantal, in Hérault along the A75 and in the west of Haute-Loire. Occasionally, we can go further afield. Recently we were in Carcassonne or Minerve." His next project will be the restoration of the church of the Altiligérienne commune of Saint-Julien-des-Chazes in the Allier gorges.

Thierry Julier, president of the Lozère Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who took part in the workshop visit this Friday, September 20, 2024, to celebrate the company's twentieth anniversary, recalled that “50% of SAS Franck Fabre's turnover was generated in Lozère”. He also took the opportunity to congratulate the entrepreneur for his investments, his future strategy and his CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) approach.

A workshop tour was organized for the company's 20th anniversary. Midi Libre – Célian Guignard

A local raw material

"We have almost finished the major investment, based on our needs in terms of the renovation of historic monuments, confirms the head of the company. We have a workshop of a substantial size for our wire saw, which cuts parallel blocks of 20 tons, and our cutting machine, which allows us to obtain straight paving stones. We also have smaller tools: a core drill, a splitter and a knee lifter. We still need a flat polisher and an edge polisher which allows you to age the material.” And all his equipment is second-hand.“Our machines are either industrial waste or they come from companies that have gone bankrupt. We recondition them and, when they arrive, they are ten to fifteen times cheaper than new ones.”

The raw material, both sand and stone, is recovered by SAS Franck Fabre at low cost and as close as possible to Mende. “Sometimes, we have a block of granite in a field that bothers the farmer. We pay for loading and transport. Loading is also the most complicated part, given the weight. We get on very well with the public works company Engelvin. Often, in the morning, their 8.4-ton trucks leave full and return empty in the evening. We then ask them to load for us."

The Mende company still has many good years ahead of it. To continue its development, it is constantly looking for workers that it trains internally.

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