For sale
France
AGENCE DE DÉVELOPPEMENT ECONOMIQUE DE LA RÉGION CENTRE VAL DE LOIRE
1
Region covered
1
Department
Business opportunities in Orléans and the surrounding area
Located an hour from Paris, the Centre-Val de Loire region boasts more than 800 business parks and numerous support organisations tailored to business start-ups. The region spans six departments and offers easy access to major European economic hubs, thanks in particular to its extensive logistics and transport infrastructure.
- Around 60 public research laboratories and 13 competitiveness clusters (Cosmetic Valley, Polepharma, etc.)
- A skilled and available workforce
A unique natural, cultural and heritage environment that allows for a healthy work-life balance
The region’s key strengths:
- A range of sectors that are leading players at national and international level
- An ecosystem recognised at national and international level
- A French hub for luxury leather goods
- A major region for innovation and the emergence of talent
- High-quality skills and training to support your project
- Diverse regional competitiveness clusters to support your business’s performance
Commercial property in the Centre-Val-de-Loire region
A comparative advantage for establishing your project in terms of wages, land costs and property costs
- New offices: average range between €5 and €28 per m² per month (excl. VAT and service charges)
- Refurbished offices: average range observed between €5–15 per m² per month excluding VAT and service charges
- Business premises/warehouses (excluding new builds): average range observed €3–6 per m² per month, excluding VAT and service charges
Connections to the whole world
- 2 international airports: Tours and Châteauroux (freight)
- 25 million consumers within a 2-hour radius
- 540 international companies established in the area
- The leading motorway hub for France and Europe
- Within a 3-hour drive of the main European economic zones
Personalised support and financial assistance
Personalised, confidential and free support from dev’up: the Centre-Val de Loire region’s economic development agency, dedicated to supporting your project:
The Centre-Val de Loire regional economic development agency, Dev’up, brings together all regional economic stakeholders, government departments, financial institutions, competitiveness clusters and research networks. Through its six departmental branches, Dev’up supports all business establishment and development projects (setting up a subsidiary, office, warehouse, production unit, research unit, innovation, investment, recruitment of staff or specialist skills, finding partners, export activities, etc.).
Key sectors in this territory
The industries where the territory concentrates talent, research and established companies. Select a sector for the detail.
Food processing
The agri-food sector in the Centre-Val de Loire region
The Centre-Val de Loire region enjoys a central location, close to the Paris basin, and is well connected by six motorways (A10, A11, A19, A20, A71 and A77).
With over 300 companies, the agri-food sector in the Centre-Val de Loire region employs more than 12,200 people and generates export turnover of €1.4 billion. Whilst the Centre-Val de Loire region is primarily known for its cereal production, the agri-food processing industry also has a strong presence there and is particularly diverse. The dairy and meat industries are the leading employers in the regional agri-food sector, which includes major players but also comprises a large number of SMEs.
Recognised expertise:
© du Centre is the regional brand promoting the region’s specific products and expertise. Through this label, producers, artisans, restaurateurs, agri-food SMEs, retailers and wholesalers in the Centre-Val de Loire region commit to the regional origin of their products and to the ethos associated with regional production and expertise. It is worth noting that 110 products and specialities are listed in the regional culinary heritage register!
The region boasts genuine expertise in research and technology transfer thanks to the presence and involvement of INRA, Genialis (engineering for innovation), Certesens (sensory laboratory), CNRS, Food Val de Loire (incubator) and SENSOLAB (sensory start-up incubator)
The region also benefits from a skilled workforce thanks to the Universities of Tours and Orléans, vocational sixth-form colleges, CFA, IFRIA, IEHCA…
Support for the development of agri-food businesses
Established in 2008 and now comprising more than 170 members, AREA Centre-Val de Loire’s mission is to:
- Represent and act as the voice of the regional agri-food sector within its environment.
- Be a key player in employment and training, serving the needs of businesses.
- Support the development of agri-food businesses in the Centre-Val de Loire region through a range of initiatives, from innovation and business development to performance in the broadest sense.
Companies based in the Centre-Val de Loire region
The main companies based in the Centre-Val de Loire region:
- Mars PF France (animal feed)
- Axereal (grain processing)
- Hubert Triballat Dairy
- Barilla Harry’s France
- St Michel
- Michel Kremer Patisserie
- Monin Syrups
- Tradival
- Saint-Denis de l’Hôtel Dairy
- Cargill Food France
- Antartic ASA…
Health & biotech
The healthcare sector in the Centre-Val de Loire region
The Centre-Val de Loire region is home to a large proportion of France’s pharmaceutical production. This sector employs over 9,000 people in the region and continues to recruit at a significant rate. The medical devices industry – with 63 establishments based in the Centre-Val de Loire, is no exception, employing some 3,200 people and home to world-renowned groups such as B. Braun, Mediprema, Invacare, Vermon and a whole network of SMEs… All these companies contribute to the region’s added value and form part of a sector recognised for its dynamism and capacity for innovation.
Pioneers in the field of medical devices
AdEChoTech, a family-run start-up based in Vendôme, in the Loir-et-Cher, is behind the world’s first tele-ultrasound robot. In Indre-et-Loire, Médipréma is the French leader in heat therapy (incubators, heated mattresses, etc.) and the treatment of jaundice (yellowing of the skin). Among the major pharmaceutical groups in the Centre-Val de Loire region are Servier, Famar, Sanofi, Novo Nordisk, Pierre Fabre, Fareva, Merck Santé and Leo Pharma.
Having undergone extensive restructuring, the pharmaceutical industry relies on a dynamic network of subcontractors, which has helped to make the Centre-Val de Loire region one of Europe’s strongholds for the production of medicines. This success shows no sign of waning, as pharmaceutical products remain the region’s leading export to this day.
A rapidly developing sector
In addition to the Centre Regional Grouping of Pharmaceutical Establishments (GREPIC), which brings together and unites the sector’s key players (laboratories, contract manufacturers and wholesalers, etc.), the region is also home to the Polepharma network of excellence and innovation, Europe’s leading pharmaceutical cluster, which brings together over 300 professionals and accounts for just over 60,000 jobs.
Although sometimes overshadowed by the pharmaceutical sector, the medical devices sector, at the crossroads of numerous areas of expertise, offers numerous opportunities for development linked in particular to an ageing population, but also to technological advances (telemedicine, nanotechnologies, etc.), which open up new prospects for players in a sector that shows no sign of stopping its innovation.
Specialised training organisations
Alongside university courses in industrial pharmacy, the Centre-Val de Loire region is home to:
- The IMT: based in Tours, the Institut des Métiers et des Technologies des Produits de Santé (Institute of Health Products Professions and Technologies) offers training courses and qualifications accredited by the Ministry of Health in the fields of industrial pharmacy and cosmetics, chemical and pharmaceutical processes, and more…
- The BIO3 Institute: specialising in the bioproduction of medicines and cosmetics, the institute offers a range of courses from the Bac +3 level up to Master’s level.
Digital / ICT
The digital sector in the Centre-Val de Loire region
Less than an hour from Paris, the Centre-Val de Loire region offers outstanding development opportunities for innovative entrepreneurs looking to accelerate their growth. With 9 motorways, 1 TGV line and an international passenger airport, the region benefits from top-class infrastructure to help digital and ICT professionals get their businesses off the ground.
A dense network of professionals
The figures speak for themselves. As a region with the ‘French Tech Loire Valley’ designation, the Centre-Val de Loire is home to over 7,700 companies in the digital and ICT sectors, accounting for just over 28,000 direct jobs.
Major groups and recognised start-ups
Innovative micro-enterprises and SMEs operate alongside leading national players active in a wide range of fields:
- Fintech/LegalTech: Ledger, Inqom, Foxnot, Nouma…
- HealthTech: TJ Healthcare, Mabsilico, Igyxos…
- IoT: HF Company, Smarthome, OTODO…
- Data security: Worldline, Atempo-Wooxo, Thalès LAS…
- Service platforms: Orange, Bouygues Télécom, ATOS, Pentalog, Partouche Technologies, Géovélo, Biagri…
Professional support
Iconic sites and start-up incubators that help foster a high-performing and innovative regional ecosystem:
- Lab’O,
- Mame,
- HQ,
- Agreen Tech Valley,
- B3 Incubator, in Vierzon, due to open in September 2023
- Villages by CA
- Fablabs,
- Makerspaces
- Coworking spaces…
A high-calibre training programme
Over 190 training courses, including 21 accredited as ‘Grande Ecole du Numérique’, covering digital professions (programming, digital marketing, e-commerce, etc.) complement the expertise of the research centres in the Centre-Val de Loire region:
- 2 IT laboratories: LIFAT, LIFO
- AgreenTech Valley, a cluster dedicated to connected agriculture
- Innovation incubators
Several regional and national programmes also contribute to the sector’s dynamism in the Centre-Val de Loire region: French Fab Centre-Val de Loire, Usine du Futur, French Tech Loire Valley… Launched in 2019, the latter brings together dozens of start-ups and fosters collaboration within the community through numerous events organised throughout the year…
Energy
The Centre-Val de Loire region is taking action on the energy transition
Fully committed to the energy transition, the Centre-Val de Loire region has made the (renewable) energy sector a priority. In particular, it aims to meet 100% of its energy needs through renewable and recovered energy by 2050, to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 85% by 2050, and to ensure that 15% of energy generation capacity is owned by local stakeholders (citizens, businesses or local authorities); the Centre-Val de Loire region has clearly made the renewable energy sector a priority.
Today, with four nuclear power stations within its boundaries, the Centre-Val de Loire region generates nearly 17% of the country’s nuclear-generated electricity. Around 12,000 jobs are linked directly or indirectly to the sector within the region.
Renewable energy: the Centre-Val de Loire region, a leader in the field
A pioneer in the installation of wind farms, the Centre-Val de Loire is now France’s fourth-largest region for wind energy production. Its geographical location, together with environmental and economic factors, contribute to making the region an ideal location for wind turbines.
Boasting significant resources not only in raw materials but also in research and industrial development for second-generation biofuels, wood energy and biomass power generation, the Centre-Val de Loire region has over 150,000 ha of crops grown for agrofuels, 900,000 ha of woodland and forests, and significant resources from cereal crops.
Geothermal energy is also well represented, with around twenty facilities spread across the region, nearly 50% of which is considered to have excellent geothermal potential and which, with the presence of the Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM), boasts first-rate technical expertise in this field.
Green hydrogen: the Centre-Val de Loire region is positioning itself
The Centre-Val de Loire region is mobilising private and public sector stakeholders, as well as research laboratories, to establish renewable hydrogen ecosystems across the whole region. There are numerous areas of application: industry already uses grey hydrogen in large quantities, and transport is a market with real potential, with hydrogen-powered vehicles already available or under development, including bicycles, buses, refuse lorries, lorries and even aeroplanes. The establishment of Elogen – which is set to build one of the largest gigafactories in the Centre-Val de Loire region in 2025, validates the regional strategy and is becoming a key building block of the future ecosystem.
The ‘Hydrogène au Centre’ meetings, held in October 2022, confirmed this momentum. They brought together nearly 300 stakeholders and provided an opportunity to review the components of a thriving ecosystem for a sector that is clearly gaining momentum in the Centre-Val de Loire region.
Support and incentives
Public schemes and support available on this territory. Select a scheme for the detail.
Regional Aid & PAT
Financial support for businesses in the Centre-Val-de-Loire region
Businesses that decide to relocate or set up a new site within a new region may, subject to certain conditions, be eligible for regional financial support. This support helps to facilitate the business’s establishment in its new host region.
The Centre-Val-de-Loire region is part of the regional aid zoning scheme (AFR zoning). This means that public funding is available to businesses that decide to set up in the region and create jobs. The authorised ceiling for the total amount of public aid for a large enterprise is set at 10% of the total investment made for the establishment. Outside the AFR zone, the ceiling is automatically set at €200,000 in total over a rolling three-year period. Setting up a business within an AFR zone therefore offers a clear advantage in terms of aid. Proportionally, the higher the investments eligible for aid, the greater the amount of financial aid will be.
What financial support is available within the AFR zones in the Centre-Val-de-Loire region?
The forms of support available within the region’s AFR zone are the Regional Development Grant (PAT) and the regional business establishment grant.
The PAT is a government grant awarded for the establishment of a business recruiting at least 20 people and involving at least €3 million in productive investment. This grant is scalable up to €15,000. Its aim is to encourage the establishment and development of businesses in priority areas for regional planning that are eligible for regional development aid.
The grant is available until 31 December 2020.
Furthermore, the regional business establishment grant is a subsidy from the Centre-Val-de-Loire region offered to businesses playing a key role in the region’s development that are setting up within its territory, capped at a maximum of €3,000 per job created over a two-year period.
What property opportunities are available in the region’s AFR zone?
Several property and land opportunities, available for rent or for sale, are on offer across the region, providing access to regional aid schemes.
To find out more about the support schemes, the conditions and the available property solutions, please do not hesitate to contact us directly by telephone or via the form opposite. Our service is free of charge for businesses and we do not charge any fees for our services.
Available sites with AGENCE DE DÉVELOPPEMENT ECONOMIQUE DE LA RÉGION CENTRE VAL DE LOIRE
Blois, Centre-Val de Loire
Châteaux Blois Business Park
Considering this territory?
Send us a brief and we'll shortlist the best sites and incentives for your project.
Start a project →