In appointing Christel Heydemann, Schneider Electrical’s present Govt Vice President Europe Operations, the Board has chosen a candidate who’s acknowledged for her expertise within the telecoms sector and in managing enterprise transformations.
To safeguard the continuity of the Group’s operations and to make sure the smoothest potential transition, the Board has requested Stéphane Richard to proceed as Chairman & CEO till Christel Heydemann takes up her position.
Given the Board’s resolution to separate the roles of Chairman and CEO, on the brand new Chief Govt’s arrival Stéphane Richard will proceed within the position of Non-executive Chairman till a brand new Chairman is in put up and on the newest till 19 Might 2022, the date of Orange’s Annual Common Assembly.
The Board needs to underline Stéphane Richard’s dedication to preserving the Group’s robust governance thereby guaranteeing a smoothest potential transition to his successors. The Board additionally needs to thank him for his dedication on the head of Orange over the previous twelve years the place he has restored worker confidence after the social disaster and launched into a wide-ranging transformation of the Group, positioning it as a number one multi-service operator in Europe and Africa.
Lastly, the Board of Administrators expresses its because of the Group’s Governance and Company Social and Environmental Accountability committee, which oversaw the choice course of, together with the lead unbiased Director, for conducting a rigorous course of. This was initiated final summer season with the specialist govt search consultancy Spencer Stuart and in collaboration with the Group’s largest shareholder. Their work has facilitated a high-quality and critical course of in a typically complicated context.
Stéphane Richard commented: “I’m delighted to welcome Christel Heydemann and need her full success as CEO of Orange. Working alongside the Group’s workers, I’m satisfied that her private {and professional} qualities will allow her to fulfill the challenges the long run holds for the Group. Christel’s involvement as a Board member and her lengthy expertise at Alcatel after which Schneider Electrical means she has a wonderful understanding of the challenges and alternatives of the digital future and the essential position this can play within the many years forward. I’m sure that her imaginative and prescient, her pragmatism and her capacity to convey out one of the best in each scenario shall be of huge worth to Orange. Lastly, I’d additionally prefer to thank Anne-Gabrielle Heilbronner and Bernard Ramanantsoa for his or her exemplary and rigorous work all through the choice course of in one of the best pursuits of the Group.”
Commenting on her appointment, Christel Heydemann stated: “I wish to thank the Board members for his or her confidence. As a member of the Board for practically 5 years, I’ve gained a stable understanding of the technological challenges and alternatives that lie earlier than us. I do know that these are vital, however it’s equally an enormous honour to have the ability to contribute to the event of one of many main gamers in our trade and Orange may have my complete dedication as we set about this job. I additionally know I can rely, as my predecessor has been in a position to, on the dedication of all the corporate’s groups to see Orange by way of to success.
I’d additionally prefer to take the chance to thank my colleagues at Schneider Electrical. These previous seven years constructing a extra sturdy world by way of technological innovation have been really thrilling and have additional satisfied me of the central position that digital will play within the transformation of our society.”
Christel Heydemann is presently Govt Vice President Europe Operations and a member of the Govt Committee of Schneider Electrical. A graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, she started her profession in 1997 at Boston Consulting Group. In 1999, she joined Alcatel the place she was entrusted with a spread of roles and obligations, particularly within the context of the merger of Alcatel and Lucent. In 2011, she was appointed to Alcatel-Lucent’s Govt Committee as Director of Human Assets and Transformation. In 2014, she joined Schneider Electrical because the Director of Strategic Alliances and in April 2017 she was appointed as Govt Vice President of Schneider Electrical France and subsequently Govt Vice President Europe Operations in Might 2021.
