It’s a name that the people of Rennes know well, without knowing what it hides. Established for more than a hundred years in the Courrouze district, the Euro-Shelter company left its historic arsenal to join Janais in November. Completed in March, the move to the lands of the Stellantis (ex PSA) factory may come as a surprise. Acquired by the Toutenkamion group, the Euro-Shelter company spent around three million euros to invest in premises half the size! “We are moving into a building that dates from the 1960s. But it will always be newer than the one we had in La Courrouze. There, we heated the outside! By coming here, we hope to save a lot, especially on heating bills,” justifies Benoît Le Lay.
When he arrived in the company nearly ten years ago, the site manager wondered, like all the employees, if Euro-Shelter was going to last. After having manufactured ammunition for a long time, the heiress of the arsenal and GIAT Industries seemed destined for a slow death. It finally resurfaced thanks to its specialization in the design of mobile units highly sought after by armies.
These large fully equipped aluminum boxes that we were forbidden to photograph (defence secrets oblige) often serve as outposts for the military, who set up offices, radars or medical units there. “We are currently working on a command post for Thales. This is a unit that will potentially house missile trigger systems. Above all, waves must not be able to enter or leave it. This is our challenge,” continues the plant manager.
“We are almost already cramped”
To meet this challenge, the company has invested more than one million euros in an assembly pit equipped with a high-performance welding robot. A tool that it was impossible for him to install in La Courrouze and which curbed his activity. “We were limited to a ceiling height of four meters, it was too restrictive,” recalls Julien Mercier, the head of the paint workshop. Within these walls, Citroën has long worked on prototypes. Euro-Shelter intends to do the same. Driven by the growing demand from the military, the company has seen its order book fill up until 2025. We weren’t expecting it”, continues the workshop manager.
Armies often operate on a five or ten year cycle for their investments, the company has also developed an offer for civilians. Transported on the back of trucks, the mobile units quickly won over local authorities, who saw in them the opportunity to bring public services closer to the population. Medical stations, administrative offices or shelters dedicated to events that are easy to transport. “When we took over Euro-Shelter, we already had the idea of developing this offer in Rennes. It grew rapidly during the Covid-19 crisis. Unfortunately, it stopped a bit because of supply problems, ”concedes Stéphane Girerd, the boss of Toutenkamion.
In Rennes, 39 people work daily to design these highly secure and completely removable mobile homes. A workforce that should grow rapidly to cope with a well-stocked order book. Provided that the semiconductors and beams used in number for the electronics of the “shelters” are present.