September 26, 2012, Ascot, UK – ZBD, a leading provider of fully graphic epaper display systems for retailers and industrial users globally, today announces Nicolas Colardelle as its Managing Director in France and officially opens its French HQ in La Place d’Etoile, Paris.

The announcement builds on ZBD’s recent worldwide growth and specific success in the French market: ZBD now operates in 24 countries and has experienced 200% annual growth over the past four years. ZBD has worked closely with its partner Iress Interactive in France and has built a strong customer base which continues to expand. The company now believes the time is right to set up a dedicated French HQ in Paris. Iress has considerable skills and experience of working with ZBD’s solutions in the French retail market with extensive store installations that include Franprix, G20 and Unifrais. Iress will continue to be a key partner working with Nicolas as he grows the business in France.

Nicolas Colardelle joins ZBD from his most recent role as VP Sales & Marketing Freelance.com Group and before this as International Sales Director at retail software and services specialist Cylande, where he was responsible for developing business with a significant number of global retailers. He has spent almost three decades in a variety of business development roles in the technology industry, including positions at HP, Oracle, NCR Teradata and Attachmate.

Nicolas plans to grow ZBD’s French team to support demand from a market that has realised the limitations of the first generation of segment-based electronic shelf labels (ESL) and recognised the real and tangible benefits of ZBD’s epaper for retail platform. Nicolas will build the business with customers in all retail sectors such as food, sportswear, department stores, DIY and pharmacies as well as other sectors including supply chain and manufacturing.

Nicolas commented: “The French market has experienced the first generation of ESL, but is now ready for the multi-functionality of ZBD’s epaper system, which offers greater benefit at lower cost. The French market is also hugely competitive, with a small number of big brands vying for a share of customers’ wallets. ZBD’s epaper platform will enable retailers in France to take the next step in improving customers’ in-store experience and ensuring pricing is always accurate, promotions are timely and product information is consistent across multiple stores and channels. We also anticipate that other sectors such as manufacturing and logistics will move forward with the adoption of epaper in France.”

Shaun Gray, CEO ZBD, said: “We are delighted to welcome Nicolas to the team as our first French MD. We believe there is a huge opportunity for French retailers to refresh and replace ageing technology, and that the time is right to establish a permanent HQ in France to support our customers in retail and other sectors. This appointment and the opening of our French office are the latest milestones in our successful strategy to build a global business.”