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	Executive Team Each member of the Merchants’ Executive Team has considerable skills and experience. They work together effectively, not only to guide day-to-day business, but to ensure the strategic vision of Merchants is realised.   Adam Foster, Chief Executive Officer Adam Foster was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Merchants Group in October 2008. Adam has worked within the BPO division of Dimension Data for nine years, and has extensive experience in the design, build and operation of large scale on-shore and off-shore Managed Service Contact Centres, primarily in the Financial Service and Telco sectors. Prior to assuming his current role, Adam was Managing Director of the TSYS Business Unit and was instrumental in securing and growing the partnership between TSYS and Dimension Data, culminating in the formation of TSYS Managed Services EMEA, a joint venture company. Adam will retain responsibility for this portfolio as CEO of the Merchants Group and retains his seat on the board of TSYS Managed Services EMEA.   Craig Gibson, Group Business Development Director Craig was appointed Director for Merchants African Operations in 2008. He joined Dimension Data in 1999, where he focused on developing and managing Customer Relationship Solutions (CRM) for some of the group’s largest South African customers. Craig’s roles within the Group have consistently been focused on customer-oriented services and solutions, an area that he is passionate about. After a stint in North America, heading up a multi-sourcing operation that sought to develop Dimension Data’s international resource pool, Craig returned to South Africa where he leads the Business Development function for Merchants.   Paul Scott, Director of Consulting Paul was appointed Consulting Director for Merchants in October 2008. He moved from Dimension Data UK where he was Director for the Customer Interactive Solutions (CIS) line of business, leading a team which provides technology solutions for contact centres. Before joining Dimension Data, Paul had a 15 year management consultancy career, leading the development of customer management practices in the UK, mainland Europe and the USA. He has worked with a large number of blue-chip clients to help them develop customer management strategies and a more customer centric experience. A regular contributor to the industry press, Paul also sits on the industry research council for the Contact Centre Association (CCA) in the UK and is a regular speaker on issues associated with the contact centre industry.   Shane Budd, Finance Director Shane heads up a specialised support team that manages finance, payroll, governance as well as risk and asset portfolios. Shane works closely with the management team of the various Merchants Africa business units to analyse, understand and manage the key elements that influence revenue and cost in the contact centre environment. Shane is deeply involved in all contractual and commercial negotiations that relate to the Merchants business and our client relationships.   Shane brings valuable financial and commercial insight to the Merchants business through career experience across a variety of sectors including corporate and merchant banking, information technology and media. Shane is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants South Africa and the Public Accountants and Auditors Board.   Jay Patel, Commercial Director Jay Patel is the Commercial Director for the Merchants business. Jay is one of the longest serving members at Merchants and since joining the firm in 1987, has fulfilled a range of commercial roles. With over two decades of experience in the contact centre industry, Jay has an in-depth understanding of the complex commercial models that apply to operational cost models within this industry. Jay fulfils a co-coordinating commercial role, applying a thorough and innovative approach to commercial contracting within a vitally important facet of the Merchants business.   Richard Melrose, Director of IT Managed Services Richard is the Director of IT Managed Services. His responsibilities encompass all Service and Technology delivery to Merchants contact centres in South Africa and in the Middle East where Merchants has launched a new Joint venture with the Bahraini government. Richard joined Merchants in 2007 as General Manager of CIS Hosting, where his role focused on building a new start up IT Managed Services business based on providing both a Hosted Contact Centre Technology platform and a total IT Support operation, and the success of this solution offering resulted in tremendous business growth. Before joining Merchants, Richard worked for both Virgin and O2 in a senior business development and sales capacity, also managing Managed Services providers such as Merchants and Ventura.   Victoria Ward, Director, Human Resources Victoria Ward is the Director of Human Resource Services for Merchants. Victoria oversees the Merchants global HR Team and is responsible for the human capital strategy across all Merchants operations. In February 2010 Victoria re-joined Merchants after a four- year sojourn with one of Merchants’ key partners. She has been actively involved in the South African Contact Centre industry for more than 15 years specifically in the areas of HR and has worked in various roles in South Africa and across Europe, with extensive experience in the set-up and management of people in international offshore operations. Victoria began her career in 1989 where she worked for Quest, an Adcorp Holding Company. During her career at Quest, Vikki held a variety of high-level positions, finally fulfilling the function of a Key Account Executive.   Martin Dove, Director of Innovation & Strategy Martin - a familiar face within the Merchants business – was appointed Director of Innovation and Strategy in June 2010. His responsibilities include leading the development of Merchants’ strategy and driving the Innovation function across the business. Innovation is critical to the future of the Merchants’ business and we are committed to developing a pioneering and thought-leading organisation that continues to establish us as leaders within our industry. Martin has extensive knowledge and experience in the Merchants’ business having started as a contact centre agent himself in 1986. Most recently, Martin has led the Global Customer Interaction Solutions business within Dimension Data and he will continue to ensure that development and articulation of Dimension Data’s strategy for the CIS business is delivered across the group.   Simon Roncoroni, Non Executive Director Simon was first appointed as a non-executive Director to the Merchants Executive Committee in October 2004. Proud to be the first ever recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2009 CCF European Call Centre Awards, Simon works as a consultant and non-executive Director for Merchants and advises a number of international businesses on service and operational strategy.   As a contact centre expert, Simon was involved in setting up the first contact centre outsourcing business in the UK. From 1989 to 1997 Simon successfully ran his own consulting company and has worked as an independent consultant since 2000. Simon continues to advise a number of prestigious organisations on their contact centre strategies and has played a significant role within Merchants as an expert advisor. Simon is a Life Fellow of the Institute of Direct Marketing, an Industry Advisor to Livingstone Partners and a former member of the Call Centre Standards Board of the Customer Contact Association.   Evan Jones, Director of Operations Merchants director of operations, Evan Jones, enjoys applying his unerring instinct for large scale business development within the customer management and business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, because: “Every decision you make is about empowerment. A new 300-seat contact centre puts food on the table for new families and helps educate those directly or indirectly involved.”   Jones onboarded six of Merchants’ nine clients and is responsible for the management of multi-channel back and front office environments for all nine operations - with a total operational footprint of some 3 000 - in KwaZulu-Natal, Johannesburg, and Cape Town. Prior to Merchants he managed, in quick succession, a contact centre operation, individual projects, and all the executive projects across all of Discovery’s centres. He transitioned the Destiny Health business back to South Africa while maintaining services to the American market. And, he managed the outsource relationships for one of Europe’s largest provider of telecommunications services, Phone Warehouse.
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