Single source: Bespoke fitted furniture in Occitanie, regional observatory of woodworking crafts, 2026 edition, 42 pages. Data as at 31 December 2025. Every figure carries its page number.
Not to be put on the table. The document states on page 1 and page 42 that it is a fictional report produced for a MyDigipal demonstration, that the observatory, the workshops and all the data are invented, and that it must not be cited in any real work.
The market — the four figures
412 M€
Regional market 2025, against 339 M€ in 2022, up 6.8 % a year between 2023 and 2025. National average: +5.4 %.
p. 9 · p. 7
+12 % / +3 %
Annual growth of projects above 15,000 €, against entry-level work. The upper end accounts for 48 % of the market.
p. 12
38 %
Share of budget spent on bespoke work in renovation projects above 15,000 €, against 29 % in 2020.
p. 14
+9,4 %
Retail fit-out: 15 % of the market, but 22 % of its growth.
p. 16
The central argument: missing capacity
64 % of workshops turned down at least one order in 2025, against 38 % in 2022. Reasons: full schedule 71 %, short-staffed 58 %. (p. 22)
Average order-to-fitting time: 11 weeks against 7 in 2022; 31 % of orders delivered beyond three months. (p. 21)
Toulouse urban area: 41 % of regional demand for 29 % of the workshops, 18 % of projects abandoned for want of an available workshop against 9 % elsewhere, prices 20 % higher. (p. 18)
Only 7 % of workshops have considered a second site, and half of them gave up, citing first the difficulty of finding staff. (p. 22)
Demand stays above supply in all three 2028 scenarios: central 487 M€, high 521 M€, low 441 M€. (p. 41)
The three objections to prepare
1. Recruitment
58 % of workshops have had a cabinetmaker post vacant for more than six months; average time to hire: 9 months. (p. 39)
890 posts declared vacant over the year against 410 graduates in the region. (p. 40)
To say: this is the factor that decides between the high and the low scenario. (p. 41)
2. Margins and material prices
Median gross margin at 27 % for workshops under 20 staff, against 29 % in 2022. (p. 27)
Solid oak: +23 % over two years, passed on to selling prices at only 62 %. (p. 34)
Counter: a material revision clause, applied by 44 % of workshops and accepted by 84 % of clients when it is explained. (p. 35)
3. Cash on the trade market
Average payment time: 41 days, up to 68 days as a subcontractor. (p. 30)
A third of workshops have walked away from a trade contract for that reason alone. (p. 30)
Benchmark: median deposit on order, 40 % of the amount. (p. 29)
What the report does not say
Nothing on financing a second production site: no average set-up cost, no payback period, no follow-up of workshops that opened one (p. 42, explicitly). That is the central gap for this meeting: the document justifies the opportunity, not the financing plan.
No aggregate for workshops of 5 to 10 staff; the narrowest band is "under 20 staff". (p. 11, p. 42)
The first half of 2026 is covered neither on materials nor on lead times. (p. 4, p. 34, p. 42)
The full cost of a hire who is unproductive during training, and the success rate of career-change hires, are not measured. (p. 39)