The French group Wichard is based in Thiers and is a leading player on the industrial stage with an international reputation as a manufacturer of marine hardware. It is involved in a variety of highly specialized sectors, ranging from the aeronautics, automotive and marine industries to the manufacture of specialist medical and mountaineering equipment.

The Wichard group utilizes its expertise and experience to offer a range of high-quality and extremely reliable products. Created in 1919 by Henri Wichard in one of France's centers of metalworking, the company began life specializing in drop forging. Wichard brought out its stainless steel marine fittings in 1973, drawing on the expertise of its dedicated team of world-class sailors in the development of the range.

At the same time, the company developed its titanium forging process for use in the manufacture of medical equipment. Wichard grew to become a world leader in these industries and has diversified into all areas requiring precision forged parts. The company opened its US subsidiary in 1992 and continued to specialize, buying leading companies with links to the forging industry.

In 2002 a shareholder buy-out led to the creation of the Wichard Group and the purchasing of Profurl, a company specializing in the manufacture of sailing furling systems. Wichard followed this by opening a specialist marine engineering office in St Nazaire and a subsidiary company in Australia; it then bought a cutlery manufacturer and finally acquired Simond in 2003. Since that time Wichard has been structuring and organizing its expertise to create ever safer and more technically advanced products.

The group's diverse range of products brings you the very best of this synergy.