A few months after Hublot's workshops and offices were regrouped in a completely new factory, the official ribbon cutting ceremony for the new headquarters took place yesterday. Presiding over the inauguration ceremony was Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of Hublotand Bernard Arnault, President and General Manager of the LVMH Group, in the presence of Philippe Pascal, President of the LVMH Watches and Jewellery business group, and Daniel Rosselat, Mayor of the City of Nyon. Two years after the laying of the foundation stone of the building, the new 6,000 square metre factory was officially presented and is already operating at full capacity. In fact, although the first machines became operational in March 2009, the transfer of staff was completed in April (we at L'Orologio had already visited the workshops, of which we gave you an extensive report in our July issue 179). When they returned in September, the 'les Hublotins' crèche welcomed their first children. The machining and assembly workshops occupy the first two floors, which also house the after-sales service, technical departments and purchasing offices. The third floor is reserved for management, marketing, sales, accounting as well as a large showroom and Hublot TV studios. The nursery has an independent external access with an exit onto a private wooded park."It's fantastic, in just five years we have gone from a small, outdated and poorly equipped building to this amazing ultra-modern and high-tech company!" - declared Jean-Claude Biver. As of September 2010, the company will also begin to perform training functions, welcoming apprentice watchmakers into its workshops.As his first major novelty, Jean-Claude Biver unveiled the new Unico movement, a chronograph developed entirely by Hublot's Research and Development Department, still at the 'functional prototype' stage until the end of 2009. It is intended to be housed in the case of the King Power, the latest model presented this year by the brand. The machining workshop currently produces bridges, plates and various steel components that will be assembled by some fifteen new employees hired since January specifically for the production of the Unico. The aim is to produce .2000 Unico movements in 2010 and almost 20,000 in the medium term.
