"The French company itself has tumbled several times in the past two decades and always bounced back, but never quite as spectacularly as when, earlier this month, it asked the public for money. An appeal for 5m (4.4m) of emergency funding to secure the immediate future of the glassworks took just five hours and 40 minutes to reach its target. Within 48 hours, the total amount pledged had topped 19m."
"We thought it would take five or six weeks to raise the 5m. When it reached nearly 20m we had to say stop. Enough, he said. As a staff cooperative, 5m is the maximum Duralex can accept in public investment under financial rules. Beloved French brand Mention Duralex to any French person and they will be transported back to childhood and a school canteen. The brand evokes a mix of nostalgia and pride and is a symbol of French patriotism and industrial savoir faire."
Duralex launched an emergency appeal for €5m and reached that sum in five hours and 40 minutes, with total pledges exceeding €19m within 48 hours. The company operates as a staff cooperative and is limited to accepting €5m of public investment under financial rules. Duralex evokes national nostalgia and pride, associated with childhood and French industrial savoir-faire. Eighteen months earlier employees completed a staff buyout after the firm entered receivership for the fourth time in 20 years; 180 of 243 employees are now company associates. The fundraising surge prompted a large increase in orders and stunned company leadership.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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