Situated on the Atlantic Coast towards the southwest of France, La Rochelle can trace its origins as a seaport back to Roman times. Over the 1,000-plus years that followed its founding, the city’s combination of location and capabilities established it as a global hub for the maritime industry, allowing it to play a defining role during each new wave of French history — from the Hundred Years’ War to the Renaissance and beyond. And, since 2001, when our first large contact center opened in the city, it has had an equally powerful influence on the fortunes of Foundever.
“When you move to La Rochelle, you come to love the city because of its exceptional heritage,” says operations manager Agnès Massé, who has worked at Foundever in La Rochelle since 2005. “It is something unique to the city.”
Exceptional heritage
But even if the city is steeped in heritage, La Rochelle is by no means anchored to the past. “It’s a very dynamic city,” explains customer service agent Marine Sury, who grew up in the city and recently joined Foundever. “There is a cultural richness and it’s one of the things that made me stay here.”
By respecting the past and looking to the future, the city has achieved a balance of antiquity and modernity. So, while still a hub for maritime innovation, La Rochelle has become a center for technology, professional services, the renewable energy sector and tourism.
“Because tourism is one of the pillars of our economy, we know how to welcome people who come to visit the city,” explains Massé.
Quality of life
But the culture has more than simply a sense of welcoming. La Rochelle’s skyline reflects its unique character, blending history and modernity. Striking medieval harbor towers, Gothic municipal buildings, neo-classical cathedrals, and art deco villas stand alongside the sleek glass and steel structures of contemporary design, symbolizing the city’s depth and vibrancy. Its proximity to beaches as well as business means it’s a city that blends urban immediacy with coastal calm and is consistently ranked as one of the best places to live and work in France.
“I believe that its geographic location, being close to the sea and being a human-scale city, contributes to this. It’s why I am thrilled to continue working here,” explains city native and learning specialist Alexandre Girard.
Historic location
As well as its standard of living, this blend of qualities has helped La Rochelle become renowned for the standards of customer experience it delivers. Our first major center in the country (today, it is one of 13 hubs across mainland France), our presence in La Rochelle allowed Foundever to establish the capabilities and approach synonymous with consistently delivering French-language CX for some of the country’s most storied and respected brands.
A center of excellence
A quarter century later, for telecoms, insurance, retail, financial services and utilities clients, the site retains its significance as a center of excellence for contemporary means of meeting customer expectations.
“Over time, we have developed an ability to manage and deliver every aspect of customer experience,” says La Rochelle’s site director, Benoit Marchais. “It has become part of this site’s DNA. We’ve been open since 2001 and over that time we have been able to work with a true diversity of clients and develop a unique depth of experience.”
Focused on the future
So, like the city, the hub has stayed true to its roots while continuing to evolve in line with current and future customer and business needs and possibilities. Today, our site is equal parts contact center and CX incubator, where our teams partner with existing and potential clients to develop new, more powerful ways of engaging with customers and integrating new services and solutions — especially within high-touch sectors such as insurance.
“We need to constantly transform to address new challenges clients and partners face,” explains Marchais. “It’s why, for instance, we have developed specific approaches to support startups as they launch and establish themselves in the market and why we have the capacity to advise all clients about any technical or value-added aspect of the customer relationship.”
People power
Key to this evolution has been our people. Thanks to ongoing investment, both in on-site facilities and in the employee experience, just like the site’s host city, we are consistently ranked as a great place to work.
“It’s what appealed to me about Foundever,” explains Romain Ihsane, who joined as an agent for an insurance client in 2020. “At the beginning, I thought I wouldn’t stay long because I thought this would be a steppingstone to something else. But the atmosphere, my colleagues and the work itself meant that I wanted to stay.”
“There are many different aspects to performance,” explains Massé. “On one hand, there’s the quantitative aspect. Yes, we’ve reached the customer’s objectives. But the qualitative aspect is also very important. We must maintain a high standard of quality to ensure our customers’ satisfaction and performance and that involves the wellbeing of our employees. If we have employees who are happy to come to work and feel good in our company, we are on the path to success.”
Focusing on all aspects of performance is why the average tenure of our agents and managers at the site is seven years, and why the majority of open positions at the site are filled via internal promotion. Maintaining consistency while embracing change helps to create the right working culture.
“It’s what I like most about working for Foundever. The relationship with colleagues is fundamentally one of trust. We have worked together for a long time, so we know we can rely on each other. It’s truly a relationship of mutual support and exchange,” explains Girard. “I have been responsible for quality training for seven years now. However, I have been with the company since 2002, so I’ve been part of his team for more than 22 years.
And Alexandre Girard isn’t the only senior team member with a long tenure. As already mentioned, Agnès Massé has been at Foundever since 2005, just like team leader Cyril Carel, who began as an agent when he was 19 years old. “I joined thinking I would stay for a few months as an advisor in a specific role,” he remembers. However, thanks to access to training and career opportunities, he has been able to progress through the organization. “I thought this would just be a temporary position, but I worked in 10 different roles in my first 10 years. Then I had the opportunity to apply for a managerial position, which I seized.”
The next CX chapter
And as our people progress through the organization as their careers develop, thanks to two universities, a business school and a large and diverse population, as well as our own in-house training and development programs, the city and its surrounding area offer a steady stream of new talent ready to shape the next chapter of our history.
“One of this city’s strengths is its varied employment pool,” says Girard. “We have a student population and a very engaged community in customer relations, given that we are also a fairly touristy city. And we also have a lot of people who come to the city for a career change. And that creates a rich mix of profiles.”
Alongside capabilities, another historical strength of the city is its location. “Our clients want to be close to the ground and close to the teams that personify their brands,” says Marchais. “And that’s another true benefit of La Rochelle. Thanks to high-speed rail, it has great proximity to Paris. But it is also geographically close to the cities where sectors such as insurance are headquartered.”
Quick facts: Foundever Hub in La Rochelle
- Opened in 2001
- 400 seats plus robust remote and hybrid working capabilities
- On-site gym and canteen
- Omnichannel inbound and outbound support (B2B and B2C) plus back-office capabilities in French and English
Quick facts about La Rochelle
- Population: 135,000
- Unemployment: 6%
- Skills: 40% of the adult population has a university education
- Transport: National high-speed rail links and an international airport
A world of experience
Foundever supports millions of customers every day across 45 countries. Learn more about some of our other locations featured in this “Location spotlight” blog series: