Laurent HERLIN

Laurent HERLIN
Transition Manager

General Manager

With 28 years of experience in the food, FMCG and manufacturing industries, Laurent has successfully turned around, transformed and accelerated small and medium-sized businesses, particularly in LBO contexts. Faced with slowed activity, dispersed teams or profitability under pressure, as interim CEO for the past 18 months, he has delivered rapid, robust and lasting results by focusing energies on commercial efficiency, structuring, prioritization and industrial performance. He inspires and mobilises our teams around a clear, achievable ambition that translates into concrete, day-to-day objectives.

The profile of our transition manager

Expertise

  • General management of small & medium sized companies.
  • Operational leadership and team mobilisation
  • Profitable and robust growth via sales development and industrial efficiency.

Areas

  • Food industry, wine & spirits
  • Consumer goods
  • Plant protection products

Missions Stakes

  • Turning around, relaunching and making profitable businesses failing to grow fast enough.
  • Structuring and prioritising in pre/post-acquisition contexts or in fast-growing businesses.
  • Carve Out / Carve In
  • LBOS (20 years of experience)

Managerial skills

  • Federative leadership to inspire and mobilise teams (up to 450 people)
  • Hands-on management, engaging directly with teams in the field
  • Ability to make clear, rapid and effective decisions, taking account of the company's constraints
  • Implementation of a framework that encourages empowerment, initiative-taking and continuous improvement

Examples of Missions Achieved

  • Transformation of two regional, family-run small sized companies into a medium-sized company which, in 3 years, went from 4th to 2nd place in its market.
  • Carve out of a business of a major group present in 20 countries, integration into an SME after the acquisition.
  • Rationalisation and prioritisation of product ranges following several build-ups and industrial internalisation of subcontracted products.
Icone parcours

Experience (before CAHRA)

  • Arpitan (Salaisons Henri Raffin & Maison Milhau) : CEO
  • Nutrisens : Director of Business Units, R&D and E-Commerce
  • SBM/Bayer : Category Director (20 countries)
  • Charles & Alice : Marketing/Export Director then Sales & Marketing Director USA

Ce qui m'inspire au quotidien

I am a growth builder, acting as an architect, project manager, and builder. I am driven by the ability to unite teams around a shared vision to quickly generate tangible and measurable results. I thrive on tackling complex challenges in demanding environments. Pragmatic and highly present in the field, I work closely with teams, empowering them and creating the conditions for them to take initiative, grow, and drive the company’s development.

Un message pour vous

Above all, I am eager to strengthen your company, making it robust and successful in a changing and uncertain environment, by relying on the teams that have built its history and success. As interim Managing Director, I'll be linking up the staff and getting them to focus on a common ambition. Independent with no personal interests at stake, I am your trusted partner.