François Fauroux takes the lead of Z Nautic
Since the departure of Dominique Héber-Suffrin in November 2019, the management position of the Z Nautic Group had been vacant for several weeks. The daily management was ensured by its majority shareholder Pierre Bastide, who was also at the head of the Couach shipyard. The group, which brings together the Zodiac, Bombard and Avon brands of semi-rigid vehicles, has a new chairman, François Fauroux, since January 13, 2020. Arriving discreetly, he did not wish to speak directly before the brand's press meeting scheduled for the end of March 2020, the time to take up all the issues.
A specialist in outdoor sports and leisure activities
A graduate of the HEC business school, François Fauroux has worked in management positions in various international companies in the sports field. After starting at Decathlon, he worked for Amer Sports, Lafuma and Salomon. For 2 years he was CEO of the company Aqua Lung, based in the south of France, which markets all the equipment necessary for diving, from regulators to fins and clothing.
A challenge for Zodiac
While he will outline the outlines of his action in the coming months, the new president of Z-Nautic will have to speed up the recovery of the company bought by its current shareholder at the bar of the court. As indicated Pierre Bastide in our columns in December 2019: "Its mandate will be to continue the recovery with the aim of being profitable next year (Editor's note: 2020)".
There is no doubt that François Fauroux's international profile and his knowledge of markets such as diving, which is a big consumer of semi-rigids, were an asset in his recruitment.
