Perpetuate and beautify: when the Durieu group supports a Companion's passion for metalworking

The transmission of these values ​​is a motto transmitted from generation to generation since the genesis of the company!

Alongside its desire for excellence to magnify and protect materials and works, the Group has chosen to support certain causes that echo its convictions. Among them, that of the Compagnons du Devoir and the Tour de France is particularly dear to it.

Know-how, excellence, performance, transmission: common values

Wishing to associate an Extraordinary work with the celebration of its 100th anniversary, Durieu chose in 2023 to support and follow an Aspirant Carpenter in the creation of a trestle for his reception work which allowed him to become a Compagnon du Devoir. Inspiration, beauty, creativity, technique and know-how are strong notions that resonate with the Group's DNA.

With this great experience, Durieu decided to continue the adventure with the Compagnons du Devoir and the Tour de France in 2024. This is how the Group is supporting this year the reception work of Valentin Faure, Aspirant locksmith-metalworker, in the creation of a staircase in steel (steps) and stainless steel (posts). This staircase is part of the Coudurier company where the young Aspirant worked all last year.

A Journeyman's passion for metalworking...

Valentin has loved working with his hands since he was little. During his childhood, he learned a lot from his winegrower grandfather who made his own tools using his forge. Watching him tame and transform cold, rough metal into a finished, shaped, and useful work fascinated him. After his baccalaureate, in 2019, he chose the path of preparing for the top business schools. On Sundays, before going back to his student room, he relaxes in his grandfather's barn surrounded by the tools, forge and welding station that are still there. One weekend, they restart the forge and Valentin then faces an obvious fact: he wants to work with metal too. He then decides to radically change direction. After 3 internships to experiment with metalworking and locksmithing, he confirms his vocation. In September, he began a vocational training certificate in a breakdown and armoured equipment company while at the same time training with the Compagnons du Devoir et du Tour de France in metalwork and construction in Angers.

This is how he came to create his staircase in 2024 for his Reception job, during his work-study program at the Coudurier company.

When he works with metal, he particularly likes the idea of ​​using ancestral techniques, such as riveting, already used by Eiffel, and giving birth to contemporary and modern objects, thanks to his own technique and his work.

A magnificent and impressive embodiment of his passion for metalwork, this work required 580 hours of work from design to completion - the strict manufacturing alone representing 470 hours. In terms of materials, the staircase required 480 kg of metal, including steel, stainless steel and even brass for certain details.

Following his reception work, Valentin still has to perfect his skills for a final year on the Tour de France. Then, he will pass on his knowledge to young people by becoming a trainer for two years. After this period, he will be able to fully practice his profession as a metalworker and continue to bend, heat, shape, sculpt to bring metal to life.

On the path of the Compagnons du Devoir and the Tour de France

The Workers' Association of the Compagnons du Devoir et du Tour de France (AOCDTF) is an association under the 1901 law recognized as being of public utility, which brings together professional women and men mobilized around the same ideal: to allow each and every person to fulfill themselves, in and through their profession, in a spirit of openness and sharing.

The Compagnons du Devoir et du Tour de France offer a work-study training course ranging from CAP to Executive Master, specializing in mobility in France and abroad, through the Tour de France. Each year, more than 11.000 young people train in one of their four sectors: construction and development, industrial technologies, flexible materials and taste professions.

Some founding lines in the training of a Companion of Duty

Transmission and sharing

Two essential notions. The Companion has the duty to transmit not only his know-how, but also his know-how.

The stage of the journey

Compagnonage has always been associated with travel and the Tour de France. Travel is a necessary step in the development of an individual. It allows you to question yourself and abandon your certainties, but also to learn a new language, a new culture and a new way of working. During his training, the future Compagnon must change city and therefore company approximately once or twice a year, for approximately five consecutive years, one of which is abroad.

Reception work

When becoming a Companion, after several years of the Tour de France, professional knowledge is measured in the completion of a Reception work (sometimes called a "masterpiece" in everyday language). During this stage, behavior in the face of difficulties counts as much as the technical value of the work.

A bit of history... Durieu saga, a look back at the images...

It was in 1923 that Georges Durieu founded the family company, initially around an import/export activity of automobile parts, before growing over the decades, through human encounters and numerous projects. The company quickly launched the famous TRANSYL® penetrating oil in 1933 with Paul Durieu, the founder's son, then the legendary RUSTOL-OWATROL® anti-rust product which arrived on the French market in 1956.

At the end of the 70s, under the leadership of Alain Durieu, the Group positioned itself as a pioneer in the wood market with the Owatrol® range. The first TEXTROL® softwood saturator entered the French market in 1978. From the 90s onwards, the wood maintenance ranges continued to expand to offer a highly targeted quality offering.

In the 2000s, under the leadership of Thibault Durieu, the current CEO, the company grew stronger and took off internationally. In 2008, the Group acquired the Owatrol®, De Keyn and Linitop® brands. In 2012, Durieu acquired a new production tool in the North of France and took over the OXI brand. In 2018, ThermaCote®, a unique solution for the insulation of facades and roofs, joined the Durieu Group.

From 2021, the development of bio-sourced products is accelerating and R&D is intensifying to find relevant and sustainable solutions. In parallel with its industrial activities, the Group is forming partnerships with associations that make sense with its DNA. In particular with EcoTree since 2018 (6.933 trees planted to date), Marité, the last French cod fisherman since 2012 and Les Compagnons de l'Ordre et du Devoir since 2023.

Behind the scenes with Valentin Faure...