People News from the April 2009 edition of C&M
Aidan Connolly has been appointed chief executive of Sodexo UK and Ireland. Currently the company's finance director, Connolly will replace Yann Coleou who will relinquish his position to focus exclusively on the integration of the recently acquired Radhakrishna Hospitality Services Group (RKHS) in India.
The RKHS acquisition will, claims the company, make Sodexo the leading food and facilities management services company in India and will employ over 20,000 people across 1000 sites. At Sodexo, Connolly is a member of the UK and Ireland executive team and has played a key role in the recent successful development of the business. More recently he has taken a lead in negotiations regarding the £12 billion Defence Training Review project which resulted in Sodexo becoming a 50/50 equity partner in the Metrix consortium which will deliver the construction, site services and training facilities for the Defence Technical College in St Athan, South Wales.
Connolly said: "I am excited to have the opportunity to lead the business as it develops further as a major provider of food and integrated facilities management services."
ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association, and its alliance partner in Poland, PSC, has announced the appointment of Mariusz Konczak as marketing and communications manager. Konczak will be based in Warsaw. The new appointment underlines the high importance which ISSA attaches to expanding the services to its members in Poland - as well as the growth potential that currently exists throughout Central and Eastern Europe. Konczak’s responsibilities will involve providing support to ISSA and PSC’s membership in Poland, including developing more member benefits. In particular, he will be responsible for ISSA’s many educational programmes in Poland, including the Hygiene Certification Programme, as well as creating new member services.
“We are delighted by the choice of Mariusz for this important role,” said Keith Baker, director of European services at ISSA. “We have a strong commitment to investing in Poland and throughout Central and Eastern Europe.”
Another important part of Konczak’s position will be to help to drive attendance to the upcoming ISSA/Interclean tradeshow being held in Warsaw from 13-15 May.
Sarah Davey, owner and director of Morecambe-based domestic cleaning company Completely Clean, has made it to the finals of Lancashire’s prestigious Be Inspired Business Awards 2009 (BIBAs). Davey is through to the final of all three of the BIBA categories she was originally nominated for: Business Woman of the Year, Excellence in Customer Service and Business Person of the Year. She said: “I’m thrilled to have been chosen for the finals of the BIBAs and am especially excited that I’ve made it as a finalist in all three categories I was entered for! It certainly makes me take stock of what I’ve achieved since I bought and rebranded Completely Clean six years ago. It’s hugely important that local Lancashire businesses have the chance to shine and these awards are also a great boost to our smaller firms and the people that make them work.”
Davey bought a small cleaning company called Dirtbusters in 2002, two weeks before giving birth to her son. After re-branding the company as Completely Clean, her skills, dedication and sheer hard work have turned it into a Lancastrian success story, currently employing over 60 people with constant year on year growth.
Sheffield-based Gems is helping the Saints clean up on the basketball court by sponsoring its brand new reversible kit. Gems managing director, Dave Campbell, is a keen basketball fan and he and his family are regular supporters of the Saints. The relatively new team plays in division three of the national basketball league and was founded in 2006 as a cousin club to the City of Sheffield Hatters, the most successful women’s team in the UK.
Dave Campbell said: “I have always been a keen fan of sport - as a participant and a spectator - and it gives me great pleasure to help a local grassroots team by providing the kit it needs to present a professional, cohesive image. I have no doubt that the Saints have the potential to be Sheffield’s next sporting success and I am sure they will more than do justice to the Gems name.” Carol Hackett, secretary of the Sheffield Saints, added: “We would like to say a huge thank you Gems for sponsoring our distinctive new kit. We enjoy seeing Dave and his family at home matches and we are really pleased to team up with such a successful local company. Gems’ support is the boost we need to continue our good form and demonstrate our potential on the basketball court.”
Truvox International has appointed Sylvie Calas to the post of international sales manager with immediate effect. Her new responsibilities include setting up and implementing the company’s sales strategy in Europe (including Scandinavia and Eastern Europe). She is now in charge of the management and development of the Truvox business in Europe through local dealers and distributors. “I am delighted by the choice of Sylvie as international sales manager,” said David Overell, Truvox’s managing director. “Her years of experience working with distributors will be invaluable in helping us grow our European business.”
Calas comes to Truvox after having spent the past 14 years as EMEA sales manager for Garmin Europe in the consumer electronics industry. While there, she was responsible for identifying and appointing new distributors, managing a distribution network throughout the European region and developing and implementing the company’s market sales strategy to grow the Garmin brand in Europe. Truvox has also appointed Adrienne Nicol as its new regional account manager Scotland with immediate effect. She assumes responsibility for providing service and support to Truvox’s customers throughout Scotland.
“Truvox has rolled out an unprecedented number of new products in the past year,” said Nicol. “This means that there are many innovations which our customers do not yet know about and I am excited about building greater awareness of how these products can benefit them. I also look forward to being able to provide our distributors and end-users with the extremely rapid service that my strategic positioning in Scotland facilitates. Often for our customers the time from inquiry to placing an order is extremely short. We thus need to be very reactive to their needs since obtaining a product rapidly is crucial for their business.”
Nicol comes to Truvox after some five years in the janitorial side, holding senior account manager roles in the hygiene consumables and catering disposables fields.