Title: Managing director
Company: La Famille Bougrier
Sales: 700,000 cases
HQ: Saint-Georges-sur-Cher, France
Number of employees: 32

What’s it like to work for your company? We are a family business with human relations at the core of our ethos. We have very faithful staff. On average about 85% of our staff stay with us throughout their careers.

Why is it a good employer? Because of the fantastic rapport between management and staff. We have a very professional, competent and dedicated team.

What’s the best thing about working there? For those involved in wine production I think it’s the fact that we prefer full-time contracts, unlike many competitors. Employees are thus able to enjoy a more steady work rhythm.

Does the company offer any unusual benefits? When business allows it, we put in place special spot bonuses, some linked to productivity, some to results.

How does the company differ from its rivals? Our strategy is to remain modestly sized and keep the family ethos. These two elements combined make us a fairly unusual proposition.

If the company were a car what would it be and why? I can’t think of a car, but I do often say to our clients that our business is like a small deep-sea trawler - we have speed, manoeuvrability and can withstand all kinds of inclement weather!

What’s the training like and what qualifications can I earn? We have an internal training programme with three key areas - technical wine-making office management, accounting and languages and health and safety.

Has the company won any awards or been recognised in the past few years as an employer? No, not recently, but a number of our staff have won awards linked to their longstanding commitment to the business.

What’s your proudest achievement of the past 12 months? We have increased our marketing spend in the UK and France. We have dedicated a budget of some €75k to raise the company’s profile and increase market share. We are very happy with the results, which include several great press pieces in consumer titles in France, and a number of profiles in key trade titles in the UK. We have also worked with a team of key UK wine professionals to analyse the wines in our collection from a British perspective.

Are you looking for any people right now and, if so, where? Not actively, but I am always interested in meeting good people.

How does one go about applying for a job? We receive a large number of CVs. Before starting any recruitment I always look through those received over the past two years to see if there is a potential fit.

How do I find out more about the company? Visit www.bougrier.fr or contact my UK PR agency care of chris.skyrme@sopexa.com.

Are you, or is the company, working on anything exciting right now that you can tell us about? We have a number of projects planned including the building of a new storage depot, the creation of a bag-in-box range, restoration of a vat room and the modernisation of our bottling plant.