Press releases

Gaëtan Ruffault, previously Vice President of Human Resources, France, has been appointed Senior Vice-President, Human Resources and Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility at the Hachette Livre Group. 

As part of his new functions, Gaëtan Ruffault will help Hachette Livre to make further progress as a socially responsible company and a recognised player in sustainable development. He will be responsible for establishing and coordinating Hachette Livre’s CSER policy alongside the CSER Department of the Lagardère Group and with all the contributing departments and stakeholders, both internal and external. He has also been appointed Senior Vice President, Group Human Resources. In addition to his current functions as VP of Human Resources, France, he will drive and coordinate global HR projects in conjunction with the HR directors of Hachette Livre’s international subsidiaries.

Commenting, Pierre Leroy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hachette Livre, said: “We are delighted to entrust Gaëtan Ruffault with the management of the CSER Department of the Hachette Livre Group. CSER is central to our strategy, and this newly created position illustrates our determination to act as a leader in CSER challenges and devise more ecological and inclusive business development models. Gaëtan Ruffault’s experience and in-depth understanding of the publishing and distribution businesses are true strengths for accelerating the integration of these issues into our development and boosting our positive impact.”

Fabrice Bakhouche, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Hachette Livre, said: “The role of the Hachette Livre Group’s human resources departments in France and internationally has proved vital to facilitating the organisation’s adaptation to the health and economic environment of the last two years. The crisis has also revealed new opportunities for highlighting new collaborative models, fostering collective intelligence and innovating in each one of our markets. Hachette Livre’s objective with the appointment of Gaëtan Ruffault as Senior Vice President, Group Human Resources is to pursue this innovation momentum by playing a driving and coordinating role in cross-cutting HR projects.” 

Gaëtan Ruffault is a graduate of Sciences Po Paris. After beginning his career in the French medical administration, he joined the Hachette Livre Group in 2008 in Human Resources. He was promoted to Human Resources Director of the Services and Operations Department in 2011 and then to Deputy Director in charge of Human Resources, Safety and CSER. Since 2019, he has served as Vice President of Human Resources, France and managed the environmental policy of Hachette Livre France. 

Gaëtan Ruffault is Vice-Chairman of the Environment and Manufacturing Committee (CEF) of the French National Publishing Union (SNE).

Hachette Livre, a subsidiary of Lagardère SCA, is the third-largest trade and educational publishing group in the world. With a turnover of €2,375 million in 2020, it is number 1 in France, number 2 in Great Britain, number 3 in Spain and number 4 in the USA. It publishes around 17,000 new titles a year under more than one hundred different imprints in a dozen languages, but mainly in French, English and Spanish. Hachette Livre covers all segments of trade publishing: general fiction and non-fiction, mass market pocket books, books for young readers, illustrated books, travel guides, school books and study guides, as well as partworks. Its headquarters are in Vanves, France.

Hachette Livre press contact

Magali Hamonic – Assistant to the Communications Department – mhamonic@hachette-livre.fr – +33 (0)6 74 08 12 32