Mobilitis Newsletter no.12 – June 2007
In March 2007, VM Magazines the magazine and publishing entity in the Le Monde newspaper group moved 650 staff into floor space of 9000 sqm at the BIOPARK, rue Watt, in the Paris-Rive Gauche ZAC.
How did your relocation project get started?
FN: The Le Monde group employs 3,300 people and generates overall sales of €650M. It’s divided into three branches of equal size, national daily press with the title Le Monde, regional daily press, and magazine press and book publishing.In 2002, Le Monde acquired Courrier International, Les Cahiers du Cinéma and Publications de la Vie Catholique, with its 25 titles, including Télérama, La Vie, and a press title for the young, as well as Fleurus. The resulting group, VM magazines, was made up of 12 companies working on 8 different sites. The decision to bring almost all of them together to a single site was taken in early 2004.
This was an ambitious and complicated project, in terms of its logistics. Eight moves had to be managed. But more important were the human and management aspects.
The organizations of the entities affected were highly diverse. Some were paid salaries of 12, 13 or 14 months in a year, some were on a 35-hour week and others again on a 32-hour week. There were 6 staff representative organizations and the CHSCT safety committees. All this required discussion to get the rules harmonized.
Additionally, the group has a strong tradition of social dialogue. It must be remembered that the main shareholders in Le Monde are the employees themselves. Over and above the discussion about the location of the future building, the organization and its departments needed to be reorganized. Hence IT, Human Resources, Accounts and General Services and Marketing needed to merge and pool their resources.
Why did you choose Mobilitis to assist you in your project?
FN: Reorganizing to a single site like we did is complex and requires many skills. The complexity of these can be easily underestimated. I myself had not understood this before I was fully involved. We needed the assistance of a specialized company. Mobilitis was awarded the contract after an invitation to tender because of its familiarity with working with the press. It had previously worked with Emap (Mondadori) and the Le Figaro newspaper. We started working together at the end of 2004.What were the major difficulties encountered?
FN: The hardest thing was the choice of location as needs were so different. For example journalists on Télérama often go to program viewings down the Champs Elysées, advertising managers work with agencies to the west of Paris, and the translators for Courrier International are sedentary. Mobilitis helped us in the search for a property and in identifying all the possibilities. The price constraints meant that we had few opportunities. Three sites were short-listed. We chose rue Watt because of its cost.The relatively low rent meant we could invest in works, fixtures, fit-out and IT equipment. The Le Monde holding company is also located in the 13th arrondissement, Boulevard Blanqui. The only difficulty was the slightly "gritty" working environment for the first year or two after the move, as the whole district was then engulfed in new construction work. The proposed site met with stiff resistance from the journalists, because it was considered far away. However we made sure we chose a building close to public transport, and this one is close to Metro line 14 and the RER C. We held more than 70 meetings with trade unions to discuss the relocation. We signed the lease later than expected, in March 2006. But Mobilitis successfully negotiated a rent-free period, which meant that we could compensate for delays in the project, which arose as a result of continuing negotiations with the workforce.