Through hard work, the Bonnefoi have been able to find a place in the sun

De gauche à droite : Jennifer, Julien, Christian, Lise et Laurent Bonnefoi, avec le cadeau des salariés. MIDI LIBRE – ALEXIS BETHUNE

The plumbing company with the best plumber, located in the Rieu district of Alès, has grown while retaining its values.

“If my father had not been the victim of professional fraud, he would never have returned to his first job and been forced to create his business in 1993”, explains Laurent Bonnefoi , one of the two sons who took over the company. “We were forced to sell the house in a week to pay the debts and my grandfather lent us a quickly renovated apartment to house the family.” At the time , peak season for plumbers is between September and March. To complete his activity, Christian Bonnefoi decided to launch into polyester shell swimming pools. The premises are located on Avenue Carnot. Respectively aged 11 and 14, Julien and Laurent work during the holidays. The first employees are recruited. The growth of the Bonnefoi company is spectacular.

A move to expand

In 1998, Lise, the mother, joined the company to take care of the accounting. The premises quickly become cramped. The company is setting up on the ring road and can now present an exhibition hall.

An Alesian company still in progress

With his BTS in hand, Laurent signed his permanent contract in 2002. Jennifer, his wife, arrived in turn the following year, followed by Julien in 2006. The small family business has grown well and is structured around ;rsquo;a new organization brought by young people: “Management of large projects, development of repairs, creation of the renewable energy sector. In 2013, we built our premises in Rieu where we were the first to arrive. We already have around twenty employees. We continue to develop, but while retaining our values ​​within the company. Dad is retiring; we take the helm with Julien and Jennifer, but the employees stay. Today, there are 40 of us and they are still there.” The oldest has 27 years of seniority, but the average is around 11 years, with low staff turnover . For the company’s 30th anniversary, it was the employees who offered the bronze commemorative plaque to the Bonnefoi family.

A local clientele

With a turnover of 5.5 M € per year, progress is constant, even in a difficult economic context. “We work locally, one hour around Alès. Our customers are 60% individuals. We take care of maintenance and troubleshooting with our air conditioning engineers, our heating engineers, our plumbers.”

Management is thinking about its employees’ vacations

Close to their colleagues, the managers made an innovative decision this year: “Times are tough for everyone. For our employees’ vacations, we decided to invest in three or four bungalows in campsites in the south of France so that everyone can go on vacation.”
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