Inchcape Shipping Services has announced its new regional team for Europe and North Africa following the creation of its new operations division.
Reflecting ISS’ transition from eight regional profit centers within two hemispheres to four world regions and Japan, the new operations division is charged with delivering operational excellence, providing the very best products and quality of service, standardising work processes and optimising resources and capabilities. The Europe and North Africa operations team is the first of the four regional teams to be announced.
Simon Edsall has been appointed as Executive Vice President of Operations Region Europe and North Africa. With over 18 years experience in shipping, Simon was previously Managing Director of Condor Ferries with a strong focus on customer service and stakeholder engagement. He has also worked for London Gateway and P&O and holds an MBA from London Business School and a MA from Oxford University.
Reporting into Simon Edsall will be Kevin Cool, Vice President Operations Region Europe and North Africa. Kevin’s maritime experience includes liner trades, ship agency and developing technology for port community systems. He was previously General Manager (UK) for ISS, while another ISS employee, Javier Torrente has been promoted to Regional Operations Manager, Region Europe and North Africa.
The new operations division will be led by Michael van Hemert, Chief Operating Officer. Also reporting to Michael will be Simon Peters in a new role as Global Head of Service Delivery. Simon will provide a single point of contact for the facilitation of commercial contracts, SLA Delivery and the implementation of new products and will work to provide the optimal interface between operations and commercial performance. Simon has four years management experience with ISS and has also held divisional management roles with V Ships.
Said Michael van Hemert: “We talked to customers in detail when reviewing the business and based on their feedback created a new structure which centres on promoting their needs and ensuring we achieve the very best operational performance and service management. The new regional teams will also be tasked with optimising our resources and capabilities, and standardizing our global work processes to the highest level.”