The Board of Directors of the local public company La Ciotat Shipyards met on Friday October 16, 2020 for an important meeting in more ways than one. Not only was it the first opportunity for the new board to meet following the municipal and metropolitan elections in the spring, it also allowed it finalise a capital increase of 8 million euros and finally to commit the company to the recovery plan announced by the government.
Change of governance
The Board of Directors has therefore appointed Mr. Patrick Ghigonetto, representing the Metropolis, as Chairman, replacing Mr. Patrick Boré who was recently elected Senator of Bouches-du-Rhône and
will continue to serve as a director. The Vice-Presidency falls to the Department des Bouches-du-Rhône, represented by Ms. Danielle Milon, Mayor of Cassis.
The Board of Directors also now includes two parliamentarians as Mr. Bernard Deflesselles, deputy from the 9th constituency who knows the company well having participated in its creation in 1995, was among the new representatives appointed by the Metropolis. The board administration has also confirmed its confidence in Mr. Jean-Yves Saussol to continue the general management of the company.
La Vice-Présidence échoit au Département des Bouches-du-Rhône représenté par Mme Danielle Milon, Maire de Cassis.
Le Conseil d’administration comptera désormais deux parlementaires en son sein, puisque M. Bernard Deflesselles, député de la 9e circonscription qui connaît bien la société pour avoir participé à sa création en 1995, a été désigné parmi les nouveaux représentants de la Métropole. Le Conseil d’administration a par ailleurs maintenu sa confiance à M. Jean-Yves Saussol pour assurer la direction générale de la société.
Ambitions as ever
Despite the economic and health issues that our country continues to suffer, the council administration continues to plan for the future with confidence. “ All offshore racing sailors know that in heavy weather all you can do is adjust your course and knuckle down to close the gap with your competitors,” said Mr. Ghigonetto, the new president of the company. “ The times in which we are living are complicated, but they also present a real opportunity to accelerate the establishment of a sustainable industrial model that will deliver long-term performance at La Ciotat. Since the founding agreements of 1994, our company has had a mission to develop our territory for the benefit of all. It is precisely at times like the one we are now going through that this mission makes perfect sense. ”
15 actions to rebuild sustainability
In addition to the major projects already underway; the Yachting Village which will complete in 2021, and the ATLAS-4300t project which goes live the following year, an ambitious modernisation and transformation programme has now been approved by the board of directors. It breaks down into 15 “project sheets” which can be implemented quickly, some before the end of this year, subject to the granting of significant financial support by the State under the national industry recovery plan announced by the government.
In addition to various investment measures worth up to 30 million euros to modernise the industrial tooling to make it more competitive and improve its environmental footprint, the plan also targets the creation of a group of companies that share the same values and objectives with regard to the site.
20 million euros requested for the recovery plan
“We turn today to the state to help us achieve these ambitions in just three years instead of the ten initially planned,” added Mr. Patrick Boré. “As part of the planned stimulus package announced by the government, the emphasis was rightly focused on industry in the territories. It seems to me that our project at La Ciotat, founded on excellence and sustainability, ticks all the boxes. Our achievements in the past as well as our projects planned for the future make our claim to decisive support from within the framework of the plan recovery more than legitimate. Now is the time to make La Ciotat both a world industrial leader and a model of sustainable development. Together with my parliamentary colleague Bernard Deflesselles we will be communicating this ambition to the highest levels of State “.
