History of a family company

Viquel was created in 1949, using the name of the founder, father of the present-day CEO, as company name. The company, established at the heart of the 11th arrondissement of Paris, in the working-class tannery district, close to Saint-Martin’s Canal, totalled 6 employees and manufactured leather handbags.

In 1955, the company was entrusted with samples of plastic materials and PVC sheets. Customers began to take a keen interest in these materials, so Georges Viquel immediately expanded the PVC product range to include small leather goods: comb holder, shower cap, etc.

Upon request from one of its customers – Monoprix – French retail and food chain, the company began manufacturing school supplies in flexible and rigid plastic: Viquel now became the leading manufacturer of PVC copy-book protectors. The company’s range of school supplies expanded to include binders and pencil cases.

In 1959, Viquel became a public limited company, at a time when decentralization policy was encouraging businesses to establish themselves in the regions. The change in social status was accompanied by the inauguration of 800 m² of new premises in June 1962 on the site of Oulchy le Château in the Aisne department.

In October 1965, Georges Viquel passed away and his son joined the company. Large-scale retail was on the increase and the company developed at the same rhythm as this new distribution channel.

1972 marked the beginning of a major turning point for the company as a result of a specific event: a supplier proposed a new material to Gérard Viquel – polypropylene (PP). The start off was incredible. The first articles manufactured were the three-flap file folders, binders and filing cases. Advertizing material was to take a back seat and polypropylene-based products were favoured.

1973 : a fire badly damaged the production plant in Oulchy le Château. Thanks to the dynamism of the employees and the involvement of the teams, this incident only affected business temporarily.

In 1987, business growth and the arrival of shareholders resulted in the construction of an 8,500 m² computerized storage hub in Grisolles, just a few kilometres from the production plants.

In 1991, Gérard Viquel bought back all company shares and took over the reins of the business.
The following year, headquarters were transferred from Courbevoie to Colombes.

An Export department was created and led to the company developing its sales in over 55 countries throughout the world. In May 1996, Vanessa Viquel, Gérard Viquel’s daughter, joined the company. Her training and experience meant that she was able to manage the company’s administrative and financial department. Appointing her reinforced Viquel’s desire to remain an independent family-run business.

At the end of the 90s, Viquel established a marketing department, dedicated to creating new ranges, which comprised two product managers and three computer graphics designers to satisfy customer demands and to further corporate positioning which was now focusing on innovation and creativity.

V-PLAST INDUSTRIE, a subsidiary of Viquel, founded in 1999, manufactures all of the business’s technical films and controls a percentage of the raw materials.
In 2000, the company invested further and acquired a third production plant in Fère en Tardenois.