France

🇫🇷 France is one of Europe’s largest and most diversified economies, with over 4.6 million active companies in 2024 according to INSEE (including micro-entreprises, SMEs, mid-caps and large corporates).

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‍The business landscape is dominated by SMEs, which represent more than 99% of all firms, alongside approximately 5,800 mid-size companies (ETI) and around 280 CAC40/SBF120 large corporations.

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The French economy continues to navigate structural challenges such as inflation pressure, industrial reshoring, energy transition, talent shortages, and acceleration of digital transformation—factors that significantly increase demand for seasoned interim executives.

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France is also the largest market for “management de transition” (interim management) in continental Europe, with year-on-year growth typically between 15% and 20% in the last decade. Demand is strong across both corporate groups and private-equity-owned companies. Executive interim assignments in France typically cover crisis management, restructuring, post-acquisition integration, digital & data transformation, ESG/CSRD compliance, operational excellence, and governance reinforcement.

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Sectors with the highest adoption rates include industry (automotive, aerospace, chemicals, energy), retail, luxury, financial services, healthcare, technology, and public-sector modernisation. ETIs and transformation-heavy large SMEs represent a rising share of the client base.