Julie Barlatier, co-founder and CEO of Barjane: “We serve our clients and local communities”

Sustainability is at the very core of Barjane. When Julie Barlatier co-founded the company with her brother Léo in 2006, the aim from the outset was to create a business that could stand the test of time, guided by the motto: “succeeding in order to serve.” “And in our view, to endure, we had to develop high-quality real estate, manage it well, adapt to our environment, and evolve alongside our clients’ needs, innovations and regulations, explains Barlatier, whose role is to lead and plan all the company’s financial, human, technical and strategic resources. Our roots in southern France also prompted us to make the best possible use of natural resources, particularly water, as we have always experienced droughts; and to harness the region’s sunshine to become renewable-energy producers.” The aim is to combine economic performance, environmental quality and client service in order to create lasting value shared by all.

Before creating Barjane, Julie Barlatier worked in banking and in the City of London. “An engineer by training, I spent my final year in London at Imperial College, earning a master’s degree in process systems engineering with a specialization in chemical engineering, she explains. I was therefore, in principle, destined to work on oil platforms, but I preferred to start a business with my brother in the logistics real estate sector.”

In her view, the success of a real estate development depends in particular on its successful integration into the local area where it is located. “A logistics real estate project is never undertaken alone: we serve local communities, which are our clients, and we must understand their challenges in terms of economic development, mobility, infrastructure, training needs, jobs and so on, Julie Barlatier says. As with the clients that use our logistics sites, we co-develop projects with local communities. They are aware of every stage of the project; they support and assist us. They must be satisfied with our project and with the companies we bring in.” As a long-term manager, Barjane relies on this partnership with elected officials to build and maintain strong, lasting relationships.

This long-term commitment is underpinned by an ambitious CSR strategy. This sometimes requires foresight. From the outset, well before it became a regulatory requirement, Barjane chose to install photovoltaic panels on all its buildings, turning them into green-energy producers. “We connected our first plant to the grid in 2010, Julie Barlatier notes. Protecting biodiversity, and the environment more generally, has been our priority since our first project, Parc des Bréguières in the Var, which was ISO 14001-certified in 2009.” This CSR commitment has expanded year after year: ISO 14001 for the environment, ISO 50001 for energy, adoption of the program initiated by the French Biodiversity Office, “Entreprise engagée pour la Nature pour la Biodiversité”... Barjane is also a member of the United Nations Global Compact, a voluntary CSR commitment framework for respecting human rights, labor law, the environment and anti-corruption efforts. All these initiatives, led by a committed team that implements the CSR strategy in its work as a business park developer, industrial and logistics building developer, and manager of these sites, have enabled it to obtain “impact” financing for several years, with preferential interest rates.

“Our various certifications recognize the day-to-day work of every member of the company and enable us to improve continuously, Julie Barlatier emphasizes. Our commitment nevertheless goes beyond certification processes. For example, we have committed to preserving within our portfolio 1 m² of ENAF (preservation of natural, agricultural and forest areas) for every m² developed by our projects. We therefore own agricultural, natural and forest land that we manage sustainably. We have planted hundreds of olive trees and regularly work with ecologists and the LPO (League for the Protection of Birds), whose assessments and advice help us monitor how we maintain and promote biodiversity at our sites and at our headquarters.”

A mission-driven company since 2024 and Bcorp-certified, Barjane has a responsibility, in Julie Barlatier’s view, to create shared wealth and ensure that site operations benefit everyone: clients, employees and the local communities in which they are located. The company also opens its parks to all kinds of cultural and sporting events; hosts children from recreation centers to build insect hotels, students working on biodiversity, logistics or civil engineering topics; and enables full-scale evacuation drills in cooperation with the gendarmerie and firefighters. “We must be connectors,” says Julie Barlatier, who is also pleased by the creation in 2017 of the Barjane Foundation, which upholds the same values.

Building on its experience in France, Barjane entered the UK market by supporting Decathlon across the Channel in developing the Decathlon Northampton distribution center, which serves a network of 48 stores and supplies all e-commerce operations. A new project has also recently been launched in Rugby, Warwickshire, in central England. “It is a brownfield redevelopment, which is one of our CSR objectives, Julie Barlatier explains. We took the same approach at Parc des Aiguilles, in the municipality of Ensuès-la-Redonne in Bouches-du-Rhône, where we have already hosted two clients since 2024: Action and Decathlon. We undertook site remediation, helped create numerous jobs—contrary to what some may think about logistics—installed rooftop photovoltaic plants, and are contributing to the construction of a highway ramp that will ease congestion in part of the area.” Parc des Aiguilles is now recognized as a project of community interest and promises social, societal and economic benefits for the local area. “Citizens must not forget just how essential logistics is to their daily lives and every aspect of life, from the supermarket to the pharmacy and online orders: everything needs to be delivered,” the CEO reminds us. “It is also an innovative and exciting sector for those who work in it!”