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Who can benefit from the NFI services?

4 specific cases:
  • Foreign companies in all sectors looking to expand in Hauts-de-France
  • French companies with no site in Hauts-de-France
  • Hauts-de-France companies with a succession plan
  • Foreign-owned companies in Hauts-de-France with a development project
Our services are not intended for :
  • French or international self-employed entrepreneurs
  • French companies wishing to export
  • International companies seeking distribution networks only

Why as the help of Nord France Invest?

Nord France Invest provides you with completely tailored, free of charge and confidential support. We centralize all the information you need to analyze your project. We facilitate your process to find a site, partners or land. We organize site visits. We accelerate your networking with future regional partners. Find out more about the agency's services on this page.

What type of project can support you in?

The agency supports job-creating investment projects. The nature of projects varies according to 3 main categories:
  • Start-up projects
  • Expansion of existing sites in the region
  • takeovers of regional businesses by international companies.
Nord France Invest's services are not aimed at capital investments.
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HomeOur supportHelping you in your expansion

Assisting you

in your expansion

Whether you're an industrial SME, a tech start-up or a major international group, Nord France Invest is here to help you set up in the Hauts-de-France region. Find out how the agency can support.
Nord France Invest

Services are 100% confidential
and free of charge

As the regional development agency for Hauts-de-France, we support your regional investment project every step of the way.

Our support includes a range of 100% confidential services at no cost*, coordinated by your own special adviser—a dedicated expert we assign to you and your team.

Since the agency’s creation, our project managers and directors have supported nearly 1,500 investment projects in Hauts-de-France. Each specialized in his or her own sector, they are your best option to support and advise you throughout the various phases of your business expansion project. Their knowledge of the field and investment procedures will save you precious time.

The cost of our services is covered by our funders, the Hauts-de-France Regional Council and the Hauts-de-France Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which are implementing a very proactive policy to welcome investment.

Step 1:
Get answers to your questions

After a meticulous analysis of your specifications, we interview our partners in order to provide you with centralized and precise answers to your questions.

THE STARTING POINT: YOUR SPECIFICATIONS

Every project is different. That’s why we offer individual coaching and customized answers to all your questions, tooptimize your time and the management of your project.

To best define your needs and challenges, you must provide us with your specifications. This document is the basis of our partnership. This analysis of your needs, carried out by a project manager, is the 1st step in our collaboration. Once your issues have been clearly identified, your dedicated expert will be able to answer your questions.

 

 

OBTAIN RELIABLE INFORMATION CENTRALLY

Researching regulatory and sector-specific information is time-consuming. The role of Nord France Invest, as your develpment partner, is to provide you with all the elements you need:

  • Employment area within a specific radius,
  • ICPE regulations,
  • Companies already established in the target area,
  • Centers of excellence,
  • Training courses available,
  • Real estate operators,
  • Energy capacity,
  • etc.

 

For more complex questions, requiring in-depth research, we call on a wide network of partners and contacts in the region: Invest in Hauts-de-France network (our network of local agencies), local and national public authorities, Business France (in charge of promoting France’s international attractiveness), lawyers, consulting firms, etc.

We work with them to answer your questions and centralize the relevant answers for your location study. Thus, we guarantee unified, clear and reliable information.

Step 2:
Find the ideal site for your expansion

You’ve short-listed Hauts-de-France as a potential destination for setting up. You would now like to discover the location solutions offered by the region. Nord France Invest can support you in this crucial stage of your project.

IDENTIFY ADEQUATE EXPANSION SOLUTIONS

After analyzing your specifications, your dedicated project manager will put together a offer file for you. Depending on your real estate or land requirements, in this document we will present you with offers of sites that strictly meet your challenges. The diversity of our territory, from the gateway to Paris to the Belgian border and in close proximity to the UK, offers a wide variety of location solutions.

The different types of setting up solutions:

  • land available for building,
  • warehouses,
  • integrated platforms,
  • premium offices,
  • rental buildings in business parks, incubators or even technology parks,

 

VISIT POTENTIAL SITES

After answering the last questions raised by our offers file, you make a selection of the sites that interest you most.

Our teams will then organize a program of visits to the selected sites. With in-depth knowledge of the Hauts-de-France region, we offer the most optimized itinerary, while giving you the opportunity to discover the region’s quality of life.

If, after these initial visits, you would like to revisit one or more sites, our project managers are at your disposal to organize additional visits.

Once you’ve made your choice, our experts will help you with the administrative steps involved in setting up your business:

  • assignment contract / lease signature,
  • obtaining a permit,
  • recruitment of the first employee,
  • etc.

 

ACQUIRE AN EXISTING BUSINESS IN HAUTS-DE-FRANCE

Are you looking to start operations quickly and prefer the acquisition of an already established structure to a greenfield set-up?

Buying a regional business means having a structure that’s already up and running and the resources you need to run it: qualified employees, machines in working order, suppliers, etc. You save time setting up as well as any financial costs associated with starting up your business, as the ceding company already has an established customer base in the market.

 

 

Step 3:
make your procedures easier

We bring you expertise regarding the financial engineering of your file. We request the public aid available for you, we support you in putting together your files and introduce you to our financial partners.

We also facilitate certain administrative procedures thanks to the support of our network, such as accelerated authorizations or building permits. As well as this, we make it easier for you to develop relationships with local authorities.

OPTIMISED FINANCIAL ENGINEERING

Financial engineering is the lifeblood of any business creation project. And because every investment project is different, it requires specific, personalized support.

Your time is precious. To help you use it wisely, we identify the public aid and support schemes for which you are eligible for you, based on the specific characteristics of your project and your business plan.

The prerequisites for each scheme are varied, so finding out which ones you qualify for is a time-consuming process. Thanks to our knowledge of the French economy and its administration, as well as our relationships with regional and state public authorities, we help you identify the financing corresponding to the needs of your investment project.

CLOSE-UP: GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE FOR SETTING UP IN FRANCE

In France, there is a lot of help for setting up. It can be issued by different bodies: the Region, groups of municipalities, the governments, Europe.

They also vary depending on the nature of your business and your project:

  • creation, development or acquisition,
  • number of jobs created,
  • degree of project innovation,

Finally, they can take many forms:

  • subsidies,
  • exemptions from taxes, social security contributions and employer contributions,
  • reduced, subsidized or zero-interest loans,
  • tax credits,
  • employee training assistance,

FACILITATE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES

Getting certain authorizations can sometimes take a long time and delay the launch of your business. Thanks to our privileged connections and our in-depth knowledge of French institutions and administrative procedures, we guarantee that authorizations are obtained as quickly as possible:

  • environmental permits (ex-ICPE)
  • specific authorizations (sanitary approval, Seveso, etc.)
  • building permits and other local authority applications
  • legal status and company registration
  • visa and residence permit applications for your international employees

 

BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH LOCAL AUTHORITIES

In addition to administrative procedures, our experts advise and support you during your meetings with local, regional and national authorities and facilitate your connections. Our network of partners includes numerous players (agglomerations, communities of communes, local economic development agencies, Business France, etc.) and, by the very nature of our business, we have special ties with public authorities.

Contact us
for tailored support

Our experts are here to make your setting-up to make your setting-up project as smoothly as possible. Contact us to be put in contact with our dedicated team.

Step 4:
continued support

Setting up a business in France involves much more than administrative formalities. It’s also about finding your place within the local ecosystem, within your industry but also within the chosen territory. A crucial step for your success and future development! So our relationship doesn’t end once the paperwork is signed. On the contrary: it’s now that it really comes into its own.

BECOMING PART OF THE LOCAL BUSINESS COMMUNITY

In the course of your set-up process, you’ve certainly had the opportunity to meet some of the local players. This is an excellent start, but it’s not yet enough for your company’s development. Thanks to our extensive regional network, Nord France Invest helps you expand your address book and to get integrated into the regional economic fabric.

We can put you in touch with people or institutions related to your business sector or your development needs:

  • training centers,
  • sites of excellence / clusters in your sector,
  • recruitment agencies,
  • financial and legal organizations,
  • laboratories, universities,

Successful implementation also involves your individual and personal integration into local life. That’s why, whenever we can, we also introduce you (through specific events or networking, via social networks, etc.) to entrepreneurs in your sector who are also based in the Hauts-de-France region.

COMMUNICATE ABOUT YOUR PROJECT

You’ve set up successfully and would like to publicize your arrival in the regional ecosystem. Our communications department promotes your investment in its communication media, mobilizes the regional press, and supports your inauguration.

SUPPORT YOUR EXPANSION OR DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Your business is well established in Hauts-de-France and your results satisfy your board.

If your parent company is considering an expansion project, Nord France Invest can support your application by providing you with regional data or by meeting your authorities in their countries.

If, on the contrary, your group is experiencing difficulties and is considering site closures, we will mobilize to provide you with the support you need to defend the interests of your Hauts-de-France site.

The long-term success of your business is an interest we share. That is why we are keen to keep in regular contact with you and remain at your disposal to:

  • Put you in touch with a specific person or structure in case you can’t reach the right contact
  • Help you find new partners
  • Help you obtain specific authorizations
  • Answer your questions about developing your business
  • Assist you in your search for sites or companies to acquire in the event of expansion
  • Help you establish your business in the region

Whether or not we have supported you in your initial set-up, our directors are your privileged contacts in your expansion and development operations in the Hauts-de-France region.