Name

Laurent Murgat

Title

Manager

Individuals Company

Laurent Murgat is the manager of the farm with his brother Vincent. They produce salmonids, rainbow trout, brown trout and char. They sell live and dead products to supermarkets, owners of fishing plants and wholesalers. The average production is 600Tper year. In France, the size of this farm is considered as a medium sized aquaculture company/enterprise.

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Educational background

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Did you go through any training while going to school that was beneficial

The fact the family owned and ran the business as he was growing up had an influence on his eventual career choice.

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Do you have any recommendations for individuals currently studying

• Ability to multi-task
• Knowledge of general business skills
• Negotiation
• Management for good relations
• Stress Management
• Commitment to their work (there is no Sunday in aquaculture)
• Communication skills
• Team-building skills

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Does the career field have potential to expand in the future? Is the career field a good option for both students and professionals considering a career switch?

In France, a manager will find the opportunity to buy a small to medium sized company. These companies may be companies, which need to be taken over in order to revitalise them in terms of production, as they may not be attaining their full farm production capacity. In 10 years time, there will be more opportunities to buy fish farms, as many managers will then have retired by then. This is true in terms of the continent marine farms. In terms of creating your own business unit from scratch, it is almost impossible in France today as a result of prevailing environmental and administrative constraints.

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Tell us about a typical day in your job

• " Organises sales of live products, which involves
• Centralising information on stocks
• Looking after the prices, orders, availabilities of fish
• Deciding what to keep and what to sell
• His brother organises the production part of the company
• " Supervises the loading of trucks in the morning
• " Takes care of specific orders, performs office duties, phones the customers regularly and makes visits
• " Prepare and follows up on all the administrative files: insurance, financing, etc.
• " Decides on purchases especially on fish food while his brother decides on production purchases (materials, juveniles)
• " Manages the company with his brother:
• " Forecasts (sales, turnover, calendar, etc.)
• " His Brother Vincent is in charge of juveniles, production, selection of fish, workforce organisation.
• " Delegates work to his secretary (orders, payments, invoices). Same thing for Vincent with his team.

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What are you reading or watching to stay abreast on industry/market changes, improvements, challenges, etc.?

National and International industry journals, business magazines, newspaper

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Do you collaborate with other professionals in Europe or internationally?

Collaboration is necessary as a manager must be able to relate to others for this line of work. It is very easy to feel isolated in this type of work. Therefore, even if you are dealing with a small unit it is very important to participate in different organisations/groups on a national and international basis. He is involved in a syndicate in order to learn of new rules and laws that have been passed by the government/region/Commission. He is also involved in a professional organisation, which facilitates communication, sharing of ideas and problem solving between managers, producers and other players in the sector.

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		See also
		Occupational profile of FARM MANAGER
		Other careers