In the six months since Berroeta’s appointment, Vodafone has publicly announced changes to two key positions: the appointment of a new chief marketing officer – Angus Slater, in May, and of a new chief commercial officer of the consumer business unit – Mihai Ghyka, less than two weeks ago.
However, the extent of the management changes is greater and targeted other key sectors, as well. Vodafone, a company with over EUR800 million in turnover and 9 million customers, has also brought on board new managers in the financial, retail, customer operations and data marketing departments.
“There are many changes that have occurred in a very short time, but they were necessary: we needed fresh blood. It is a good time to refresh the team and to bring new ideas and local talent into the organization. The company has slightly changed its priorities,” Berroeta said in his first interview since he took over as CEO.
“I started by changing the marketing manager: Angus Slater is leading the team in charge with our brand.” Slater has been working for Vodafone since 2003 and came to Romania from the Netherlands.
“We also made a change in the financial department. Tom Hargreaves had been here for three years and was very eager to go back to his family in the UK. His term had expired, so a man from his team, Till Streichert, was promoted.” Streichert, 37, came to Vodafone Romania three and a half years ago, after previously working for The Boston Consulting Group and T-Mobile, in Germany and the UK.
As for the departure of the chief of the commercial consumer business unit, Karsten Wildberger, who had been in Romania since 2006, Berroeta said he decided to pursue other projects within the group, so Vodafone used the opportunity to recruit local talent. The UK group made the move of the year, recruiting one of the best-known Romanian executives, Mihai Ghyka, whose name is linked to the creation of the Bergenbier beer brand.
Errol van Graan, 37, is the new senior director of customer operations and a member of Vodafone Romania’s Executive Board. He came to Romania from Vodacom (South Africa), where he was National Executive Head of Customer Service Support. Van Graan has a degree in Cost & Management Accounting and a Master’s Degree from UNISA University in Midrand.
Vodafone also recruited Dragos Chivu, 39, one of the best-known Romanian managers on the telecom market, who used to run local operations of equipment producer Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN). His role is to make Vodafone’s mobile Internet a “mass product,” Berroeta says.
Another change made by the head of Vodafone was to promote Anamaria Rotar, 37, to head of retail. “Her team is now putting the finishing touches to the new design of Vodafone stores, whose implementation will start as soon as possible,” Berroeta said.