Founded and run by brothers Dominique and Vincent Lyonnet, who serve as CEO and head of development and communications respectively, Steel Shed is an international digital platform based in Luxembourg.

The concept is based on the combined expertise of professionals with hands-on experience and technicians specialising in steel structure calculations, alongside a leading investor, NextStage, which acquired a stake in the company in 2017.

The company has grown in stages: the launch of the batimentsmoinschers.com website in 2009, expansion in 2014, entry into the English-speaking market in 2015, and then the launch of the tolesmoinscheres.com website in 2017. Today, Steel Shed generates more than 52 million euros in turnover and serves customers in over 60 countries.

In your view, what is the main lesson you have learnt from your experience of succession planning and engaging the next generation within your company?

Vincent Lyonnet. – “To engage the next generation, it is essential to strike a coherent balance between staff wellbeing and performance. The two are inseparable if we are to create the conditions for sustainable growth.

With regard to succession planning, the priority at present is to gradually delegate responsibilities, supported by the establishment of a board and an executive committee. The aim is to involve all managers – each responsible for their own division – in a more collective and empowering approach to governance.

How do you manage to balance the family’s expectations with the company’s economic and strategic requirements?

“I balance the family’s expectations with economic imperatives, guided by a simple principle: we seek growth not for its own sake, but because steady, sustainable growth creates a virtuous circle. It strengthens financial stability, protects the family’s interests and secures the future.

This means that everyone must take full responsibility within their remit, and that every decision must meet two requirements: to contribute to economic performance whilst safeguarding the family’s stability and long-term sustainability. It is not a question of pitting the two against each other, but of aligning them within a long-term vision.

Which decisions or developments relating to governance or the professionalisation of management have had the most far-reaching impact on your company?

“When it came to governance, we began by setting out our three-year vision. The reality was clear: on our own, as family members, we would not be able to meet such high standards. It was therefore essential to establish a clear governance structure, bring in talented individuals capable of leading the teams on an operational level, and implement the strategies needed to realise this ambition.

The first step in this transformation was our participation in the Scale Me Up training programme with Jean-Marc Fandel, alongside the members of Paperjam. This was a defining moment, marking the structured start of our evolution.

How does your company manage the tension between honouring its heritage and the need to innovate or transform itself in order to remain competitive?

“To manage the tension between respecting our heritage and the need to innovate, we start from a simple philosophy: knowing where we come from helps us to discern where we want to go. Our heritage provides a foundation, but it must never become a hindrance.

This requires constant monitoring: market developments, shifts in attitudes, geopolitical issues, economic news and the integration of new tools. It is essential that we remain fully aware that we must continue to evolve. Remaining stuck in an outdated and unchanging methodology would be the surest way to fall behind.

What were the most decisive choices made in terms of financing growth?

“The most crucial decisions were not purely financial. Above all, they were strategic: identifying the person or organisation truly capable of supporting us on our growth trajectory. It was with this in mind that we brought in a minority shareholder, NextStage. Their contribution was not limited to capital; above all, it strengthened our organisational structure, our standards and the quality of our strategic advice.

What tax or legal issues have proved to be the most critical for your family business?

“We have structured our approach by surrounding ourselves with partners capable of providing us with high-calibre support. The aim was to obtain sound advice, particularly on legal and tax matters, in order to ensure our decisions were sound and to pursue our ambition with a long-term perspective.

Which strategies have been most effective in developing your range of products or services whilst remaining true to the company’s DNA?

“We carried out an in-depth analysis of our client portfolio and the true potential of our products. This study revealed that the segment of key accounts, although already present in our client base, was only partially addressed. This was not due to a lack of suitable products, but rather a lack of a dedicated strategic focus.

Data analysis has enabled us to objectively confirm this finding and to make clear strategic decisions, focusing our efforts more closely on this high-potential segment.

At what point did you feel it was necessary to accelerate the company’s growth?

“I realised we needed to accelerate our growth when I saw that we were able to operate in around twenty countries and generate just over 10 million euros in turnover with a team of around thirty people. This model was working, but it was reaching its limits.

To serve the market effectively and maintain high standards of quality in both our products and services, we needed to scale up our operations. This did not simply mean working harder, but working differently: structuring the organisation, strengthening our teams and adapting our processes to serve a much larger number of customers without compromising on standards.

What were the main drivers — and the main challenges — of your internationalisation strategy?

“The main drivers behind our internationalisation strategy stem first and foremost from the very nature of our product. Steel hangars are standardised, universal structures that can be used in many countries. However, the Luxembourg market is structurally limited for this type of product. We realised very early on that Luxembourg would be too small to support our growth.

Furthermore, our location at the heart of Europe, combined with our technical engineering expertise and know-how in steel processing, enabled us to serve customers in several countries through intra-Community sales, with a competitive advantage linked in particular to tax-exclusive invoicing terms. As our products are also easy to sell online, Luxembourg quickly became an attractive base from which to develop a digital and international strategy.

There were numerous challenges. Firstly, we had to deal with significant logistical issues, particularly when it came to delivering to France and its overseas territories, with the constraints of container transport and differing climatic conditions. Secondly, by operating outside the legal framework of the European Union to sell in Africa, we were confronted with a variety of standards, different payment terms, as well as business cultures and project timelines that were sometimes very different from European standards.

Ultimately, this phase was, above all, a continuous learning process. As the saying often attributed to Mark Twain goes: ‘They didn’t know it was impossible, so they did it.’ As we took on more projects, we gained the experience needed to overcome increasingly complex obstacles and gradually build up our capacity to operate internationally.

How can a family business attract and retain key talent in an increasingly competitive environment?

“Can a company like ours attract and retain talent in an increasingly competitive environment? Well, quite simply, we’ve had issues with that; we’ve made some poor choices; we were looking for people who delivered results but who didn’t share our values.

So, in practical terms, we laid the foundations by asking: what are our values? We affirm our values. That forms one foundation. Another foundation is: what is our ambition? To achieve our ambition, how do we go about recruiting staff who are capable of helping us realise that ambition?

So, a more rigorous selection process in terms of human resources; strengthening our HR capabilities significantly; working with high-calibre individuals to enable us to recruit, develop a project, provide a sense of purpose to staff to improve retention, pay them in line with market standards, and introduce flexibility in the workplace. Taken together, all these elements enable us to stand out and establish a position that now allows us to start limiting and managing our staff turnover.

How has increased international competition in your domestic market changed your positioning, organisation or strategy?

“At the moment, the intensification of international competition is being felt mainly abroad rather than in our domestic market. We are up against very large players such as Eiffage and Vinci. But, paradoxically, this situation also creates market opportunities.

Between small local businesses, whose reach is often limited to an area of around 100 km, and these very large groups that target large-scale projects, there is a significant segment of clients who do not identify with either of these offerings. It is precisely this gap in the market that we are addressing.

In this context, competition is forcing us to strengthen our market position. Beyond value for money, we are now placing the emphasis on reassuring our customers, which is essential in a distance-selling model. Our technical expertise and our ability to support projects located hundreds or thousands of kilometres away are key differentiators.

Having been in business for 25 years now, we also have a solid track record and credibility that have become real selling points. This drives us to remain highly focused on strategy, competitive intelligence and innovation. In fact, competition has above all been a driving force behind our efforts to become more structured and to assert our position as a mid-market player: more structured than a local player, yet more agile and closer to the customer than large international groups, with a clear promise guiding our actions: ‘building your future’, for both our customers and our teams.”

This article was written for the June 2026 issue of Paperjam magazine, published on 20 May. The content is produced exclusively for the magazine. It is published on the website to contribute to Paperjam’s comprehensive archive. Click on this link to subscribe to the magazine.

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