There's a Reason Big French Agency BETC's HQ Isn't in Paris Anymore
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When BETC co-founder Rmi Babinet first saw the abandoned warehouse outside Paris that would become the Havas-owned agency’s headquarters this month, he saw huge potential. He was also a little worried. “It was covered with graffiti, it was an unfriendly place, there were people hanging around, it was wild,” he said.
That was eight years ago. After years of work on a redesign and renovations, on Wednesday the creative agency hosted the opening party in its new hub on the edge of a canal in Pantin, just northeast of Paris. The renovated 215,000 sq. ft. former flour and grain warehouse, home to 900 staff members, is so huge that it has almost a mile of balconies encircling its six floors. The agency refers to the building as “Les Magasins Gnraux,” the name it’s been called for decades.
The giant space offered BETC, one of France’s two biggest agencies (the other is Publicis), the chance to reunite staff spread out in seven different offices in eastern Paris. The agency also saw an opportunity to help revitalize a post-industrial suburb cut off from the chic, touristy areas of central Paris. By setting up in Pantin, it inserted itself into the push for a “Grand Paris,” a strong Greater Paris region, with more integration between the French capital and the lower-income multicultural suburbs. Separated by a ring road, they often can seem like different worlds.
