Founders

EUROPE+ Foundation has been founded by ERNST & YOUNG and the PGA group. The foundation is jointly presided by:

 

Pierre GUÉNANT
Chairman of PGA Group
Co-Chairman of EUROPE+ Foundation
Chairman of LA BAULE - WIC Steering Committee

 

 

 

Pierre GUÉNANT has founded and managed the PGA group from a French car dealership to a € 3.2 billion European Group, leader of the car distribution markets in France and Holland and employing over 8,000 people in these two countries. As the CEO of PGA HOLDING, he is also involved in Construction Equipments Distribution and in Investments Funds and serves in several Boards as a non executive director. He began his career with the JACOBS / JACQUES VABRE Group and later with the HEULIEZ Group where he held sales, sales management positions and executive director positions. He is also Chairman of OUEST ATLANTIQUE, the BRITTANY, Pays de la Loire and Poitou-Charentes investment promotion agency and has chaired the Steering Committee of LA BAULE - World Investment Conference from the start. A native of France, born in 1950, he is a graduate of the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP).

 

Patrick GOUNELLE
Co-Chairman of EUROPE+ Foundation
CEO ERNST & YOUNG France and Southern Europe

 

 

 

Graduated in law from the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris, Patrick Gounelle is a chartered accountant and statutory auditor in France. In 1973, he joined Arthur Young French Office; in 1975, was sent to Algeria to take part in the restructuring of the textile industry; and in 1976, was posted to the ARTHUR YOUNG New York Office for a year. He subsequently served as ERNST & YOUNG's national Director of Audit, then national Director of the Banking Industry, and Vice Chairman. In 1998, he was appointed Chairman of ERNST & YOUNG French Office and became a member of the EYI Executive Committee. He is frequently invited to speak at specialised conferences.