Gérard Renaud, guardian of the Perrin temple for 51 years!
Some employees are so happy in their company that they are in no hurry to retire.
This is the case of Gérard Renaud, 67 years old and still as passionate about his work at Perrin, in Montceau.
The Perrin company, a specialist in socks made in France, has had an exceptional employee at its heart for 51 years. Gérard Renaud, a 67-year-old pure-blooded Montcellien, has been walking the aisles of this family business created in 1924 for decades. He knows every nook and cranny of the factory perfectly. Gérard explains: “When I was very young, I was an apprentice photographer at Froidure, rue de la République. After my internship, I joined René Perrin’s company on March 1, 1967 as an apprentice supervisor in a circular loom. I had to, regrettably, interrupt my work in 1970 to do my military service.”
When I returned, it was with indescribable happiness that I found my boss and my colleagues, a real family.
“But where is Gérard?”
This diligent, hardworking and available man goes from post to post, from supervisor to mechanic, from repairman of all kinds or sometimes to winding. Not a day goes by without hearing "But where is Gérard?" because he is the essential person in the place. "We had to learn the new machines and new materials to make socks, stockings and other tights," he continues. "We are no longer in the era where we had to change the old Comète machines. What could be more obvious than training in the latest technologies when you work with passion, supported by a caring employer?"
When René Perrin died in 1975, Guy Reynaud took over the reins of the company before his daughter, Martine Couturier-Reynaud, became president. Gérard Renaud concludes: "I should have stopped ten years ago, but I'm not tired of the daily grind. I'm still happy, ready at any moment to pass on my know-how to the younger ones. Even if I share my passion for work with that of running (I was able to run 100 km per week outside of competition on Sundays), I should stop before I'm 70. My employer lets me stop our close collaboration whenever I want. Maybe at the end of the year.
My granddaughter hopes so."
Pascal Bonnardot (CLP)
Landmark
- Recruitment of ten people by early 2019
Since 2017 and until the beginning of 2019, the Perrin company aims to integrate ten new people in production (knitting and finishing) as well as in the La Manufacture boutiques. Perrin SAS has around a hundred employees, including 75 in the workshops on rue de Verdun, in Montceau.
- State support
For two years, the State has supported Perrin in its recruitment policy by participating in the financing of positions for people in training for two years, the time needed to understand "all the facets and subtleties of the profession", relates Franck Couturier, sales director.
- Points of sale and stores
The four Perrin sock brands ( Berthe aux grands pieds , Dagobert à l'envers , La Chaussette française , Chaussette Perrin 1924 ) are sold in 1,200 retailers in France and 500 abroad and in the ten La Manufacture stores, which have appeared in France over the last three years. La Manufacture de Montceau positions itself as a temple of Made in France. Opened in 2015, it welcomes, in addition to Perrin socks, clothing brands produced in France.
