Testimonial from David Ouvrard – Project Manager at Symbio

The project to create Symbio’s new site began in early 2020, with commissioning scheduled for 2023. What are the main challenges you have encountered on this project as the operator and owner of the future site?

Looking back, we encountered two main difficulties : 

• Stabilizing our operator specifications (program) upstream, in a rapidly evolving business with emerging needs that are not yet fully defined. And yet, our schedule required us to define them three years before commissioning!
• Make the target property compatible with our project, particularly from a regulatory standpoint, by managing the site’s industrial history, wildlife issues, and the development of a revitalized business park. This includes addressing the differences between our original vision for the site and the reality (access, concession networks, environmental condition of the site, etc.)

Based on your experience and our collaboration, what are the keys to success for a project of this type?

• Constantly anticipating, “always staying one step ahead,” integrating risks from the outset and addressing them proactively requires knowing what they are!
• Conducting extensive consultations with local authorities, concessionaires, and supervisory bodies, which allows us to understand the constraints very early on in the project and to resolve them before submitting permit applications, in close cooperation with the public authoritie
• Have a robust and well-supported industrial layout in place from the preliminary studies stage onwards to meet our needs. This is an essential basis for conducting consultations and making the budgetary decisions that are essential in this type of project.

Lindea supported you from the preliminary studies right through to the building permit application. Why did you choose to have independent advice on the project?

We were looking for an agile and dynamic team with the right mindset, capable of following us and understanding us. It was important for us to identify a partner who would challenge us on our needs and reassure us about the project process. Faced with the “blank slate” that launching a new website project can be, we wanted an experienced partner who could “show us the way” with a realistic action plan. And Lindea isn’t afraid of the “blank slate”—they’re actually very comfortable with it!

Duration : 2020-2022

Amount € excluding tax: Confidential

Number of participants: 7

What actions and interventions by Lindea had a particularly significant impact on the success of the project?

• Generally speaking, their speed in responding to our requests and their ability to set the pace for a project that needed to move quickly.
• The highly structured requirements gathering phases, which resulted in a program and valuable “space sheets” for assessing and monitoring our needs.
• The general contractor tender phase (consultation file, bid analysis, and negotiation), in close collaboration with experts from our parent

Would you be willing to recommend Lindea’s services to other industrial departments or organizations you know of for projects involving the sale and valuation of their assets?

Absolutely, yes. Our project will stay on schedule as defined at launch; the foundations laid with Lindea were solid!