The Lecas paper mill in Nersac, Charente, will cease production definitively at the end of this week. The decision by the Normandy-based Hamelin Group, owner of the Oxford stationery brand, will result in the loss of 69 jobs and mark the end of a decades-long industrial activity in the region. Diary production will be relocated to Turkey and Romania, where labor costs are much lower than in France.
Restructuring for profitability
Behind this closure, Hamelin, which posts sales of 600 million, cites the need to optimize costs in order to boost margins. The group, which already operates in several European countries, is counting on streamlined production and improved competitiveness. However, the decision has met with strong opposition, particularly from employees and local economic players, who see the closure as a blow to French jobs and know-how.
Employees mobilize against closure
Faced with this situation, Lecas employees demonstrated in front of the Hamelin group headquarters in December to denounce the decision to relocate. According to the Filpac CGT union, the closure is purely financial, to the detriment of local industrial history.
Papeterie Lecas, heir to Papeterie de Saint-Michel in Charente, founded in 1916, produced school diaries and notebooks under the Oxford, l'Étudiant and Pilot brands, as well as books, and has a long history in the region.
The group's decision to relocate production to Turkey and Romania, while continuing to market these products in France, is seen as an attack on local know-how and jobs.
