Recruited as managing director, Pierre-Gaël Chantereau, 45, arrives with “the mission of driving and accelerating digital transformation and innovation” in France, Belgium and Luxembourg, Kone said in a statement on Tuesday 24 February. In the three countries, the Finnish group (lifts, but also escalators and automatic doors) employs more than 3,400 people.

Prior to this appointment, the man who, as a young man, had dreamed of a life as an architect or diplomat (“Le Figaro” has just devoted a portrait to him) spent 17 years at Nokia, as CEO of the French structure in particular. Between 2004 and 2009, this former HEC graduate with a master’s degree in finance also worked at Monitor Deloitte. In his new role, Pierre-Gaël Chantereau will be based in the Paris region.

Since the summer of 2023, Kone’s France-Belux general management had been under the responsibility of Jérôme Audais. On 4 February, the latter became senior vice-president of Kone Door Business (KDB), the firm’s global “automated entry systems” branch.

Kone operates in more than 70 countries and has 64,000 employees. Its worldwide sales exceed 11 billion euros.