Michèle Benbunan, General Manager of the Services and Operations Division of Hachette Livre France, having decided to leave the company to join Presstalis as Chief Executive Officer, Hachette Livre has announced the following appointments:
Philippe Lamotte, currently Deputy General Manager of the Services and Operations Division, is appointed General Manager of the division. The division will heretofore include physical and digital distribution, relations with group and third-party publishers, print on demand, real estate, manufacturing and housekeeping. Philippe will succeed Michèle as a member of the French Executive Board and of the international Chief Operating Officers Board. His appointment will be effective November 1st.
Gaëtan Ruffault, presently Deputy General Manager of the Services and Operations Division for Human resources, is promoted to Deputy General manager for Logistics and Human resources of the division. His appointment will be effective November 1st.
The French sales department, LDS, the French language distribution subsidiaries (Belgium, Switzerland and Canada) and Hachette Livre International will make up a separate entity, the Commercial Business Development Division, that will be headed by an executive whose name will be revealed in November. He/she will join Hachette Livre on December 1st and join France’s Executive Board concurrently in lieu of Francis Lang, Sales Director for Hachette Livre France, who has decided to retire in March of 2018.
Arnaud Nourry commented those appointments in the following terms: “After 28 years with Hachette Livre, during which she has improved and modernized in depth Hachette’s distribution outfit, Michèle was looking forward to a new challenge. Presstalis offers one that matches her talent, and I wish her the best of luck and success in her new endeavor. I thank her for her substantial contribution to Hachette Livre’s welfare and for the high quality of the management team she appointed and promoted over the years. It gives me great pleasure to promote two members of that team as a result of her departure.”