They work together effectively as a leadership core who guide the day-to-day business of Merchants while at the same time ensuring the strategic vision of the company is fulfilled.

Adam Foster

Managing Director, Merchants Group

Adam Foster was appointed Managing Director, of the TSYS Business Unit in July 2006. 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 in the Financial Service and Telco sectors. Prior to joining Dimension Data, Adam was a General Manager at British Telecom responsible for their strategic partnership with Barclaycard UK. Responsible for Dimension Data’s relationship with TSYS, Adam has been 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. As Managing Director of the TSYS Business Unit, Adam will continue to manage and drive this strategic partnership for Merchants and look to develop similar relationships with other partners.

Craig Gibson

Managing Director for Merchants Operations, Africa

Craig was appointed Managing Director for Merchants Operation Africa 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

Solutions Director, Merchants

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.

Vanda Dickson

Marketing Director, Merchants

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.

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.