Former champion of France and bronze medal at the world championships, David Inquel is particularly proud of his career. He founded in 2017 with judoka David Douillet , Romaric Gaudemer, silver medalist at the French judo championships, and Miriam Annoni, real estate specialist, the Harvey Family, a real estate developer who designs solidarity colivings for young workers and premium residences. “Our professional backgrounds are quite rich. We have achieved what we wanted to do. Our objective is therefore to help in our turn and to refer to the associative world, which has supported us throughout our careers as sportsmen, all that it has given us ”, concedes David Inquel, 49 years old.
Concrete financial commitments
To achieve this, the Bordeaux company created in July 2019 an endowment fund, Harvey Solidarity, which brings together 1% of all financial transactions relating to each real estate program. Among the causes supported, support for young athletes through simplified access to housing or by offering them a series of improvements (lower rent, elimination of solvency criteria, etc.) and athletes at the end of their careers to finance the programs professional retraining (financial support, definition of a career plan, training). “We all struggled and encountered difficulties in finding accommodation when we were scholarship holders at the National Institute of Sport (Insep),” recalls David Inquel, also vice-president of the French Judo Federation.
The sums granted to the endowment fund amount to 40,000 euros in the first half of 2021. Harvey Family displaying a large portfolio of projects, the objective for the partners is to end the year at 200,000 euros. “Payments are made upon delivery of each building. If a real estate program costs 10 million euros, we collect 45,000 euros, and write a check for 55,000 to reach the target 1% ”, comments David Inquel, co-founder of the company. 20 employees which targets 20 million euros in turnover in 2021 and 50 million in 2022.
Flexibility of creation and use
The endowment fund has three major interests for Harvey Family. Its great legal capacity on the one hand. “The fund can freely receive donations and donations from the private sector. It allows us to solicit the construction companies with whom we carry out our programs real estate, ”explains David Inquel.
To encourage these actors to participate in the financing of the endowment fund, the partners inserted a general clause in the construction operation calls for tenders asking each company to make a commitment. The other major interest for the founders being to structure their approach and to include in their DNA this mission of general interest and the values carried by the company. “All our rules are thus included in our development model and are part of a long-term logic “, Estimates the Breton business manager based in Bordeaux.
Governance and audit
Third advantage of the endowment fund: its ease of use. “It is a simple tool to create, a simple declaration to the prefecture sufficient, and particularly flexible in its operation”, adds David Inquel. In terms of governance, an endowment fund is a very manageable structure. The partners have carte blanche to organize themselves, decide on administrative rules, such as the frequency of meetings or the methods of convening. The only constraint is that it is necessary at least three members for the board of directors. The endowment fund is also supervised by the systematic intervention of an auditor, a guarantee of transparency for donors, but also of a accountant, who does not depend on the company Harvey Family. “The endowment fund being completely isolated, every penny that goes into the fund that serves the associations and sports is tracked”, explains the entrepreneur.
Next step, Harvey Family wants to constitute by the end of the year a company with mission, allowing it to integrate in its statutes a purpose of collective interest. “It is a way of strengthening our commitment, of participating in a better environment for all, of taking social and environmental issues into account in our economic strategy,” concludes David Inquel.
