- Econocom, a pioneering group that supports the digital transformation of companies, has today announced that a new governing structure has been set up.
- Jean-Louis Bouchard and Angel Benguigui have been respectively appointed Operational Chairman and Group CEO. Patrick van den Berg has stepped down as Managing Director.
- The purpose of this new governing structure is to oversee and implement the new ‘One Econocom 2024–28’ strategic plan that was announced in November 2023.
Today, on 24 July 2024, Econocom’s Board of Directors convened under the chairmanship of Jean-Louis Bouchard and unanimously endorsed a separation of the roles of Chairman and CEO and the appointment of Angel Benguigui as Group CEO. Jean-Louis Bouchard, Econocom’s founder, has now become the group’s Operational Chairman. Mr Benguigui will be able to rely on his support and advice, in keeping with the excellent dialogue and climate of trust they have built over their many years working together.
In regard to these decisions, Jean-Louis Bouchard, Econocom’s founding Chairman, said: ‘Angel Benguigui is an inspiring leader with outstanding knowledge of our business lines and recognised expertise in heading the group during a period of swift change and growth. He is perfectly ready for this new role, given his exemplary career path of around 20 years with Econocom and the central role he played in devising the “One Econocom” plan. At a time when the technology and digital transformation market is undergoing major changes, especially in cloud computing and artificial intelligence, Angel will oversee the implementation of our ambitious new strategic plan for 2024–28 and ensure its success. The Board of Directors and I have every faith in Angel and our teams to successfully navigate the next stages of our development, which promise to be exciting. Lastly, I’d like to thank Patrick Van Den Berg, who’s been a key player in Econocom’s development over the past two years.’
Angel Benguigui, the Econocom group’s CEO, said: ‘I’d like to thank the Board of Directors and Jean-Louis Bouchard for the trust they’ve placed in me. I’m honoured and determined to speed up Econocom’s development and make sure the new “One Econocom” strategic plan is implemented successfully, alongside our talented teams. I’m certain that Econocom has huge growth potential because of our group’s unique positioning, which covers our clients’ needs, end to end, for accessing essential digital devices.’
Patrick Van Den Berg is stepping down from his position in the group to pursue new career opportunities. Mr Van Den Berg joined Econocom in May 2022 as Deputy Managing Director for international activities and as Netherlands Country Manager, before becoming Managing Director in 2023.
Angel Benguigui will put together a new Executive Committee, which will soon be announced, to strengthen the areas of expertise and complementarity among the different senior management members.
Econocom’s Board of Directors is convinced that this new organisational structure will guarantee that the ‘One Econocom’ strategic plan is carried out successfully.
Angel Benguigui
Angel Benguigui is an Economics and Business Management graduate from the University of Madrid. He began his career in the Crédit Lyonnais group. For 18 years, he worked there successfully in corporate banking and specialist financing in Europe, before being appointed Managing Director for Spain. When Crédit Agricole acquired Crédit Lyonnais in 2003, he joined Calyon (which became Crédit Agricole CIB) as Deputy Managing Director for Spain and Portugal. He then joined Econocom in 2006 as Country Manager for Spain with the aim of developing distribution, financing and digital services at Econocom, mainly through a policy of targeted acquisitions. He achieved this with tremendous success. After serving on the group’s international committee, then its Executive Committee, for several years, he became Chief Financial Officer in 2019, then was appointed Managing Director in 2020 in charge of day-to-day management. In 2023, he joined the Board of Directors as an Executive Director, in charge of devising and implementing the ‘One Econocom’ strategic plan.