Jérémy Wautrain, Aximea's Chief Operating Officer, talks about his career, his challenges and his plans for the years ahead.
Can you introduce yourself?
" Hello, my name is Jérémy Wautrain, I'm 44 years old. I have three daughters and live in Compiègne. My wife Sophie Luzi and I co-founded Aximea 15 years ago. During those 15 years, I was Chairman until the company was integrated into the Finalease group at the end of 2020. Today, I remain Aximea's Chief Operating Officer, while Sophie takes on the role of Sales Director. "
How would you sum up the Aximea adventure so far?
" Aximea is our baby, Sophie's and mine. We designed it from A to Z: from the name of the company to the creation of a competitive family team of 45 employees.
Going back in time, we first created PST Nord under the Artys banner in May 2005. We started up in Compiègne, then quickly opened our Lille branch in September 2006.
Two years later, at the end of 2008, we created a full-fledged teleprospecting unit to develop our sales team and accelerate the company's growth. In 2013, we decided to leave the Artys network due to the poor image of certain national distributors.
Sophie and I have always been "pro-network", and we're convinced that a company like ours can benefit from the strength of a Group. So when Hager wanted to take a stake in Aximea in 2015, we saw a new opportunity and agreed to sell them 40% of the capital. But in the absence of dynamism and a desire for development, we decided to regain our independence in 2018, having meanwhile opened Rouen in 2016 and Reims in 2017. In line with our desire to offer a real local relationship with our customers, we are finally opening the Nantes agency in 2019.
With 5 branches strategically located in 5 regions, Aximea is a key player in the security business in Northern France.
Keen to continue growing Aximea and our employees, we took the decision to join Finalease Group Security in 2020, convinced that Patrick Lascar and Mikael Choucroun will provide us with the tools to accelerate Aximea's growth and the processes to ensure its long-term future. "
What are precisely the advantages you were looking for when you joined the Finalease Group?
" As I mentioned earlier, I've always had a "Group" mindset, and in 2019 I wanted to continue Aximea's development through internal and, above all, external growth. That's when I met Patrick and Mikael, and instead of buying a park or a new structure, we decided to join the Group to help it in its deployment and territorial coverage. We're creating a real cohesion between the Group's different entities. We're exchanging a great deal and drawing on each other's strengths to develop all our brands: Lease Protect France, Adamis, Vigifrance, Aximea and, more recently, Visualys and EuroSecCom - the latter's teams having been directly integrated into those of Adamis. "
In your opinion, what are the Group's 3 core values?
" It was essential for Sophie and myself to find a Group that shared our ambition and vision, but above all our values. And we immediately found ourselves in the values of Finalease Group Security and its employees. Among the most important to us are loyalty, integrity and fighting spirit.
Loyalty and integrity, because all of us at Aximea, and at Finalease in the broadest sense of the term, are committed to meeting our commitments. We also expect each and every one of us to set high standards and pay particular attention to customer satisfaction. Above all, we sell a service, and that service must add value.
What's more, we've been lucky enough to be able to count on the loyalty and fighting spirit of our teams for many years. And we were very pleasantly surprised to discover similarities between the staff of Lease Protect, Adamis and Vigifrance during the summer seminar held in St-Tropez last September.
Suffice to say, we couldn't have wished for a better integration... "
What's your wish list for the next 5 years?
" First and foremost, health for all. Especially in these difficult times... Secondly, that every Group employee is fulfilled at work and proud to contribute to the Group. Finally, that Finalease Group Security accentuates its position as a key player in security in France and why not in Europe 😁...
In any case, I'm happy today and I've got lots of projects in mind... "
What advice would you give to new recruits?
" I have a motto that I have always believed in: "Life is a struggle, you have to fight".. But the best way to arm yourself is to dream and believe in your dreams. In this way, everyone can find the resources they need to succeed in their fight and never give up.
"Don't give upIn fact, it's the motto of our soccer club - FC Chambly - which we've been sponsoring for several years. It's a way for us to embody the fighting spirit that drives us every day, and which we pass on to our new recruits.
Finally, if I had to give one last piece of advice to future candidates who might be reading this, I'd say: to succeed in our business, don't forget to be an entrepreneur, and don't be afraid of having long teeth... "
