The entrance to a property performs several roles at once. It marks a boundary, protects the home, manages privacy and creates the first architectural impression. For French manufacturer Cetal, this combination has become the foundation of a business built around made-to-measure aluminium gates, fencing, privacy screens and balustrades.

Cetal describes itself as a French industrial manufacturer with the soul of a craftsman. The phrase reflects a company shaped by advanced production, technical control and repeatable quality, but still closely connected to the individuality of each home and project.

Its story begins in 1954, when Jean Girard, a technically gifted and forward-looking entrepreneur, established his first artistic ironwork company. In 1970, he redirected the business towards aluminium joinery under the name Alugirard, recognising early the potential of a material that combined durability, low maintenance and considerable creative freedom.

After selling Alugirard in 1992, Jean Girard proposed a new venture to his son Marc. Together, they founded Cetal in 1993. Marc Girard and his wife Nathalie took over the business in 1998 and gradually developed it into a recognised French reference for aluminium gates, fencing and balustrades.

This family history matters because it explains the balance that still defines the company. Cetal was not created as a volume-driven industrial brand disconnected from the trade. It emerged from decades of practical experience in metalwork and joinery, where technical knowledge, proportion, manufacturing precision and installation quality were inseparable.

Over time, the company invested heavily in people, equipment and production capacity. Its site in Bois-de-Haye, in France’s Grand Est region, now brings together an extensive manufacturing chain, internal powder coating and mechanical assembly. Approximately 120 employees contribute to the design and production of made-to-measure systems, supported by a professional network of around 700 installation partners.

The products are distributed across France and several neighbouring European markets, including Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland. This combination of local manufacturing and professional distribution allows Cetal to maintain industrial consistency while remaining close to the realities of individual projects.

Its business model depends on this relationship. A gate, fence or balustrade is not simply a product leaving a factory. Its long-term performance depends on accurate measurement, suitable specification, correct preparation of the site and professional installation. By working with specialist dealers and installers, Cetal connects manufacturing capability with local expertise and direct customer support.

Every system is made to measure and can be personalised through a broad range of configurations, colours, infill designs and accessories. The portfolio includes swing, sliding, telescopic, folding and self-supporting gates, together with coordinated fencing, privacy screens, windbreaks and balustrades.

This breadth allows access control, boundary design and exterior architecture to be considered as one coherent composition. A gate can respond visually to the fencing. A privacy screen can echo the proportions of the façade. Balustrades and shutters can become part of the same architectural language rather than appearing as unrelated additions.

Aluminium is central to this strategy. Resistant to corrosion and well suited to exterior use, it allows Cetal to move between contemporary minimalism, more decorative forms and fully customised designs. It also supports different levels of transparency, from open and partially screened compositions to fully obscured boundaries designed for privacy and protection.

The expansion of the product portfolio has followed the same logic of coordination. In 2018, Marc and Nathalie Girard acquired Volpro, a specialist in aluminium shutters. The addition allowed the business to offer products capable of harmonising with Cetal’s existing gates, fencing and exterior systems.

Fermetures Girard, the first distributor of the Cetal brand, joined the group in 2021, reinforcing the connection between manufacturing and the professional market. In October 2023, the Alsace-based company Moos was added, bringing expertise in personalised, made-to-measure garage doors.

These successive developments led to the creation of the Cemogi Group in 2024. Bringing together Cetal, Volpro, Fermetures Girard and Moos, the group now covers a broad range of exterior closure products, including gates, fencing, shutters, garage doors and balustrades.

The formation of Cemogi marks more than a change in corporate structure. It reflects a wider shift in the construction-products market, where professionals increasingly seek coordinated solutions from manufacturers capable of combining specialist expertise, dependable production and consistent technical support.

Within the group, Cetal retains its identity as the aluminium specialist for gates, fencing, privacy products and balustrades. At the same time, it benefits from the complementary expertise of companies operating in adjacent product categories. This creates a more complete offer without reducing each brand to a generic range.

Quality and safety remain fundamental. Cetal states that its products comply with relevant European requirements and undergo testing and final quality controls designed to support durability, reliable operation and long-term resistance to weather and everyday use.

Its environmental and energy commitments have also become more structured. The company obtained ISO 50001:2018 certification in June 2022, formalising its approach to energy management, followed by ISO 14001:2015 certification in December 2023 for environmental management.

These certifications indicate that energy performance, waste reduction and environmental impact are addressed through defined management systems. They also reflect the growing responsibility of industrial manufacturers to consider not only how products perform after installation, but how they are designed and produced.

Cetal’s development has therefore been shaped by a rare continuity. The artistic ironwork workshop created by Jean Girard in 1954 evolved into aluminium joinery, then into a specialist manufacturing company and ultimately into a broader industrial group.

Yet the original principles remain visible: technical curiosity, an attachment to manufacturing, respect for skilled work and the belief that exterior products should be both functional and carefully designed.

Cetal’s contribution extends beyond the production of aluminium gates. It represents a French industrial model in which family entrepreneurship, local manufacturing, customisation and professional installation work together to protect and enhance the home.

In an industry where scale can easily lead to uniformity, Cetal demonstrates that industrial development can preserve an artisan mindset. Precision may come from machinery and controlled processes, but distinction still comes from experience, attention to detail and the ability to treat each project as individual.