VIDEO. The last chance of the bosses in distress

Bankruptcies, liquidation, recovery … In 2024, business failures increased by 17%, and projections for 2025 provide more than 65,000 procedures. Behind these figures, human dramas, stories of commitment, passion and exhaustion.

Each week, behind closed doors in the courtrooms of the commercial courts is played out the future of craftsmen, traders, SMEs cornered by the post-Cavid economic crisis, the outbreak of raw materials or the brutal increase in interest rates.

“Special Envoy” obtained an exceptional authorization to film the hearings of the Le Mans economic activity court. What happens when a company changes in the spiral of unpaid people?

By filming entrepreneurs in turmoil, but also the judges who manage their difficulties sometimes until the auction of companies, this documentary lifts the veil on a little known justice and which does not always mean the end of a business. In some cases, small bosses and auxiliaries of justice manage to save a business thanks to a safeguard procedure, and support. A dive into the reality of entrepreneurship.

A report by Laure Delalex, Mickael Collas, Matéo Masnada, Florent Bardos, Bruno Maruani and Laurent Dy / 10.7 Production, broadcast in “Special Envoy” on June 19, 2025.

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