Pikolinos ushers in a new chapter with its new managing director

Pikolinos, the footwear company based in Elche, Spain, is restructuring its leadership team. The group has appointed Francisco Sánchez as its new managing director, succeeding the direct leadership exercised by the Perán family in recent years. The move forms part of the rollout of its new 2026 to 2029 strategic plan.

An engineer by training, the executive has over 30 years’ experience leading industrial companies and specialises in strategic innovation, operations, marketing, and finance, with a career rooted in the leather goods sector and in leading transformation, growth, and generational transition projects. With this appointment, the company is tasking Sánchez with driving the group’s new roadmap and consolidating its international expansion, strengthening its position in key markets, and addressing challenges related to global efficiency.

“We are living in a time when corporate leadership demands far more than just results: it is about building purposeful organisations centred on people and on the sustainability of the business and its environment,” said the newly appointed executive.

The move follows the Perán family’s resumption of the group’s management after the departure of its previous chief executive, Manuel Jadraque, in early 2022. Since then, with Juan Manuel Perán as executive chairman, Rosana Perán as vice-president, and Carolina Perán as head of brand, the family has led the reorganisation of the business.

With more than four decades of history, the Elche-based conglomerate specialising in footwear today includes the Pikolinos and Martinelli brands. Pikolinos Group ended its 2024 to 2025 financial year with a 6.5% increase in turnover on the previous year and total turnover of €155 million.