Top 5 reasons to do business in Finistère
1 A land of entrepreneurship
Do you have a start-up idea or a plan to take over an existing business? Here in Finistère, you’ll find the ideal environment to help you think about your project and to bring it to fruition. We have a broad range of public structures that group together various towns and communities to support business projects, including technology parks, business accelerators such as French Tech and Finistère Mer Vent, and cooperatives like Village by CA. Event managers, conference centres, accommodation providers, agencies, caterers and even team-building event organisers are all on hand to help you organise your business activities, seminars and conferences in Finistère!
2 A wealth of networks
Finistère has a long list of professional networks, from generalist and institutional to those for entrepreneurs or particular trades, as well as management networks like Investir en Finistère. These networks help you make connections and develop your business, share best practice or get some practical advice.
3 An innovative region
Since 2005, Pôle Mer Bretagne Atlantique has been developing a competitive maritime economy by stimulating and nurturing innovation. In addition, the Brest Iroise and Quimper Cornouaille technology parks offer an environment where it’s easy to meet other entrepreneurs, financiers and researchers. Finistère is a breeding ground for innovation, with around a hundred innovative companies listed in 2022.
4 A skilled workforce
Thanks to our higher education establishments and research centres, Finistère has a skilled workforce in a variety of fields. This makes it easy for companies setting up in the region to recruit the talent they need.
5 A great quality of life
Setting up a business in Finistère means taking advantage of a fantastic living environment to develop your business in a region that supports you and, above all, offers a great quality of life.
Key figures
5,781
Number of businesses (including 3,768 small businesses) created in Finistère in 2023. Source: BPIfrance Création, INSEE 2024
150
Number of innovative companies supported in Finistère in 2023. Source: Breizh Fab
18
Number of business incubators in Finistère. Source: Quimper Cornouaille Développement
3
Number of French Tech sites in Finistère (Brest, Quimper and Morlaix)
€200+ million
Total amount of funds raised between 2017 and 2020 in West Brittany. Source: French Tech
Business networks
Our professional economic networks encourage spontaneous meetings and collaborations, fostering strong, long-lasting partnerships. You can build up your own database of peer professionals, develop your business and find the right contacts to share ideas with or get advice from in Finistère:
Bouge ta boîte, le réseau business féminin de recommandations
Public Structures for Intercommunal Cooperation
When it comes to entrepreneurship in Finistère, your contacts will also include elected representatives in charge of economic development, who you can contact at the Public Structures for Intercommunal Cooperation known as ‘EPCIs’ (see below for contact details):
Chambers of Commerce
Well-known brands and companies
In Finistère, the companies behind many famous brands and household names are run by well-known entrepreneurs. The following list aims to give you an idea of the diversity of Finistère’s economic centres and industries.
Adelaïde
The Adelaïde Group specialises in insurance consultancy, intermediation, distribution and services. The family holding company is celebrating 90 years of entrepreneurship, growth and innovation designed to benefit customers and employees alike. Adelaïde, which has its roots in Brittany, has become one of France’s leading insurance brokers through three successful companies – Verlingue, Génération and Cocoon – and is now open to the world, with 24% of its turnover generated internationally.
À l’Aise Breizh
À l’Aise Breizh designs Breton-themed textile products, particularly humorous T-shirts and accessories. Founded in 2002, the Morlaix-based company has 21 own-brand shops and an online store. It also runs two breweries in Vannes and Brest, a screen-printing and embroidery workshop and, since 2015, Tissages de l’Ouest, which specialises in the manufacture and mail-order sale of traditional household linen.
Armor-Lux
Founded in 1938 in Quimper, Armor-lux has always specialised in knitwear, most famously its iconic striped top, the marinière. The brand has 3 textile factories in France, so it can oversee all stages of production from knitting, dyeing/finishing, cutting, tailoring and embroidery to finishing and distribution. Armor-lux uses one of the finest fleets of knitting machines in Europe to produce their plain or striped knitwear, whether jersey, rib or interlock weave. Awarded the ‘Living Heritage Business’ label in 2010, this Breton company has a network of 90 directly-operated and affiliated boutiques in France.
Bolloré Energy
The energy subsidiary of an independent, family-owned group, Bolloré Energy is a major player in oil logistics and distribution in France, Switzerland and Germany. Health, Safety and the Environment are major challenges for Bolloré Energy, so they invest heavily every year to ensure full compliance with environmental regulations and the industrial safety of their hydrocarbon depots. Bolloré Energy has ISO 14001 certification, the RGE ecolabel and Qualibat accreditation.
Brittany Ferries
Set up in 1972 and based in Roscoff, Brittany Ferries is now the leading shipping company in the western and central English Channel, and is France’s top employer of seafarers. Backed by a solid network of partners over the years, the company has become a major economic and social contributor and a key player in the development of the regions it serves on the Atlantic.
Cadiou Industrie
Founded in 1973, this Locronan-based family business of 670 employees manufactures aluminium gates, fences, railings and cladding. The group has 100% French production and their products are hand-assembled by skilled craftsmen. The group is committed to pursuing steady growth both in France and abroad thanks to a dynamic, high-performance business management policy.
Cerafel (Prince de Bretagne)
Way back in 1962, Brittany was able to set up an economic organisation for the Breton fresh vegetable sector thanks to the initiative and support of local producers, founding Farmers’ Organisations and CERAFEL (formerly the Regional Agricultural Economic Committee “Fruit and Vegetables”). Thanks to this solid organisation and constant efforts to improve and innovate, farmers and market gardeners have been able to regulate and coordinate the market for Brittany’s main fruit and vegetables for over fifty years.
Cervval
Founded in 2003, Cervval is a subsidiary of the Tacthys group. Cervval specialises in IT engineering and has 2 main high-level activities: digital simulation in a virtual environment (Digitwin) and schedule optimisation management (Zurvan planning). Innovative solutions are developed on a bespoke basis.
Entech
Founded in 2016, this Quimper-based company has three other sites in Lyon, Vannes and Verrières-en-Anjou. Entech implements electrical storage and conversion solutions driven by intelligent software systems. The company develops, builds and operates power plants and storage systems – batteries or hydrogen – either connected to the grid or off-grid. It has completed more than 250 projects worldwide.
Eureden
The cooperative agri-food group Eureden was formed from the merger of Cecab/d’aucy and Triskalia, bringing together 18,500 farmer-operators and 8,500 employees who share a common ambition: good food for all, with a commitment to meeting the expectations of consumers and society. The company is structured into distinct business lines: agricultural, prepared foods, frozen foods, eggs, meat and green distribution, as well as the sale of local food products.
Evel’Up
Created from the merger of the Aveltis and Prestor agricultural cooperatives in 2018, Evel’Up brings together 1,000 pig farmers. Based in Landivisiau, it also has branches in Kersaint-Plabennec (29), Châteaulin (29), Plérin (22) and Locminé (56).
Even
Even is an agri-food cooperative founded in Brittany in 1930. With 1,100 farmer-members and over 6,040 employees, it is one of the major players in the French food industry. Firmly rooted in Brittany and open to the world, Even has customers in over 110 countries.
Fichou distribution
Founded in 1926, Brest-based company Fichou is a wholesaler of automotive, industrial, marine and HGV supplies, as well as tools and workshop equipment. The company has workshops specialising in electricity, diesel, air conditioning and HGVs. Open to both professionals and private customers, it has a second site in Morlaix (29).
Groupe Quéguiner
Founded in 1948 and based in Landivisiau, the Quéguiner Group designs, produces, markets and transports building materials that are innovative and environmentally-friendly.
Guyader Gastronomie
Guyader Gastronomie creates products made from seafood, charcuterie and smoked fish as well as delicatessen specialities and vegetarian recipes distributed under its own name and under supermarket own-brand labels in France and Europe. Founded in 1930, the Landrévarzec-based group has six production sites in Brittany and a logistics warehouse dedicated to its various brands: Guyader traiteur frais, Guyader terroir & création, Guyader l’esprit de la mer and Guyader logistics.
Guy Cotten
Guy Cotten designs clothing for anyone whose work requires them to be fully protected against the cold and bad weather. Founded in 1964, the Breton company creates clothing ranges for fishing, farming, manufacturing, construction and public works, yachting, sport fishing and swimming.
Hemarina
Created in 2007, Hemarina developed the first universal oxygen carrier for therapeutic purposes. The Morlaix-based company has a raw-materials production subsidiary in Noirmoutier and a technical-sales subsidiary in Boston, USA. It is also working on a number of breakthrough therapeutic innovations thanks to its proprietary technology platform (M101) that is based on the properties of hemoglobin from the marine lugworm (Arenicola marina).
Hénaff
Since 1907, the Finistère-based company Jean Hénaff SA has been producing pork- and seafood-based food products such as pâtés, terrines, savoury spreads, fresh sausages and traditional organic charcuterie. These are marketed under the well-known brand names of Hénaff, Hénaff Sélection, Jean Hénaff, Christine Le Tennier, Algaé, Kervern and Le Petit Breil.
Lessonia
Founded in 2002, Lessonia designs cosmetic products and manufactures natural ingredients such as plant powders, seaweed and plant extracts to be supplied to cosmetics professionals. Over 75% of its business is exported.
Maison Chancerelle
Founded in 1853, Maison Chancerelle specialises in tinned fish and has three brands: Connétable, which has been sold to supermarkets in France and abroad since 1951; Phare d’Eckmühl, which has been targeting the organic market in France, Germany and Belgium since 1999; and Pointe de Penmarc’h, which offers traditional Breton tinned fish sold by mail order.
MerAlliance
Established in 1971, MerAlliance manufactures a wide range of smoked fish products under both supermarket labels and the Petit Navire brand in its Quimper site including salmon, trout and wild fish from responsible fishing or aquaculture. Its logistics platform in Landivisiau ships products throughout France and Europe. Thanks to its expertise and its CSR commitments, MerAlliance is positioned as a leader in its market, backed up by the expertise of its 580 employees working in Finistère.
Oceania Hôtels – Groupe Sofibra
Founded in 1975, Sofibra is a Brest-based family group that developed the Oceania Hotels brand (31 three-star and four-star hotels across France) and the Nomad hotel brand (in Roissy Charles de Gaulle and Le Havre), with a total of more than 2,500 guest rooms.
Piriou
Operating in Europe, Africa and Asia, Piriou builds and repairs high-value-added vessels that are up to 120 metres long: small- and medium-tonnage vessels, fishing boats, service vessels (towing, offshore oil and wind energy, freight and passenger transport) and special vessels (anti-pollution, surveillance, research, government action at sea). Founded in 1965, this Concarneau-based company also has two other Brittany sites, in Lorient and Brest.
Pré-Vision
Pré-Vision manufactures and markets equipment for agricultural machinery and public works, container processing and parts cutting. Based in Tréflévénez, the group has several subsidiaries in Finistère, all specialising in mechanics and metallurgy: Emily, Magsi, Sofimat, Oxymax, Oxymontage, Tubomax and Jardi Expert Motoculture.
Salaün Holidays
Founded in 1932, tour operator Salaün Holidays offers a range of escorted tours around the world. After buying out some of the Thomas Cook agencies in 2019, Salaün now has 167 travel agencies in France and Belgium.
Savéol
Savéol is a cooperative of 125 market gardeners who grow tomatoes and other vegetables. Based in Plougastel-Daoulas, it is the result of a merger between the GMB and Presqu’île cooperatives and their subsidiary SMO.
Scarmor
Scarmor is the central purchasing group serving 43 Leclerc-supermarket centres in Finistère, Côtes d’Armor and Morbihan. The Landerneau-based organisation also has a logistics point for fresh, frozen and seasonal products at Relecq-Kerhuon, a platform for frozen and fresh products at Riec-sur-Belon and a dry goods platform at Plaintel (Côtes d’Armor).
Sermeta
Founded in Morlaix in 1993, Sermeta is the world leader in heat exchangers for condensing boilers and water heaters. Every year, the company produces 2.6 million heat exchangers, over 95% of which are exported. The entire company is ISO9001 certified (2015 version).
SILL Entreprises
Founded in 1962, the Breton family group Sill operates in the agri-food sector, producing milk, fruit juices, soups and ready meals. Based in Plouvien, the group has several subsidiaries, including Laiterie de Saint-Malo, Maison Le Gall, Le Petit Basque, Primel Gastronomie and Saveurs Cristal.
Socopa
Founded in 1953 as a subsidiary of the Bigard group, Socopa is based in Quimperlé and specialises in meat slaughtering, processing and trading. Socopa has more than 5,800 partner breeders across its various sites, and more than 260 products sold in French supermarkets and supermarkets.
TechNature
Since 1996, cosmetics subcontractor TechNature has specialised in creating made-to-measure cosmetic products, offered as a full service to major beauty brands, retail outlets and beauty centres such as institutes or spas.
Trécobat
Based in Lannilis and founded in 1972, the Trécobat group builds single-family homes in France. Its activities cover the entire housing sector: extensions, renovation, commercial and institutional construction, promotion and development.