Communications shake-up for Groupe Beneteau
Groupe Beneteau has announced it’s appointed Yann Masselot as chief brands and communication officer for the boat division, and Jean-François Lair as director of Beneteau brand. These moves come as part of the restructuring of the brands, under the company’s ‘let’s go beyond’ plan.
The company says that the management of all the brands and communication of the Groupe Beneteau was entrusted to Yann Masselot in July 2022 (he’d taken over the management of the Beneteau brand in October 2020). Masselot joined the Beneteau boatyard in 1992 and worked in sales in the UK, then in France. In 2000, he was appointed to head up commercial operations for Lagoon and enabled the brand to establish itself as the world leader for catamaran cruisers from 2003. He was CEO of Construction Navale Bordeaux between 2018 and 2020.
Meanwhile, the Beneteau brand has been managed by Jean-François Lair since 1 January 2023. Lair joined the Beneteau brand in 2005. He successively held the positions of sales manager, export director then Beneteau America president. He was most recently EMEA Director of Lagoon.
“Jean-François was a very natural choice. His appointment will ensure the continuity in the deployment of the strategy and values of the Beneteau brand,” says Masselot.
At the end of December 2022, Beneteau premiered two new electric sailing yachts, the Oceanis 30.1 and the First 44, at Salon Nautic de Paris. The two are a testament to what Groupe Beneteau describes as its continued realisation of its sustainability strategy. That is looking at its manufacturing processes and product development with an eye toward carbon reduction and eco-friendliness.
