EUROTUNNEL is too bureaucratic and should be a "war machine" that can adapt more quickly, according to its new boss.

In an exclusive interview, the first he has given since being thrust into the chief executive's hot seat by a shareholder revolt in April, Jean-Louis Raymond admitted it would not be "a piece of cake" to solve the company's problems.

The former boss of a DIY chain with a reputation for turning around failing enterprises was at Folkestone Racecourse for celebrations marking the 10th anniversary of the official opening of the Channel Tunnel. He had earlier spoken to staff at Eurotunnel's Cheriton terminal.

Mr Raymond, who revealed that as a teenager he had a lot of fun in Kent and enjoyed "warm" Kentish beer, said it was not only the tunnel's 10th birthday but also his 30th day with the company. "So I feel the second birthday is more important than the first," he said.

After looking at the company in those first 30 days, he felt more optimistic than he expected. "But it's not going to be a piece of cake," he said.

And he admitted: "We are a slightly bureaucratic organisation. I want a war machine, a dynamic machine and I've got a logistical machine. The real challenge is to be commercial and that's what occupies us most at the moment."

He and his board have 90 days in which to produce a new business plan for debt-burdened Eurotunnel. Shareholders want them to boost shareholder value while bankers owed £6.4bn are watching from the sidelines.

Would Mr Raymond slash jobs? Cutting jobs was not a "useful objective," he said, but it was important to cut costs and increase revenue.

"What we have to concentrate on is how fast you make your decisions, how fast you fix your errors, and then you achieve the cost measures by themselves."

Mr Raymond and his fellow French directors were installed after French shareholders led by Nicholas Miguet voted to get rid of the old board.

The surprise vote at an angry meeting in Paris ousted Richard Shirrefs, the former Kent-based chief executive, and Charles Mackay, the British chairman.

The decision also triggered the departure of Mr Mackay's successor Philippe Bourguignon and Eurotunnel's finance chief Roger Burge.

Eurotunnel has always been held up as the ideal Franco-British company. But Mr Raymond insisted it should be a "European operation."

"I really do want British directors but I also want other major European countries represented," he said.

Mr Raymond dismissed any suggestion that Mr Miguet called the shots. "Monsieur Miguet doesn't tell the board what to do," he said curtly.

But he regretted the atmosphere at the meeting. "Some shareholders were rough," he said.

He did not expect any financial help from the French or British Governments but "there are many other ways of being helped by Governments."

This will almost certainly involve debt restructuring. He said the level of debt did not worry him but he was more concerned about how much had to be repaid each month.

He hoped to achieve a new financial arrangement. "Like the Godfather, we have to make proposals that they can't turn down."

He added: "I don't consider that the problem of the debt is strategical anymore, it has become a tactical and operational problem."

Mr Raymond lives in Brussels and spends a day a week at Cheriton. After working a 17-hour day, he said it was the wrong time to ask him whether he was enjoying the job. "This morning, if I could, I would sleep instead of enjoying horses."