VIMEU INDUSTRIAL AREA

Located to the west of Picardy between Bresles valley and Baie de Somme, Vimeu Industriel brings together more than 250 companies employing 9,000 people.

It is said that Maquennehen, a clockmaker from Flanders, established the first locksmith at Escarbotin in 1636. This story is based on two facts: a piece of a Maquennehen clock at Escarbotin from 1643 found in the church of Nibas around 1920 and the style Flemish architectural work from the Maquennehen d'Escarbotin workshop.

The Vimeu Industriel has been able to adapt and evolve, its activity has been maintained for several centuries in a manufacturing fabric whose units were scattered between several villages.

It is thus the small metallurgy which dominates the activities of Vimeu with as origin the valves and the locksmith. In 1980, 75% of French taps came from Vimeu.

The area's activity has diversified over time but still remains faithful to its original activities.

The Vimeu industrial zone in Feuquières-en-Vimeu, for example, shows us the extension and modernization of the industry.

Today, the activity zone that bears its name (Zone d'Activites du Vimeu Industriel, ZAVI) has created 2,000 jobs in around thirty companies such as metallurgy (locks, taps, etc.) , carpentry (roof windows) and services. The activity center of Vimeu Industriel benefits from the excellence of the industrial culture of the region: it is the first French pole of valves, locksmiths and hardware, the second pole of bar turning ...

Large companies (Valentin for sanitary equipment, Thirard for locksmithing; Debflex for electrical components, Decayeux for letterboxes, etc.) as well as many craftsmen and innovative SMEs have established themselves in the region, benefiting from the proximity of the roads but also of the maritime axes thanks to the main European ports and the commercial port of Tréport.

The industrial Vimeu is today one of the most important references of the Somme in terms of business area.