Socomec "get Carter"

French electrical equipment manufacturer, Socomec, has appointed Michael Carter, a 44 year-old British engineer, as Chief Executive.

French electrical equipment manufacturer, Socomec, has appointed Michael Carter, a 44 year-old British engineer, as Chief Executive.

The Socomec Group has a 2001 consolidated turnover of GBP 192 million, with 1700 employees in 15 countries (and another 500 employees in an Indian joint-venture).

It specialises in the manufacturing of UPS equipment and on-load industrial switching and protection systems.

What is most remarkable about this appointment is not only that a Briton should be selected to manage a French firm, but that the firm is a totally private family owned company that has been exclusively run for the last 80 years by the descendants of the founder.

Bernard Steyert, the retiring Chief Executive, who will stay on for a short period as non-executive Chairman, is the grandson of the founder.

He took the enlightened decision of recruiting Michael Carter 10 years ago as Managing Director of the UPS division.

Steyert and fellow shareholders were very satisfied with the transition of the division, under Michael Carter's leadership, into a true international top player within the UPS industry.

This was helped by the merger with their Italian partner Sicon in 1998, to create Socomec Sicon UPS.

Carter engineered the marriage of Socomec's expertise in large power UPS with Sicon's leadership in small power UPS, and this has paid dividends.

Sales have now grown strongly in all countries (+45% over the last two years), since the group is one of the very few suppliers in the market to have a complete UPS range.

Steyert says: "Socomec has now become a true multinational, and Michael's success in the company has undoubtedly been helped by his speaking the Queen's English, whereas the rest of the French and Italian managers speak a lesser version of Shakespeare's tongue".

Michael Carter responds that having married a French lady, he is unfortunately now "completely lost to her majesty", although "family life does keep me fluent in the language of Moliere".

When ribbed by friends this side of the Channel about whether he has sold his English soul by managing a French-Italian company, he jokes that, on the contrary, it is a perfect way for an Englishman to get his revenge on the only two successful invasions of his native soil: the Romans under Julius Caesar and the Norman's under William the Conqueror (he adds that the British have long memories.).

Michael Carter graduated in Engineering from Cambridge University in 1980.

He then worked 8 years in the petroleum industry, mainly designing and installing offshore oil platforms.

As the oil business slowed down in the late 80's, he "recycled" himself in business and management by doing an MBA at the Insead business school, and then spent three years as a management consultant with the Paris office of McKinsey and Company ("an excellent finishing school for an MBA, and you learn more about strategy then in a lifetime of business management").

But, as in his own words: "I didn't want to die an old consultant", he was soon itching to get back to operational management, and was delighted to move to Strasbourg to join Bernard Steyert at Socomec.

What Carter appreciates most about Socomec is its fully independent shareholding - which allows consistency and a true long term strategy.

Out of the 33 shareholders, 13 work in the company, and the remaining 20 are close family relations (most are descendants of the founder, some like Carter are senior managers).

This allows a privileged link between the company and its shareholders.

One of the consequences of this link is the very high R and D spending (up to 10% of sales) - the shareholders are prepared to recycle operational profits into product and service innovation, thus ensuring the long term value of their assets, at the same time allowing the company to differentiate from its competitors and thus grow fast - sales have more than doubled over the last five years.

This has allowed the group to build leadership positions in both of its businesses.

The Switchgear division shares a joint first place in Europe with ABB for industrial load break switches and fuse switches, and its digitally operated energy measurement, control and protection devices have propelled it to a leadership position in this market too.

The UPS division now shares first place with MGE in Europe for large power UPS, and overall for all products it is in third place, closely behind MGE and Chloride.

Socomec Sicon has maintained first place for static transfer switches ("zero break" transfer between two UPS sources - the ultimate in high availability for critical computer loads) - a concept Socomec invented in 1989, but which turned into a whole new market by the end of the 90s.

The company has switchgear manufacturing facilities in France and India; and UPS manufacturing in France and Italy.

It has sales and service subsidiaries throughout Europe, and in key Asian countries, backed up by over 100 country distributors in all continents.

Socomec's headquarters is in the Alsace border region, on the Rhine in Eastern France, where, as Carter says "you get German quality at French prices" (the factory staff converse in the Alsatian Germanic dialect); to this you add Italian creativity, and pragmatic British management, and you get a successful company.

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