Mr. Karim Henein and a group of investors acquired all the assets of the Swiss company BÉARD S.A.
And moved its head office to Schwyz and since then, they have started their global expansion strategy.
Metalart has finalized the acquisition of Béard production line
Which was dismantled and moved to the company’s new site in the Tenth of Ramadan City.
The owners of Béard sold the factory to their Italian competitor
SAMBONET (Italy) owned by the Coppo brothers, who in turn sold their manufacturing facility to Metalart and participated in the share capital of the Egyptian company (Metalart)
After the death of “Mr. Noel Béard”
His two sons “Jean-Noel & Michel” took over the business in Clarens/Montreux, concurrently Metalart had further evolved into one of the leaders in the hotel hollowware industry in Egypt. In view of its continuous success and growth; in 1993, Metalart was transformed into a shareholding company, while in 1997; the plant was relocated in the Tenth of Ramadan City to accommodate the related expansion in its production capacity to meet the growing demand.
Golbalisation trends encouraged Metalart to participate in several acquisitions and merges with competing entities, thereby consolidating its position in the global market place.
Béard became the trademark
In the late fifties Béard adopted an aggressive export strategy, at which time their exclusive agency for Egypt was awarded to Mr. Maher Henein.
Their fruitful relationship saw the birth of a small workshop in Cairo for the assembly and maintenance of Béard products.
The actual factory in (Clarens) Montreux
Was inaugurated and the second new building was operational in 1974. Meanwhile this Swiss company expanded its sales conquering markets in Switzerland and overseas. Béard’s silverware became one of the leading brands competing with CHRISTOFLE, WMF and SAMBONET, with great success.
“Henri” decided to let his son “Noel Béard II” take over.
“Noel Béard II” (1901-1986) expanded the business in a remarkable way, and in 1944 transformed the rapidly growing family business into a share-holding public company under the name Béard S.A. very quickly, “Noel Béard II” became one of the most prominent persons in Montreux and became active in its political life. He eventually became the community consultant and “Abby President” of Montreux (in 1968).
His son “Henri” (1877-1954)
His son “Henri” (1877-1954) expanded his business by introducing silverware to the product range. He then started his own workshop in Montreux and produced hollowware items specially designed for the hotel industry: heavy duty, resistant to mishandling and easily cleaned and stored. The boom in the hotel business helped the company to grow rapidly, while introducing new machine and new techniques in the expanding workshop.