Thierry Dupays, VISCONTI Coach and Partner, welcomes today Paul de Montclos, CEO of the company GARNIER THIEBAUT, specialized in the field of weaving and textile manufacturing at the service of the general public and prestigious hotel and restaurant establishments.

GARNIER-THIEBAUT is now a company that is continuing to grow with a 30% increase in turnover in 2022, but how did Paul de Montclos become the boss of this company?

Paul arrived in the Vosges more than 28 years ago. Initially, he had a mandate of three months to make a diagnosis of the situation of the company, which was really in very great tension. An audit was carried out in partnership with the Prefecture during these three months and Paul considered that there could be a potential solution for the company. This required reinvestment and therefore the trust of employees, elected officials, and the administration. And then the support of shareholders. Paul's family was a shareholder in this company, which thankfully made things a bit easier.

Nevertheless, he is “committed” to making people understand the challenges and the importance of investment and to perpetuate the company in its ecosystem.

Is that how Paul became the boss of the company?

Indeed. Nothing predisposed him to be a textile boss, although his family had been in the textile business for 15 generations. Paul is dyslexic and was having great difficulties at school. His father also told him: “Even if it means being useless, you might as well make others work” and Paul applied this maxim. Paul started his career in the automotive industry and then continued in optics before entering the textile world.

What were the drivers, motivations or beliefs that made Paul continue as a manager within the same company for more than 28 years?

When Paul came to the head of GARNIER-THIEBAUT, a restructuring plan had to be drawn up. He therefore summoned the elected officials and staff representatives and asked them to do so and this sparked a candid discussion. Paul quickly wrote the company's objective in the commitment charter: to perpetuate it.
The company had real know-how and the commitment of the employees was strong. It was necessary to show imagination and resilience as a boss, but also in the conviction of the actors involved: employees, bankers... The desire to perpetuate this company was also enshrined in the Quality Charter.

This was an essential driver for the employees, who understood the company's innovative strategy, which consisted in being extremely reactive, and very creative in order to be able to offer very high quality products; in small series, in contrast to usual industry practices.

As an industrialist, you generally have to produce large volumes to lower prices, but GARNIER-THIEBAUT has taken the opposite approach by restoring craftsmanship to its former glory. The price battle was lost, so other arguments had to be found to better sell at a higher price.

What are the challenges Paul is most vigilant about and how does he deal with them?

The CEO must be constantly vigilant to measure risks. There are a multitude of unexpected risks such as the lack of water for example for a region like the Vosges. You must therefore be in a position to adapt constantly to this type of situation.

One of the risks that must be faced is that of recruitment because it is very difficult to recruit. Before, it was much easier to find collaborators, now there is a difficulty in recruiting, things are constantly changing and you have to be prepared for these fluctuating risks.
It is also necessary to adapt in the support of its customers. With this in mind, GARNIER-THIEBAUT has shown a great ability to support and find tailor-made solutions for its customers.
Paul mentions “emotional obsolescence”, which is a phenomenon that consists in wanting to change an item while it is still in perfect condition or even just purchased.
Some brands have made it a real strategy by flooding the markets with a large quantity of items.
GARNIER-THIEBAUT, on the other hand, develops “wear-resistant” products and must therefore create new desires for customers to buy new GARNIER-THIEBAUT products.

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Business transfer is a major challenge in business, according to statistics published in 2022 by the CCI, 48% of managers of VSEs/SMEs do not think about handing over, and 63% of bosses over 65 think that it is too early to think about it. How does Paul react to this information?

Paul understands these numbers because a company is in a way the “baby” of its boss. Paul is in a particular context since he is part of a family group that has been passed on from generation to generation. In their family, they quickly decided to make sure that children interested in the family business had a free hand in
the handover.

The fact of having decided it very early smooths out the problems and makes it possible to anticipate them. It's about introducing family members as they go along. And this by using in particular the Dutreil pact, which allows the transmission of a company's assets without its value and wealth being impacted.
Paul recommends doing it early enough, which is reassuring, even for employees. But each case is unique, so it's hard to generalize. You have to have the courage to accept that the future belongs to the next generation.

Paul started by founding Terre Textile in the Vosges, then France Terre Textile.
What is the vocation of France Terre Textile?

All of this was born out of an observation. As President of the Eastern Textile Union, Paul had mentioned the idea of building together. This was far from obvious, because the textile industry in the Vosges was certainly complete but not homogeneous: each company was in its own sector. Paul made his colleagues realize that it was better to discuss rather than suffer the onslaught of globalization. The idea was to promote their local know-how.
At the time, IGPs did not exist, so they started from a reflection on AOCs. One of the concerns and challenges was to be able to demonstrate traceability in the textile industry. This is how this new concept of environmental labelling was born. In addition, it was necessary to promote this sector and this work by promoting and sharing know-how. Terre Textile's project consisted in guaranteeing consumers that the product was genuinely made in the Vosges.
There are now six Terre Textile regions in France. They are committed to local roots and are federated around a federation called France Terre Textile, of which Paul is President. The mission of France Terre Textile is to support the textile sector and to perpetuate the textile trades. 95% of textiles in France today are imported. There is therefore a real risk of losing sovereignty in a fragile sector. You have to be careful about it.

How do Paul's collaborators see it? What three words do Paul think they could use and why?

Paul thinks they would describe him as “committed.” He often uses this word when recruiting, because he wants to hire employees who are able to take responsibility for their decisions. His role as CEO is then to give them the means, within a framework defined with the employees, to be able to assume their role and be committed to their choices.
The second word would be “resilience.” Because Paul has a strong ability to bounce back. The third word: “reliable.” One of Paul's greatest pleasures was to hear one of his former union representatives say, “Paul never betrayed us.”

Does Paul have new projects in mind for GARNIER-THIEBAUT?

Paul has lots of plans. He believes that an industrial SME company must be in constant motion to survive. Its projects are also dictated by the context: integrating more renewable energies, reducing water consumption, developing internationally, equipping teams with the best tools... GARNIER-THIEBAUT has a multitude of projects.

What is Paul's life like outside of the professional sphere?

Paul also has associative responsibilities. He is involved in various associations, including charities. With his wife, he bought a business and opened an associative and solidarity bar-restaurant. They bring together people from different origins and backgrounds around a project.

Is it important for Paul to communicate and expose himself to the media? What made him decide to do it?

This is not something that comes naturally to Paul, but there are messages that speak louder than others. Defending the textile industry is really important to him, defending his teams is also very important. You have to push people to talk because it is not possible to find solutions to problems you don't know, nor to move forward alone. So you always have to share.

Three tips from our Partner Coach Thierry Dupays:

1. Plan and anticipate your succession at the head of the company so that the company can continue to exist, develop and be sustainable beyond the departure of its boss

2. “Keeping the company out of balance” Always move forward and stay on the lookout for challenges and opportunities (immobility is a bit like death for a business).
“Putting the guns in the hallway” means, in some ways, knowing how to negotiate a truce and organize with stakeholders (including competitors) so that each of the stakeholders focuses on common issues and interests (e.g. those of the industry) that go beyond simple individual interests.

3. Have the ability to dare. Paul is daring in everything he does, and, like him, you have to know how to dare, and dare while taking pleasure in order to lead his teams to success.