This article deals about the main results of an enquiry which was led by an international team about the relationships between enterprises and space in Nord-West continental Europe from the mid of eighteenth century. Though they are very different by scale, activities and organizational features and in spite of their efficiency during the industrial revolution, the enterprises were more and more outmatched. The research team denies explanations in terms of inadequacy both from management as from labor force. Another explanation may be suggested which lies in the changing framework of the relationships between enterprises and the surrounding world. The enterprises had to face heavy challenges in geo-political fields. They were less and less tied to each other and lost their independence facing the outside world. Thus they became both actors and victims in a vanishing regional pattern of industrialization. This evolution needs to be compared with other cases, in order to contribute to the new interest which spatial analysis is now obtaining in economic history.