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Industrial Project
France

The challenge was to accommodate 28 technicians from a Spanish infrastructure and renewable energy company who were traveling to France for 90 days to carry out maintenance on a nuclear power plant.

3 months

28 employees

In less than 48 hours we sent them an online quotation with two single and 13 two-bedroom Apartool Homes, which immediately matched requirements in terms of location, services and price. In addition, we negotiated beers at €1 each for their three-month stay (but don’t tell anyone!).

We are a leading Spanish company in infrastructure and renewable energies, with more than 30 years’ continuous growth and operations in more than 40 countries. We are specialists in integrated project management in the fields of electricity, power generation, telecommunications, facilities, maintenance, the environment and water. We work internationally, using both subsidiaries and partly-owned companies located abroad, as well as projects generated from Spain.

I am located in the General Services area of the HR department, with the job title of Executive Travel Consultant, and my role consists of contracting all the necessary suppliers to ensure that our teams’ journeys are a success. For this, we always entrust the search for temporary accommodation to Apartool, as they make everything very easy and streamlined, and they offer great standards of service.

The challenge

In this case, we had to move 28 employees to one of our subsidiaries located in an industrial town in France for a total of three months (90 days), to carry out maintenance on a nuclear power plant.

There were two added difficulties in this project. The first was an emergency situation in which we had to mobilise the staff at very short notice – we had only one week to organise the entire trip. Secondly, the plant was located in an industrial town with a shortage of acceptable options for ensuring our employees’ comfort during their stay.

The solution

Within 48 hours of making the request, we already had a proposal on the table. They sent us an online quotation with two single Apartool Homes and 13 two-bedroom Apartool Homes, which perfectly matched our requirements in terms of location and price. Of course, cleaning, linen changes and WiFi are included in the price.

In addition, since it was a small apartment complex, our employees enjoyed communal areas with a swimming pool, sauna and work area. They understood our needs perfectly at Apartool and got everything absolutely spot on; so it was immediately done and dusted, the first proposal received was ideal.

How Apartool and its technology has helped

We love working with Apartool because, as Travel Consultants for a large multinational company, when we manage travel for our teams we have to take manifold aspects into account. Sometimes at very short notice and with very specific requirements.

This is why it’s fantastic to be able to count on Apartool for the management of the accommodation, given that they work in a very streamlined, easy and efficient way.

Being a large multinational we work with multiple destinations, which often means major headaches, and with Apartool we are able to avoid having to search for, locate and compare agencies and local managers in each country. In addition, the tax issue had always been a challenge for us and our finance department: with a real estate agency the apartments are exempt from VAT, and this was a problem for the company (employee remuneration in kind, etc.); however with Apartool, booking three months of apartments involves the same process and tax rate (10% VAT in Spain) as booking two nights in a hotel. This is a huge advantage for companies like ours.

Opinion on the future of corporate housing

This is a sector that has clearly been growing in recent years and, given the trend, will continue to do so. In addition, the pandemic has shown us that working remotely is equally or more effective than working face-to-face, and more and more companies are opting for remote working.

We have seen it first-hand in our company. We used to send expatriate workers and their families for long-term projects (3-4 years) where the company would find and pay for housing, schools, universities, transportation, etc. for everyone. But now, thanks to globalisation and remote working, instead of moving all the family members for the duration of the project, we send our employee for three months to set up the project, and periodically every six months for a two-month follow-up.

This is a clear case of what is already happening and will continue to happen in the coming years.

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