Founded in 2001 in Pordic by François Girard, boat-captain on several Vendée Globe races, and Christian Bernard, Teem, for Technique Électronique Électricité Marine, quickly established itself in the world of ocean racing and superyachts. Now run by Juliette Girard, daughter of the co-founder, who remains a shareholder in the company, and partner Brice Le Nel, Teem is also present on the Atlantic side of Brittany at Lorient La Base. Juliette Girard explains: "We quickly became over-active in ocean racing, which meant that we were increasingly shuttling between North and South Brittany. In 2007, we decided to open a new office in Lorient" . Teem currently employs 10 people in Pordic and 5 in Lorient, mainly electrical technicians.
Customer profiles are slightly different on each side: Pordic's activity is more focused on large voyaging boats, while Lorient's is more focused on ocean racing (Figaro, Class 40, Imoca, Multi 50...).
"The world of automation is compatible with our own"
The company is recognized in the industry. The manager observes: "A little too much, in fact. Since the last Vendée Globe, we've been experiencing an unprecedented phenomenon: a large part of our workforce has been poached by ocean racing teams. The sixty-footers have become such gasworks that we need increasingly specialized electrical technicians." As a result, the company has been forced to turn down a number of attractive projects, she regrets: "We refuse with a broken heart."
The challenge now is clearly to find new talent pools, as training centers are struggling to keep up with demand from companies. Juliette Girard explains the strategy: "We are fervent advocates of work-study programs, and we train a lot in-house. Today, we're interested in profiles from the automation world, as well as people who know the business and are motivated and agile."
New markets for tinned cable
This human resources challenge is not preventing the company from achieving good results in 2022 and 2023. New markets are also driving the business, such as the craze for tinned cable, which is gradually spreading from the very high-end to other strata of the marine industry, "because it is treated in the cable core with tin, less sensitive to corrosion and more flexible" . Teem supplies Boréal with tinned cable and also works with Gunboat, among others.
