Relocating to France to start out a brand new enterprise is a dream for a lot of, and with the UK’s exit from the EU, France is a number one selection for international companies who wish to make their mark in Europe. Whether or not it’s a pair opening a gîte within the French countryside or an SME increasing to new markets, France is now fantastically welcoming to entrepreneurs from abroad, and as one of many world’s main economies, alternatives abound on this various and delightful nation.
France represents round one-fifth of the Euro space’s gross home product, but it surely isn’t solely a big nation by way of its financial system. In relation to sheer measurement, France wins out as the most important nation within the European Union, and the third-largest on the European continent.
The panorama of France encompasses all the things from a balmy Mediterranean coast, to snowy mountains, to glittering tech metropolises, and each area has its personal particular character. For British folks trying to keep robust hyperlinks with their house nation, nonetheless, the north of France is especially interesting because of its straightforward transport hyperlinks with England.
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By selecting to ascertain themselves in France, entrepreneurs can reap the benefits of the nationwide help that this business-friendly nation can present, similar to fairness loans to export grants from France’s public funding financial institution, BPIFrance. As similar to various nation, nonetheless, understanding extra concerning the totally different areas within the north of France is beneficial for forming a enterprise technique and making knowledgeable choices about the place to arrange store.
Île-de-France
The house of Paris, Versailles and Disneyland, Île-de-France is essentially the most populous of the eighteen areas of France and has the very best per capita GDP. The Île-de-France is the proper space for any entrepreneur who desires to be within the thick of it, giving them the choice of dwelling both in France’s capital or inside straightforward commuting distance.
Paris is a famously stunning, historic metropolis, and one which acts as a magnet for guests from across the globe. However whereas Paris’s idiosyncratic nature, wealthy tradition and well-known monuments are a few of the issues that make this metropolis particular, one among its most missed benefits is its standing as a number one and worldwide centre of enterprise.
A few of Île-de-France’s benefits for companies embrace:
● Its standing as a serious vacationer vacation spot. Paris is the second-most visited metropolis on the earth, making a booming tourism and restaurant trade. (See our article The way to open a restaurant in France.)
● Paris is house to the world’s greatest startup hub, referred to as Station F. This unimaginable scheme gathers an entire entrepreneurial ecosystem beneath one roof. (See our article The perfect cities for tech startups in France.)
● Town and its surrounding areas have the benefit of a extremely certified workforce, with the area accounting for 23.1% of all jobs in France and over a 3rd of all executives. Of the working inhabitants, almost 40% are college graduates.
● Paris has the very best GDP in Europe (representing over 30% of the nation’s GDP) and Île-de-France is the main area in Europe for internet hosting the world’s high 500 company headquarters. By forming a base in Paris, companies recognise that they then have entry to 500 million European shoppers from one of many Union’s strongest members.
● The area surrounding Paris advantages from glorious funding ranges, with the very best R&D expenditure in Europe.
● In addition to a vibrant tourism trade, Paris can be thought to be the world vogue capital, with many main manufacturers headquartered there. (See our article The way to open a retail garments store in France.)
● Île-de-France advantages from a considerable amount of enterprise actual property (notably workplace house), which is twice as low cost to occupy as London.
● The majority of the digital financial system in France is centred in Paris and the Hauts-de-Seine.
Normandy & Brittany
Lapped by the English Channel and with a inhabitants largely descended from Celts and Vikings, Brittany and Normandy have a definite tradition and plenty of historic ties to Britain (with the Norman’s making a selected ruckus on English shores in 1066). Each areas are near the Channel Islands and have an in depth shoreline, with Brittany possessing a rugged Atlantic coast on its western aspect that’s harking back to Cornwall and Wales.
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Normandy is a well-liked space for Brits because of its proximity to the UK, however its outstanding historical past and heritage, wealthy meals and mild countryside are additionally highly effective inducements for each guests and ex-pats to favour within the area. Brittany can be famed for its magnificence, with quaint fishing villages and patchwork fields basking in a balmy local weather – with the area being each hotter and drier than the south of England.
● Rennes, the capital metropolis of Brittany, is one among France’s predominant centres for telecommunication and excessive tech, in addition to rising over the past decade into a serious centre for digital innovation, facilitated by important R&D and a community of seven know-how hubs. Town can be just one hour 25 minutes from Paris by high-speed prepare.
● Normandy is a superb location for commerce because of its in depth port advanced and handy location close to Paris, making it a gateway not solely to Europe however the wider world. As such, over a 3rd of the regional GDP is created by exports.
● Each areas have robust maritime traditions, with profitable fishing and shipbuilding industries. The agri-food trade accounts for a 3rd of Brittany’s companies and round 70,000 jobs, whereas Normandy has a extremely developed automobile manufacturing sector and is a major cider-producing area.
Grand Est & Hauts-de-France
The North East of France is bordered by the English Channel, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and Switzerland, accommodates two mountain ranges (the Ardennes and Vosges) and options the cities of Lille, Calais and Strasbourg. Typically described as “the center of Europe”, Grand Est is house to the town of Strasbourg and the European Parliament constructing, whereas Hauts-de-France is the gateway to Britain via each the Eurotunnel and Calais-Dover transport route.
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Grand Est is traditionally the assembly level for the Germanic and Latin worlds, and the realm is especially well-known for producing Champagne. Hauts-de-France additionally has a robust Flemish affect in each their structure and meals, and enjoys a shocking 120 miles of sweeping shoreline.
● Grand Est advantages from having vibrant city centres, a few of that are lower than an hour away from Paris. Mixed with the neighbourly relations with the international locations that border the area, this makes Grand Est an amazing spot for worldwide commerce.
● The Hauts de France is one other space with a particularly worthwhile agri-food trade, notably regarding meals for export (similar to packaged greens).
● The shoreline of Hauts de France is advantaged by a considerable transport community together with the three main ports of Calais, Dunkirk and Boulogne-sur-Mer, which serve passenger, freight and fishing industries. The deliberate Seine-Nord Europe Canal will additional enhance upon this technique, connecting Le Harve to the entire of the north European system and additional benefiting any companies coping with logistics.
● These areas additionally exhibit manufacturing experience throughout many specialised sectors, together with the chemical compounds and metalworking industries. Manufacturing presently accounts for 16% of jobs within the space.
● Alongside its wealthy historical past, Grand Est can be trying to the longer term with over 50 know-how switch and innovation our bodies, and the formation of “competitiveness clusters”; membership organisations that collect SMEs, giant firms, analysis and better training establishments round a selected matter and inside a selected French area. Consequently, the realm now has the fourth most patent functions in France.
Pays de la Loire, The Loire Valley & Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Heading additional south and in direction of central France, you will discover the areas of Pays de la Loire, The Loire Valley & Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Every has its personal character and sights, though all profit from seemingly countless miles of rolling countryside, from the Bay of Biscay in Pays de la Loire to the Jura mountain vary in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.
The Loire Valley (or Centre-Val de Loire) is outlined by its farmland and luxurious châteaux, and is known for white wines similar to Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. Pays de la Loire has a equally rural tradition and is the main producer of milk and beef in France. Encompassing the previous area of Burgundy, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté rivals the Loire Valley for winemaking, and likewise advantages from plenty of UNESCO World Heritage websites. (See our article The way to begin a wine enterprise in France.)
Regardless of the robustly agricultural nature inherent to this sweep of France, every of those areas boasts dynamic city centres, together with Nantes, Angers, Dijon and Orléans.
● The Pays de la Loire area has the benefit of rating as a number one marketplace for superior manufacturing applied sciences (which is outlined because the modern types of reworking uncooked supplies or elements in new merchandise).
● The western coast metropolis of Nantes is well known as a inventive centre for design and structure.
● The French area Centre-Val-de-Loire is ideally located to create connections with nearly all of France’s areas, together with the Parisian area Île-de-France. With some spots solely an hour away from Paris, the area is house to over 800 enterprise parks.
● The Loire Valley can be a well-liked vacationer spot, tempting 9 million travellers a 12 months with its untouched surroundings, huge vineyards and well-known châteaux, creating glorious alternatives for many who wish to enter the hospitality and tourism trade. (See our article: The way to Begin a Vacation Cottage Enterprise in France.)
● In Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, one in 5 of the employed inhabitants work in manufacturing throughout the areas’ 14,700 industrial crops. The area is especially well-known for making automobiles for main manufacturers.
● The area can be the second most necessary farming area in France, and produces dairy merchandise, beef, wine, cereals, drinks and spirits.
For UK residents trying to begin a enterprise within the north of France, there are a plethora of alternatives throughout each area, and with some forethought and analysis Brits can discover their place amongst the enterprise group of this thriving financial system.
For extra data on find out how to open a enterprise in France, together with registering a enterprise deal with, opening a enterprise checking account or discovering an English-speaking accountant, please obtain our free information under or name us on 0033 (0) 1 53 57 49 10 or write to us via our contact web page. We’ll be completely satisfied to reply any questions you may have.
