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06 Jul 2020

FELCO joins forces to build the future

A leader in pruning shears and cutting tools, FELCO SA is merging with FELCO Motion SA, a spin-off entity founded in  2010 specializing in electric pruning tools and digital solutions. From July 1st 2020, the new FELCO SA entity will be managed by two Co-CEOs to strengthen industrial operations and customer development. As for the Board of Directors of this new entity, it will now be chaired by a woman for the first time.

Dual management

The new FELCO SA entity will be placed under dual management which, thanks to the specific and complementary skills of its directors, will create the synergies necessary for a dynamic evolution. This innovative concept is intended to give the company a new direction, based on two  focus areas of the business:

  • Customer Development, headed by Stéphane Poggi, Co-CEO, whose mission is to meet the needs of the users of FELCO products and services through an approach based on innovation and active listening.
  • Industrial Development, headed by Christophe Nicolet, Co-CEO, whose mission is to produce high-quality tools using agile and high-performance 4.0 technology.

The reorganization will have no impact on employment, as FELCO Motion SA personnel are fully integrated into FELCO SA.

A woman chairs the Board of Directors

From the outset of this new entity, Manuela Surdez will take over as Chair of the Board of Directors of FELCO SA. The Board is now composed of André Haemmerli (Vice-Chair), André-Pierre Bouille, Anne Headon and Laurent Perrin, who is resigning as Chair. Although the latter will remain as a Director, he wishes to devote more time to his role within FLISCH Holding SA, the family group that owns FELCO SA, as well as to his operational activities for FELCO SA as Head of the North American Market, where he resides.

Mini biographies

Stéphane Poggi:  An industrial electronics engineer (HES) with an additional MBA specializing in marketing, Stéphane Poggi joined FELCO SA in 2003 as a Sales and Marketing Director. His primary focus at the time was to develop new markets and expand European distribution networks. In 2010, he co-founded the spin-off, FELCO Motion SA, which he has continued to manage until today.

Christophe Nicolet: FELCO's first Managing Director outside the founder's family, Christophe Nicolet joined the company in 2011. He trained as a mechanic and then as an engineer at the Ecole technique supérieure de Lausanne (ETS), followed by an HEG business management course in Neuchâtel. Upon completing his studies, he then spent ten years in various positions in manufacturing industries, including with the SWATCH Group where he worked for nine years in Malaysia and Switzerland.

Manuela Surdez: As an economist with a degree from the University of Neuchâtel, Manuela Surdez co-directs the company Goldec SA which she founded with her husband in 1989. She has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Neuchâtel Cantonal Bank since 2010 as a Director, having taken over the Chair from 2011 to 2019. She has been a member of the Board of Directors at FELCO SA since 2009.

Caption : Mr. Stéphane Poggi, Co-CEO FELCO SA | Mr. André Haemmerli Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of FELCO SA | Mrs. Manuela Surdez new Chair of the Board of Directors of FELCO SA | Mr. Stéphane Poggi, COO FELCO SA.