Last month, Frederique Constant celebrated its 'first stone' ceremony for its new Manufacture in Plan-les-Ouates, Genève. With the strong growth of the company, Frederique Constant was looking for new premises since October 2003. In the Genève Canton, the final conclusion was that constructing a new building was the most cost-efficient solution. After having completed the procedures to obtain the building permit, construction was started immediately.







Attached are artist’s impressions of the building, measuring 3200 square metres over four floors. Frederique Constant is expected to move in by October 2005. Production will be organized in five independent ateliers with a major investment in new equipment and people. On the fourth floor, amongst other facilities, a 200 square metres conference room is planned for customers, presentations and training.

While Frederique Constant is heavily investing in this new Manufacture, the company will remain 100% committed to continue the successful strategy of offering Swiss Made watches with passion at sensible prices.

At the ceremony, Peter Stas said, “We are gathered here at the place that will be the fourth location of Frederique Constant in the past 8 years. Before 1997, we were located in an old farm in Troinex, not so far from here. In 1997, we moved to Carouge, which again became quickly too small and since 2000, we have been on the fourth floor a commercial building in Chêne-Bourg. By the end of 2003, it became clear that these premises would also become too small to accommodate a larger production.

During the past 10 years, Frederique Constant has grown consistently with 25-30% per year. Last year, we even grew over 34% compared to 2003. In 2004, we produced over 43000 pieces. With our slogan ‘Live your passion’, we will continue development and production of exciting new collections. Our plans, including the recent acquisition of the Alpina watch brand, give us strong confidence that we can continue our growth in the future.”

Mrs. Aletta Stas continued, ” As you know, Frederique Constant introduced its first Manufacture calibre in 2004. The watches with this calibre have been received with great enthusiasm. In Basel, we introduced a new version of this calibre, the Heart Beat Manufacture Moonphase-Date. We are currently developing additional versions of this Manufacture calibre. Clearly, this new factory in Plan-les-Ouates will enable us to better organize development and production of our calibres and watches.
The factory will house a total work and storage space of 3200 square metres divided over 4 floors. The top floor will house management and support staff and the third floor will house the atelier. Other relevant features are the two main conference rooms, the cafeteria and fitness room. We expect to move into the building end of August beginning of September. Furthermore,

We aim to strongly invest in new people and equipment. In the short term, we plan to hire 25-35 new people, bringing the total for the company to 70 persons.

At this moment, we would like to thank all involved in the realization of our new building in Plan-les-Ouates: The Geneva Government, our Architect Bruce Dunning, the various construction companies, and not least all the employees at Frederique Constant who have worked hard and with passion in the past years.

We would now like to proceed with the setting of specially selected items in the excavation on the main floor of what will be the new Frederique Constant Manufacture. Pieter-Jan Constant is carrying the ‘Constant’ name as fifth descendent of Constant Stas. He will place the following items in the excavation: one of the first prototypes of the FC-910 Manufacture Calibre, as well as a copy of the business plan that has been the base of the success of Frederique Constant.”

Specifications new Manufacture Frederique Constant Plan-les-Ouates
Project start: Autum 2003
Date construction started: 20-02-2005
Expected date of completion: 01-11-2005

Background information:
Total surface terrain: 6500 mÐ
Number of floors: 4
Total floor space: 3200 mÐ
Number of conference rooms: 3
Different specialisations: Calibre design and assembly
Number of departments: 6
Types of departments: Sales, Marketing, R & D, Production, Logistics, S.A.V.
Capacity: 70 employees short term, 100 employees mid term
1 Fitness room
2 Dressing rooms
1 Cafeteria with outside terrace
Private parking
Elevator


Source: Frederique Constant

www.frederique-constant.com

Contact: [email protected]
(Please credit europastar.com)