50 years have passed since Freddy Michaud opened his first office. A lot has changed since 1966, but our commitment to offering high quality secretarial services, administration of co-ownership properties and companies, real estate brokerage and holiday accommodation rentals is still as firm as ever.
Several moves later, in 1988, Agence Freddy Michaud opened its office in the Alpina complex, where it can still be found today.
First there was an office in Rue de la Poste and later, in 1972, in the Hôtel Verbier on the central square, where the current tourist office stands. At the time, Verbier was mainly a tourist resort for skiing, mountaineering and walking.
In 1972, Freddy Michaud turned his small business into a limited company, which became Freddy MICHAUD SA. The company ran an estate agency (purchase, sale, rental and administration of buildings and apartments), a travel agency, bureau de change, trust company and insurance provider. Its customers were Swiss, German, Belgian and later, French. Non-European tourists represented just 1% of overnight stays. By 1976, the business also offered a banking service. In 1979, the agency also had offices on the first floor of the Hôtel Verbier. The business was growing quickly. Between the travel agency, banking services, the estate agency and occasionally developing buildings and the trust company, the office employed 17 to 20 full-time staff. The number of properties available for holiday lets was significant.
In 1988, the bank we represented opened its own branch and we outsourced the travel agency business. Two companies were formed: “Bureau commercial Freddy Michaud SA Administration”, which took over the building and company administration business, and “Fiduciaire Alpina SA”, whose founding members were senior employees in the original company, which took over the trust-related activities.
1996 brought its own difficulties and a very difficult economic environment for several years. Overnight stays were down and Verbier’s partners had to join forces and offer guests impeccable quality.
Over the last 50 years, Freddy Michaud has had to adapt to changing circumstances. In 2000, the shares in the company were passed on to Freddy Michaud’s children, who now run the business. Over time, the agency has adjusted to its clients’ needs and organised itself accordingly, forming the company J.S.T. Michaud & Cie to handle the property rental business.
What hasn’t changed: Freddy Michaud SA Immobilier et Administration and J.S.T. Michaud & Cie are still family businesses. We have kept to the same philosophy as in 1966, while evolving and adjusting to the spirit of 2016 with modern methods and a resolute focus on the future.
Now, in 2016, Verbier is a world-renowned resort. It offers its guests not only a range of accommodation options to suit all budgets, a renowned classical music festival, numerous sporting events (Grand Raid – X’treme-, etc.) thanks to Téléverbier SA, the latest in high-tech ski lifts and ski runs for all kinds of ski enthusiasts, but also a sports centre that is currently being entirely refurbished and streets that have recently been or are about to be renovated by the municipality of Bagnes.
