In This Team, Everyone Has More Than One Right Hand.

Adam Foster, Chief Executive Officer

Adam Foster was appointed Managing Director of the Merchants Group in October 2008.  Adam has worked within the BPO division of Dimension Data for 9 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 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 MD of the Merchants Group and retains his seat on the board of TSYS Managed Services EMEA.

Craig Gibson, Business Development Director

Craig was appointed Director for Merchants African Operations in 2008. Craig 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 focused around 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 led the Business Development function for Merchants, Dimension Data’s contact centre consulting and outsourcing company. Craig Gibson holds a BTEC degree from the University of Natal, majoring in financial management and marketing.

Paul Scott, Director of Consulting

Paul was appointed Solutions Director for Merchants in October 2008. He was previously with Dimension Data UK where he was Line of Business Director for Customer Interactive Solutions (CIS) and led a team providing technology solutions for contact centres. Prior to joining Dimension Data, Paul had a 15 year career in management consultancy 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 his previous career experience in a variety of sectors including corporate and merchant banking, information technology and media. Shane completed his studies at the University of South Africa and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants South Africa in addition to the Public Accountants and Auditors Board.

Vanda Dickson, Director of Marketing

Vanda was appointed Marketing Director for Merchants in 2008. Vanda first joined Dimension Data in 1997 where she was part of the team that set-up Dimension Data Interactive, the pre-cursor to Dimension Data’s Customer Interactive Solutions line of business.  From developing  Dimension Data’s global branding strategy through to managing product development for Global Services, Vanda has broad experience across the Dimension Data group. After a  break from Dimension Data, Vanda rejoined Merchants in 2005 with the key objective of working with the management team to revitalise and reorganise the Merchants business. Vanda’s strong strategic marketing expertise has proved to be invaluable to the Merchants business in assisting in driving the business forward. Vanda holds a MBA from Wits Business School.

Jay Patel, Commercial Director

Jay Patel has recently been appointed Commercial Director across all three of the Merchants lines of business. Jay, one of the longest serving members of Merchants, joined Merchants in 1987 and 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 will play a co-ordinating 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 Melrose holds a Batchelor of Science degree in Electronic Engineering achieved in 1984 from Bristol University, England. 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. The success of this solution offering resulted in tremendous business growth and Richard was promoted to Director, IT Managed Services. Richard’s responsibilities were extended to encompass all Service & Technology delivery to Merchants contact centres in South Africa and in the Middle East where Merchants has launched a new JV with the Bahrani government. Previously Richard has worked for both Virgin and O2 in a senior business development and sales capacity also managing Managed Services providers such as Merchants and Ventura. Richard enjoys playing tennis and golf, mountain biking, skiing, windsurfing as well as the guitar. As well as enjoying great food Richard is also a keen cook.

Victoria Ward, Director, Human Resources

Victoria Ward is the Director of Human Resource Services for Merchants. In February 2010 Victoria re-joined Merchants after a 4 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. Vikki has worked in various roles in South Africa and across Europe and has extensive experience in the set-up and management of people in international offshore operations. Vikki 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. Today, Victoria oversees the Merchants global HR Team and is responsible for the human capital strategy across all Merchants operations.

Martin Dove, Director of Innovation & Strategy

Martin - a familiar face within the Merchants business – was appointed Director of Innovation and Strategy in June 2010. Martin has    extensive knowledge and experience in the Merchants’ business having started as a call centre agent in 1986. Most recently, Martin has led the Global CIS 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.  Within Merchants, Martin will responsible for leading the development of Merchants’ strategy and driving the Innovation function across our business. We see Innovation as a critical aspect 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. 

Simon Roncoroni, Non Executive Director

Simon was first appointed as a non-executive Director to the Merchants Executive Committee in October 2004. A true contact centre expert, Simon was involved in setting up the first call 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.