Greater Lyon encourages the set-up of service-sector companies – be it a new site, a dedicated real-estate scheme, a well-established pacesetting firm, and a dynamic ecosystem. Greater Lyon encourages the set-up of service-sector companies, which will be given all the insights and support they need to perform and grow.

The service sector in the Lyon Metropolitan area: key figures

  • 104,903 sites including 150 world leaders1
  • 487,815 jobs in the service sector in the Lyon and Saint-Étienne metropolitan region (+16% between 2009 and 2017, versus +10% nationwide)2
  • Top decision-making centre in France outside Paris
  • Part-Dieu, 2nd largest business district in France3, 1h55 from Paris

Sources: (1. INSEE company and business-site register, commercial activities excluding the farming sector, as at 31/12/2016; 2. Master Aderly – July 2019; 3. FNAIM Entreprises – February 2019)

 

Both the service sector and the number of players are growing strongly

In the Lyon area, most parts of the sector are expanding fast, like banking and fintech, e-commerce and the silver economy (primarily through personal services). Two other industries in this sector also stand out in terms of size in the local economy: insurance and engineering & consulting. Lyon is the second-ranking city in France for insurance jobs, with 11,630 in 2017 (versus 88,600 in Paris and 10,100 in Niort) and strong growth in that metric (+16% between 2008 and 2016). The main activities are broking and social cover. The area is also home to several world and French-regional HQs.

The engineering & consulting industry alone accounts for 20,000 jobs in the metropolitan area (source: INGERA2). Firms specialising in industrial and urban engineering are particularly well represented.

Competitiveness clusters (pôles de compétitivité) and industry clusters (clusters) reflect the vitality of the Lyon area’s service sector. They include:

Dedicated real-estate schemes

Several large-scale schemes in Greater Lyon are dedicated to the service sector. They provide high-quality, accessible and well-equipped infrastructure for companies irrespective of their size and core business:

  • Part Dieu, business district, the second largest in France. It has 1.3 million square metres of office space in a strategic location around the TGV station.
  • Lyon Confluence,  a service-sector district near Perrache rail station. It is the first positive-energy district in France.
  • Carré de Soie, a former industrial district that straddles ​​​​ Villeurbanne and Vaulx-en-Velin. has been regenerated. It hosts a leisure & shopping centre and a multimodal public-transport hub.

The configuration of these schemes, optimised for the service sector, lets them host all types of services: HQs, call centres and shared services as well as support functions and regional offices.

These service companies have chosen the Lyon metropolitan area

  • Apicil
  • April
  • Alptis
  • Cegid
  • Deloitte
  • Esker
  • GL Events

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