Dear employees and agents,
For this new year, I would like to wish you and your family and friends the very best. Please accept my warm wishes, which I hope will inspire you.
The year 2024 is dawning like a new page in our group’s story – a page full of promise and opportunities. And I am proud and grateful to stand before you as the Chairman of this outstanding group.
Our ability to stay united, to work as a single unit, to overcome boundaries and to celebrate our diversity through what we have called ‘One Econocom’ is a vital feature of our force.
‘One Econocom’ is the name of our new strategic plan, which we initiated to rekindle the strong organic growth that we have enjoyed in the past and to adjust to our clients’ needs, which are constantly changing in the face of globalisation today.
This past year has been a year of both stability and construction thanks to efforts from each one of you:
- despite a sluggish market in IT distribution, the financial year 2023 is ending with growth that our TMF and Services business lines have brought us;
- at the same time, we have developed a strategic plan to meet demand from our clients better;
- and lastly, we have been rewarded for our sustainability impact with a gold medal from EcoVadis (an independent firm in extra-financial assessment) and for our commitment to diversity with a place in the Financial Times Diversity Leaders ranking of European firms.
Today, I would like to express my gratitude for your day-to-day commitment and hard work.
Together, we have overcome challenges and made significant progress. We have strengthened our group’s foundations with solid results, business activities repositioned in growth markets, a new unified governing structure, and a fresh strategic plan to speed up our growth.
At the dawn of 2024, I am convinced that our unity is the catalyst for continuous growth.
I also hope that this new year will mark the gradual return of festive events. These moments of cohesion and shared joy are the group’s DNA. The Covid period helped boost remote working and hot desking, but it also created a sense of isolation and it weakened social bonds detrimentally. I am now pledging to reforge these ties in 2024.
Growth is not just about pursuing financial success. It is also a sign of fruitful teamwork, constant innovation and an ability to adapt to change.
That is what our new strategic plan embodies by putting an emphasis on:
- The huge strengthening of our sales force – the vehicle for our organic growth – with the launch of the ‘Mission Impossible’ programme, the aim of which is to recruit 100 agents in 1,000 days.
- The creation of ‘Business Development and Support’, headed by Israel Garcia, the purpose of which is to structure our international deals and align our offers. Initial examples that illustrate this initiative, such as the Mercedes and Daikin deals, demonstrate the added value that we can bring our clients through the combination of our activities or our geographical sites.
- The targeted external growth that will reinforce and extend our areas of expertise, especially in the infrastructure and audiovisual fields.
- The clear aim that we have to improve our societal and environmental impact.
- The revamp of all our tools, overseen by Quentin Bouchard.
Together, let us write this new page in our group’s story and let us keep in mind the power of teamwork and cohesion.
May each stage that we go through reinforce our unity, contribute to our collective prosperity and help us enjoy an exciting adventure, both as individuals and as a group.
I would like this new year to be full of remarkable accomplishments, challenges overcome and moments shared.
Please allow me to wish you all a superb year full of success in 2024.
Jean-Louis BouchardÂ