Laurent Bertrand was appointed Managing Director at Lacoste Dactyl Bureau & Ecole (LDBE) in 2019.
For more details on LDBE, read the following:
2022
5 minutes with… Jean-Pierre Maternowski
2021
Spotlight: Developing a multi-local approach
2020
Double swoop for France’s largest office products dealer
Background information
2021: Former Fiducial Office Solutions Managing Director Laurent Bertrand returned to the OPI TOP 100 in 2021 as head of France’s largest dealer, Lacoste Dactyl Bureau & Ecole (LDBE).
The company was formed at the end of 2018 with the merger of two major regional resellers, Lacoste and Dactyl Bureau, creating a ‘multilocal’ dealer with annual revenue approaching €100 million ($112 million).
Bertrand was tasked with integrating the two companies, moving them onto a common IT platform, developing a single e-commerce solution, and optimising the distribution network for its office products and educational supplies offerings.
The business still operates out of two locations, one in Le Thor, near Avignon, and the other in Bourges, each with a specific role. The Le Thor site is now set up to handle all distribution for the 12,000 school SKUs, while the 10,000-strong office supplies range is shipped from Bourges.
Goals include expanding LDBE’s footprint in the south-east of France, and in September 2021, it acquired a former Calipage dealer – PF Bureautique – in Toulon. Bertrand is also looking to grow LDBE’s fledgling retail network.
