SOM chooses Lille as a strategic location

Headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, France, ORTEC is a French company with an international reach, employing 14,000 people. Founded 30 years ago, the group initially evolved within French industrial basins, then gradually extended its influence on a global scale. Its customers include major players in a multitude of sectors: Petrochemicals, Nuclear, Healthcare, Aeronautics, Railways, Infrastructures…

Structured around four main divisions – Engineering, Contracting, Global Services, Energies – the group offers a vast range of skills and services. At the heart of its engineering division, SOM is positioned with an extensive range of services, from design office to project management, including industrial risk management with a strong operational presence in the field.

SOM Nord’s teams combine technical expertise and innovation to manage and monitor even the most demanding large-scale projects. Backed by a corporate culture rooted in in-depth knowledge of the industrial sector and a sustained focus on plant safety and security, SOM now employs over 1,800 people.

SOM’s arrival in Lille in May 2023, the result of prospecting by Nord France Invest, the economic development agency for the Hauts-de-France region, is a significant step forward, aimed primarily at strengthening the company’s proximity to existing and potential customers. It also offers its consultants, who are often on assignment, an additional base in northern France. Among the key players in the project, Dominique BENOIT, Northern Area Manager, and Emmanuel BAILLY, SOM Normandie Branch Manager, play a key role.

Lille was chosen for a number of reasons:

• A central position in the Hauts-de-France region, giving us easy access to major customers,
• A dynamic ecosystem with major contracts such as SNCF,
• Easy access to the company’s headquarters in Aix-en-Provence and to the French capital.

Hello Lille’s Pôle Invest facilitated relations with key players, particularly in the employment sector, and Hello Lille made it much easier to set up the company.

For 2024, SOM Nord has an ambitious development plan, including the recruitment of around ten professionals in the region, with the prospect of increasing this number according to future opportunities. The Lille office aims to recruit highly specialized profiles, including engineers and technicians in planning, project management, works coordination and maintenance.