Auchan Retail has appointed Guillaume Darrasse as its new managing director, succeeding Yves Claude, who will continue as chairperson of the company.
The appointment was approved by Auchan's new board, comprising Thibaut Bayart, Bertrand Boré, Fabien Derville, Antoine Grolin, Clara Lorinquer and Serge Papin, the company noted.
'A Classic Organisation'
Commenting on the appointment, Claude, stated, "By reappointing a CEO and chairperson at the head of Auchan Retail, we are returning to a classic organisation at AFM (Association Familiale Mulliez).
"This will allow us to ensure the deployment of Vision 2032 set by the brand and accelerate the implementation of its strategic priorities in the coming months."
Darrasse will continue to serve as the chairperson of Auchan Retail France – a role he took up earlier this year.
He will continue the project on accelerating the implementation of the company's strategy, focusing on six priority areas.
The priority areas defined by the company include strengthening strategic markets, with particular focus on consolidation in France, Spain and Portugal; price repositioning; adapting the hypermarket model; product offering optimisation; franchise development; and improving operational efficiency.
Guillaume Darrasse
Darrasse graduated from the Institut National Agronomique, and has previously worked with the Pomona group, where he held various positions in production, purchasing and sales of fruit and vegetables.
He then moved to the E.Leclerc group as head of food imports, before setting up and managing the Lucie central purchasing centre – common to both E.Leclerc and Système U.
He served as the deputy managing director of Système U Group before taking up the role of chief executive of InVivo Retail. Before joining Auchan Retail, he served as deputy managing director of Teract.
