EDHEC Alumni of the month: Martial SEKELY (GE 1991), CEO of Lactalis Group

Martial SEKELY (GE 1991), International speciality

Present position
General Manager CIS countries, Lactalis Group, member of the executive committee at Lactalis

Career path:
After leaving EDHEC in 1991, Martial Sekely took off for Moscow where he worked in the Business Department of the French Embassy. After founding two businesses of his own: ORA 30 and Dolcidis, he sold the latter to the Lactalis group (President, Galbani, Parmalat, Lactel….), which he then joined in 1997 as General Manager for Russia (turnover: 20M euros). In 2000, he became Manager of Lactalis Italy (1000 employees with a turnover of 250 M euros). In July 2004, Martial was appointed General Manager, CIS countries for Lactalis. The group boasts ten production sites in 7 countries, with 5200 employees for an overall production of over 150,000 tons of dairy produce and a turnover that has quadrupled in the last 8 years.

Martial Sekely is a globetrotter and speaks several languages. At 43 years old, he is also a member of Lactalis group executive committee.

What was your first job?
I was a volunteer sales rep at the Russian Embassy.

Why did you choose EDHEC?
First, for its ranking in the top 5 Business Schools; afterwards, the professionalism, the warmth and the way I was welcomed during the orals helped me to finally make up my mind.

What do you remember from your EDHEC days?
A balance between the courses and the excellent academic programme and the rewarding social life with its incredible encounters and emotions shared with other students (student projects, student union campaign…). We celebrated our 20th anniversary on the Roubaix campus last October. I flew in from Moscow, while others came from New York, Bosnia and Singapore, proof that our ties and our attachment to EDHEC have remained just as strong despite the years.
EDHEC was a highly enriching academic and personal experience thanks to my classmates and the teachers.

What did you get out of the EDHEC programme and your time at the school?
The EDHEC programme and the International specialisation gave me a very good degree because it was an all-round qualification. Thanks to EDHEC, I was able to go abroad and do a year’s voluntary work at the Embassy in Moscow. After this, I set up my own company: ORA 30.
I had a good grounding in Human Resources, Marketing, Finance, Organisation and Logistics. In other words, my degree and what I learnt at EDHEC enabled me to become an entrepreneur.

What do you do now? How do you see the future?
There’s not a lot of difference between managing 1000 or 5000 people. Going from a team of 50 people to 500 is much more difficult.  On the other hand, I have to keep in mind that the decisions I make today have much more important consequences. The level of personal, financial and moral responsibility is enormous and the human impact is considerable. In effect, my decisions can have an impact on the employees, the movement of people in different areas, career opportunities and, on the contrary, downsizing.
Before being a result and a cash flow for the shareholders, a company is, above all, the People that make it work.

How did your company develop and what are its prospects in the future?
Lactalis is not a very well-known group. This is even more surprising as, with the takeover of Parmalat in 2012, we are now world leader in dairy produce. There has been a huge increase in turnover and the trend is continuing. Turnover has tripled in the last 12 years, and growth prospects remain very good. The group is determined to give its many executives a real chance, and careers can progress much faster than in other groups, whether for young grads or experienced managers.

What are your firm’s key figures?
World leader in dairy produce
€15 billion turnover
53,000 employees

What ties do you have with EDHEC and the EDHEC alumni?
I’m an ambassador for the EDHEC Alumni Russia club in Moscow and I’m also an EDHEC Resource person. I recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of my Class year in Roubaix, and this year, I also visited the campus to present the Lactalis group and its opportunities.

Have you any advice to give today’s EDHEC students?
Stop thinking old Europe and look at the potential offered by the emerging countries: think about Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, especially when you’re starting out. Pack your bags and go where it’s all happening.

What advice would you give to students or alumni hoping to find work in your sector or in your group?
Be open-minded and ambitious, eager to do something and to get on in life. Develop and cultivate an entrepreneurial approach to develop new countries. Lactalis offers the flexibility of an SME with the power of a global leader.