Leathergoods group to create 300 new jobs
French leathergoods and watch-strap manufacturer Groupe SIS has announced that it will set up a new factory in Épinal in eastern France. The group has said it will, eventually, create 300 new jobs at the site, which will cover 9,000 square-metres.
SIS launched in 1998 with the merger of three separate companies, Supercuir, IWD and Softline Box. Based at Avoudrey, 30 kilometres from France’s border with Switzerland, it supplies leather straps to many Swiss watch brands. It now also makes handbags and other leather accessories.
It employs 250 people at four different sites in Avoudrey, and 350 more in the neighbouring town of Valdahon.
Although it also runs production operations in Madagascar and in China, demand for products made in France is strong enough for Groupe SIS to have committed to establishing its new factory in Épinal and to begin recruiting and training new leathergoods artisans right away.
Local reports have said that while it constructs a new factory of its own in an industrial zone called La Voivre, Groupe SIS will set up a temporary operation in a former Aldi supermarket in the town.
The supermarket group closed one of its stores in Épinal in 2021 and the site is still empty. Groupe SIS has agreed to rent it for at least two years and will set up a training programme there immediately after Easter.
Following a path that leathergoods manufacturers in France have walked before, Groupe SIS has said it will aim to recruit former employees of a lingerie manufacturer, Alcée, which closed its factory in Épinal in September. Groupe SIS has said it will offer six months’ training to help former Alcée workers transfer the skills they have already to leathergoods.
The group’s chief executive, Jean-Yves Chauvy, has told local media that SIS will aim to bring 40 new people on board each year until reaching a total workforce of 300 in the area.
Image: Groupe SIS.
