Saint-Gobain Développement or the art of the interface

Saint-Gobain Développement was created in 1982 in order to make a success of the changes following the group’s restructuring plans. Today, its activities are focussed on three areas : human resources and social affairs (such as keeping abreast of social developments, restructuring, the redeployment of employees, and so on) ; support for local economic development (such as loans to neighbouring SMEs, the restoration of abandoned sites) ; and providing support to companies and their subsidiaries (such as relocation studies, relations with Administration and regional authorities). Although not a substitute for regional development and planning authorities, which have their own agenda, SG DEV shows that major groups can play a significant role in local development, in particular in the case of Saint-Gobain, where management is not centralised. The group has maintained its objective of long-term development, following the example of family-run companies.