Bertrand Blanpain, Chairman of the Management Board, and his teams aim to be the facilitator that will help you with your entrepreneurial projects. Here are some explanations.
Arkéa Banque Entreprises et Institutionnels is a subsidiary of the Crédit Mutuel Arkéa group. Our bank is dedicated to the corporate, public and institutional markets as well as to real estate developers. Today, more than 10,000 customers trust us. Throughout France, thanks to them, our 19 business centres support the attractiveness of the regions and the made in France.
We offer our customers a complete range of services (financing, flow processing, payment instruments, savings, insurance, trading room operations, etc.). By creating the right synergies and activating the right networks, we work with them to promote their growth and develop their projects. Alongside Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne, Crédit Mutuel du Sud Ouest, Arkéa Capital and Arkéa Crédit-Bail, we are at the heart of our group’s support for the agri-food industry. And we can support it from farm to fork!
As France’s leading industrial sector, the food industry is a strategic activity in terms of jobs, investment and innovation. We can only support Valorial’s initiatives, which mobilise the players in the sector around common challenges. Our group has always wanted to stay in touch with the ecosystem of its customers and its territory, to better understand the expectations of economic players in a constantly changing environment.
We have historically been very present in this sector, which represents a significant share for us. Agribusiness accounts for 20% of the bank’s business and €1.5 billion in outstandings. 1.5 billion in outstandings. We have recently structured our organisation to strengthen our support with the creation of regional experts. The agri-food sector is very dynamic, investing in research and development in particular to bring to market new products or new ways of producing which are sources of added value. This echoes our DNA.
This is illustrated by our Group’s participation in the creation of FrenchFood Capital. The aim of this new entrepreneurial investment fund is to invest in small and medium-sized food companies and to support entrepreneurs who are reinventing the food experience in response to changes in usage and new consumer expectations. At the same time, we have created a Star Up unit within the bank, part of whose activity will be devoted to foodtech.
Indeed, we have convictions in terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR). CSR is at the heart of our strategic project. As a banking institution, our role is twofold: to work on our own territorial, environmental, social and societal impact, but also to enable our clients to carry out their CSR strategy by promoting their investments in this area. This is why we have set up a €200 million envelope; a helping hand for the entrepreneurs we support and with whom we usually share a long-term vision.
200 million is intended for responsible investments by our clients and prospects. We naturally encourage them to carry out their CSR projects by granting them reduced loan rates. This investment scheme is particularly focused on the environment and energy. For example, it can be linked to renewable energy, clean infrastructure, energy efficiency in buildings or “clean” equipment.
For example, this has made it possible to carry out a project by the “Terre Atlantique” cereal cooperative, located in Charente Maritime, to install a photovoltaic roof of more than 14,000 m² on a cereal collection site. With this project, the cooperative plans to produce more than 2,000,000 Kwh annually. This is just the beginning, we have real ambitions.
We have just joined the association of Dirigeants Responsables de l’Ouest (DRO). An association of entrepreneurs from the Pays de Loire and Brittany who are convinced that CSR improves the economic performance of their company and who wish to share their good practices.
Photo: Bertrand Blanpain, Chairman of the Management Board of Arkea Banque Entreprises et Institutionnels
Photo credit: Arkea Banque