Jean-Claude Sensemat

Who is Jean-Claude Sensemat?

Jean-Claude Sensemat, is a businessman in France. Sensemat was born in Fleurance in the Gers, and from 1970 to 2000, he founded and directed an import/export group of hand and power tool companies that bears his name. The Groupe Sensemat became the largest private employer of the Gers with over 500 collaborators in 1999 and sales totalizing 800 million French francs.

The company’s growth is owed to the globalization of trade. As early as 1975, import-export operations were organized with India, Red China, Romania, Albania and other countries of the Eastern block, sometimes using barter and compensation. The Groupe Sensemat became a privileged supplier of the European major hypermarket retailers.

Through his tool-manufacturing group, he then acquired many brownfields in the department of the Gers.

As a major player in the department’s economic life, he was a counselor with the Gers’ Bank of France for 6 years. He was Vice President of the Gers’ Employers' Union in 1989, and he founded the Gers’ UNICEF committee in 1988. He also founded a local newspaper: "La Gascogne".

In 1990, he purchased LIP, the renowned watchmaking company that was then in difficulty, and relaunched it. Then, in 1992 he acquired other brands: Achille Zavatta, Teppaz, and Luis Ocana. In 2000, his strongly coveted hand and power tool group faced problems leading to the lifetime dismissal of a court administrator who was found guilty and imprisoned. The Sensemat Group disappeared.