Business Strategy

• Strongly contributed to and influenced the strategic direction and profitable growth of Unilever's foods business in Turkey, more than doubling the turnover (to $ 800 million pa) through organic growth, acquisitions and green-field investments.
  
• Transformed an export business of $ 10 million p.a. turnover to an international business of $ 60 million through brand focus and setting up distributors in the Middle East countries.

Finance

• Provided $ 600 million cost effective debt-finance for Unilever's operations, new businesses and acquisition in Latin America and South Asia.
  
• Managed foreign exchange exposure in the volatile and hyperinflation environments of Turkey and Latin America; provided earnings over $ 100 million.
  
• Managed $ 300 million 'capital employed' in Turkey; optimised equity/ debt mix for shareholder value.
  
• Managed $ 100 -150 million local/international debt in Turkey; added substantial value to the bottom-line of the business through reduction of real interest cost from a range of 20 -30 % to well below two-digit percentage points.
  
• Led feasibility studies and managed implementation of numerous investment projects including a green-field ice cream business, a green-field tea business, relocation/modernisation/expansion of manufacturing units and various other supply chain, technology and environmental investments.
  
• Developed and implemented, with two major banks in Turkey, a two-phased "direct debit" system for (a) Unilever's cash collection from distributors, and (b) cash collection of distributors from retailers, thus achieved a cash-in-transit reduction of over $ 10 million on an ongoing basis.
  
• Reduced insurance bill of Unilever Turkey two-thirds through risk-management and local/international negotiations.

Tax

• Obtained over $ 120 million incentives and investment grants from the authorities in Turkey for Unilever's investments in ice cream, tea and foods operations, increased yields to nearly three digits in constant terms.
  
• Benefiting from the double-tax-treaties, restructured shareholdings of Unilever companies in Turkey and reduced profit tax rate by 10 percentage points.
  
• Re-engineered and simplified the legal/financial setup of the Group with 11 companies, reducing the number of its legal entities, through mergers, to 5 in the short and to 3 in the longer term, delivering tax and overhead savings in the range of $ 10- 20 million p.a.

Accounting

• Put in place effective financial controls and processes, timely and accurate information systems, and established KPI's for improving the performance of a rapidly expanding and changing foods business of in Turkey with strong emphasis on cash flow and working capital management, overall cost base, product costing and pricing, and competitors analysis.
  
• Established unified standard chart of accounts both for the local statutory (CMB) and the management accounts (UK GAAP and US GAAP) of Unilever Turkey.
  
• Re-designed and harmonised accounting and finance processes of a multi-company / multi-business group under a single management body (country shared services) achieving 35% reduction (52 employees) in headcount and savings of $ 4 million p.a. , while significantly improving the service quality and efficiency.
  
• Accelerated the financial/management reporting time from 15 to 3 days following the closure of monthly accounting periods, and won Unilever's worldwide financial reporting award.

Mergers & Acquisitions

• Took a leading role in valuation, negotiation and integration of several complex foods acquisitions in Turkey in the fields of margarines, oils and culinary products.
  
• Strongly contributed, as the financial member of a regional management group, to over 100 acquisition projects, particularly in Latin America, 40% of which was realized in value.

Information Technology

• Developed, together with his IT team, an excellent sales and distribution system for an ice cream business in Turkey including order processing with hand-held terminals, which has been later adapted by several operations throughout the world.
  
• Implemented new IT systems for Unilever Turkey (major modules of SAP including financial, sales and distribution, materials management and production planning).