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  GET ONE STEP AHEAD
“When I mentioned the possibility to our international board of setting up our French headquarters in Nantes, their initial reaction was one of disbelief. In fact, most of its members had never even heard of the city".
This story told by a manager of Vorwerk France is indicative of the gap between the undeniable benefits of setting up in Nantes for a foreign company - benefits that were outlined recently by KPMG's Competitive Choices study - and the reality of foreign investment in Nantes, where foreign companies are still somewhat reticent. And yet the examples of Vorwerk, Hexcel or Accenture show that when Nantes manages to force itself onto the short list of locations examined, the region knows how to put itself forward. Over and above the purely economic arguments that justify, in the eyes of decision-makers, locating in Nantes (controlled costs, quality of local labour, training and research, stability and unity of regional governance), there is one element that attracts attention: people with projects all seem to share the same conviction: when they choose Nantes, they get one step ahead. This certainty is based on three major factors: the consistent local economic dynamism, projects developed by the region and shared confidence in the western French urban area's international development strategy. “I don’t know many regions in France with this level of economic growth, over such a long period”. This company director knows what he’s talking about: his IT services company has a presence in most large French urban areas. In fact, over the last ten years, the number of salaried jobs, like the number of companies created, is propelling Nantes to the top of the tree, and the trend is showing no signs of slowing down. So, there's only one question to be asked: are you ready to get one step ahead?
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