Hidden champions: influence and attractiveness of a region

In Normandy in 2014 the French government carried out an operation which involved highlighting so-called ‘hidden champions’ as a means of creating positive knock-on effects throughout the regional industrial fabric. These ‘hidden champions’ were little-known companies, but ones which innovated, exported and created jobs, such as Isigny Sainte-Mère, Acome, La Normandise, Tricots Saint James, Degrenne and Seprolec. A communications operation the same year involved a visit by the Prefect of Lower Normandy to the Vire employment area. This zone proved to be full of ‘hidden champions’. The visit was publicised by the local press and because of this, administrations discovered that their financial aid, loans or repayable advances did not correspond to the requests of dynamic companies there which preferred to increase the number of local training programmes and work on accentuating the region’s attractiveness. The efforts made by Bernard Quirin and Amine Hamouche served to convince the decision-makers, and, as a result, in 2016 the Normandy region made these ‘hidden champions’ the driving force behind its economic development strategy.