Essilor International has named Laurent Vacherot as its president and chief operating officer.
Vacherot has been co-COO since 2010.
In his new role, Vacherot will take direct responsibility for Essilor’s operations with all operational executives reporting directly to him. Finance, human resources, corporate mission, communications and strategy will report to the chairman and CEO.
The company explained in a news release that at its Dec. 6 board of directors’ meeting, Hubert Sagnières, chairman and CEO of Essilor, proposed appointing Vacherot to the role to strengthen executive management. The board unanimously approved the proposal.
The board also proposed to appoint Vacherot as director, subject to the approval of shareholders at Essilor’s next shareholders’ meeting, to be held May 11.
The company noted in the release that over the past several years, its core businesses have grown while new activities such as sunwear and online have developed rapidly.
“In parallel, the Company’s geographic expansion has opened up extensive new markets in Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and Africa,” according to the release.
As a result, Essilor “decided to realign its organization to meet the growing operational needs resulting from this expansion and respond to the related strategic and managerial challenges.”
On Essilor’s website, Jean Carrier-Guillomet and Paul du Saillant are also listed as co-COOs.