Christos Solomonides
IT Programme Manager
Christos Solomonides is IT Programme manager with
responsibility for the technical delivery and direction of Customer
contact systems. He is certainly no stranger to software
development, having developed a software system to manage video
rentals at the age of 14!
Christos completed a Ph.D and worked for a number of different
consultancies and software houses before joining Avis. The
Avis IT agenda is vast and Christos thrives on the wide variety of
projects he manages and the challenges they present.
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"I thoroughly enjoy the dynamic environment at
Avis and really thrive on the ever changing challenges posed by
working on a large number of different projects."
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Lesley Viner
Director of Organisation
Development
With a love of change and a passion for seeing people and
organisations develop, Lesley Viner is Director of Organisation
Development for Avis Europe.
Lesley studied psychology and started her career working in
mental health. A move into the corporate world with BT
as it embarked on a huge restructuring exercise gave her a taste
for working on major change programmes.
Following several years in consultancy, Lesley joined Avis in
2005. Her role involves developing and coordinating change
initiatives, talent management and learning and development
interventions across Europe. Lesley enjoys the breadth of her work,
the European dimensions and challenges, and particularly the fact
that Avis people are so engaged with their organisation and the
work they do.
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"Avis has enabled me to carry on working on major
change and development programmes. I like the variety of challenges
I face and the fact I am generally juggling several substantial
projects, which usually span the whole of our European
organisation."
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Mary Cason
Design Manager
Design Manager, Mary Cason, joined Avis in 2006 to work on
customer facing systems. Avis was in the process of designing
a new website, and having direct experience of this in previous
roles Mary was able to make an immediate contribution.
Mary's background was originally in Graphic Design and she
started her career with Tower records where she was responsible for
Visual Merchandising. The emergence of the World Wide Web and
e-commerce provided Mary with the opportunity to apply her creative
skills to technology and she first developed Tower's online
strategy, before moving to Buy.com before it was bought by John
Lewis. She was part of the team that built the current
e-commerce website and online strategy for John Lewis Direct.
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"Several people I knew had moved to Avis, and I
was aware that Avis was going through a lot of change with a new IT
strategy. The task of 're-inventing the web' and other systems for
Avis Europe is an uphill struggle, with plenty to learn along the
way, but it's rewarding to know that we can make a difference, and
there's certainly no time to get bored!"
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Laurent Sculier
European Fleet Manager
Avis' European fleet manager Laurent Sculier, has worked in
the car rental industry since leaving university, where he studied
Legal Sciences. Having worked for 8 years for Europcar
and a further 7 years with LeasePlan, Laurent thought he had
nothing left to learn.
However, a great opportunity with Avis changed that
perspective as Laurent took on the challenge of developing Company
Fleet strategy, co-ordinating this across 11 different countries
and cultures and dealing with a large number of vehicle
manufacturers provided him with just the stretch he needed.
Laurent feels he has learnt more with Avis than in any
previous role and loves the fact he continues to develop in the
role.
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not have a lot to learn anymore about the rental business but then
I joined Avis! Working on the Company Fleet Strategy is a real
opportunity to apply every day the "We try harder" motto, and this
is for me the best learning experience I ever had so
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Julia Kemp
Director of Partnership and Leisure
Sales
Julia Kemp is Director of Partnership and Leisure Sales for
Avis Europe. Julia's first taste of the travel industry was
at the front line, when she worked on Saturdays and school holidays
with a travel agency. Julia spent several years working in
international hotel sales, via some valuable experience in sales
and marketing for an airline and TV sports promotions. Julia
brought this rich experience to Avis some 10 years ago, being
attracted by the strength of the brand and recognition of how
challenging the role would be. Having joined as National
Account Manager, Julia has moved to progressively bigger
roles.
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"It's the Avis culture and people that makes
working here such a pleasure. I believe this is what sets
Avis apart from the competition. Avis is a team of true
professionals with great spirit, passion and high energy"
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Avis People and Culture
