Sonia Fernandes has recently been promoted within Global International Relocation in Portugal to become the company’s import manager. She joined the company in 2009 as a move coordinator and was promoted to move manager in 2012. As import manager she now runs the import team ensuring clear communication with partner agents and a smooth service to clients.
Ana Gaspar has become the new export manager for Global International Relocations in Portugal. Ana joined the GIR family in September 2013 as a move coordinator. The company said that over the years she has proven to be very capable of taking on greater challenges through her detailed approach and undivided attention to customer needs. As export manager she now runs the company’s export team.
Hellen Concha, Traffic Manager from Unipack in Santiago, Chile, has advised that the fiscal employees in the country have called a 72-hour strike in support of their wage demands. Services such as customs offices, NSA, health department, and others government institutions will be affected. This means that the processing of consignments arriving at the country’s ports and airports could be delayed while the strike continues.
More information as the situation develops
Momentous Relocation in London has announced that on Friday 14th October 2016, the company merged with Abels Moving Services and Gerson Relocation under common ownership led by Paul Evans. Phil Pertoldi, the current chairman of both Abels and Gerson, will remain with the new company as chairman of Abels Moving Services. The merger combines the strength of three leading moving and relocation brands delivering a wider menu of services, increased resources, and greater capacity to clients.
Under the Royal Warrant “By Appointment to Her Majesty the Queen”, Abels Moving Services is a highly acclaimed specialist in residential and international moving services and is also a leader in commercial moving and new furniture distribution. Abels has a reputation for delivering exemplary service.
Gerson Relocation (formerly Michael Gerson Ltd) has been synonymous with delivering unrivalled quality moving and relocation services to corporate clients since 1961. This attention to detail and customer focus led to the company becoming the very first relocation recipient of the ‘Queen’s Award for Export’; the company was also selected to move Margaret Thatcher both into and out of Number 10 Downing Street.
Momentous Relocation is a leader in international moving, relocation, commercial distribution and the movement of fine arts. Over the last two years, the company has more than doubled in revenue.
Commenting on the merger, Paul Evans, said “We are very excited about the future of the new group, given the enormous strengths and reputation of the three brands and the combined experience. We are delighted that Phil Pertoldi will remain with the Group and I know he is excited about working with us to maintain the quality-driven ethos of all three companies while making sure we adapt and grow to meet the changing expectations and needs of all of our clients.”
Also commenting on the merger, Michael Gerson, ex-chairman of Gerson Relocation, said “Congratulations, it’s really exciting news to hear and fantastic for the industry! I wish the company every success.”
Please contact enquiries@momentousrelocation.com for further details.
The Suddath Companies has announced a key addition to its Global Moving Services with the appointment of Christopher Jenkins as director of international business development.
Chris has over 12 years of experience in sales management within the international relocation industry, including nine previous years at Suddath® from 2005 to 2014, where he held various roles in B2C and B2B sales. In his new role, Chris will direct and manage the international relocation sales team as well as focus on maximising partnerships with the company’s overseas agent network to offer the strongest possible international programme.
“Chris brings a wealth of knowledge and a long history of great success in the international space,” said Larry Goldman, Vice President of Global Residential Sales. “His energy and enthusiasm is contagious and Suddath is very fortunate to have him back to lead our aggressive efforts in this business unit.”
“As consumers’ buying habits evolve and the need for even greater efficiencies and value are expected, I am pleased to bring my knowledge and experience back to Suddath to help meet these needs,” said Chris. “I look forward to driving the organisation forward and making Suddath a household name in the international moving arena.”
Photo: Christopher Jenkins
Fermont in Germany has helped raise €89,000 for the German Multiple Sclerosis Association (DMSG) by providing logistics services to the 13th Pfennigbazar (Penny Bazaar) held on 7 September at the Frankfurt Dominican Monastery.
The revenues of the two-day sale in the popular second-hand charity warehouse are mainly intended to benefit the DMSG in Hesse that provides consulting and therapeutic services for multiple sclerosis sufferers as well as new projects focusing on young multiple sclerosis patients.
Susie von Verschuer-Bär, CEO of Fermont and co-initiator and highly engaged member of the DMSG in Hesse, was delighted with the result at the end of the sale. “We earned EUR 89,000.00 in two days,” she said. “We are very satisfied with this.” Susie and her team have been the organisational backbone of the Pfennigbazar since it started in 2004. “The donations which were sorted by the volunteer helpers on seven collective appointments filled over 1,700 moving boxes.” Susie also explained that she had expected money to be harder to raise this year because of the support for refugees, but people had continued to be very generous.
“The Pfennigbazar is not only an important source of income, but it serves as a platform to inform about multiple sclerosis in general, to put a focus on our self-help organization and to inform about our various offers,” said Bernd Crusius, Managing Director of DMSG in Hesse. “A lot has actual happened to address young multiple sclerosis patients. One example is the online platform MS-Connect on which young multiple sclerosis patients can share their experiences in a protected space.”
The PfennigBazaar is popular for its low-priced designer clothes, exclusive evening dresses and elegant suits. Visitors could be sure to find something amongst the huge choice of high quality women’s, men’s and children’s clothes, household goods, art objects, bric-à-brac and toys in good condition.
Over 300 volunteer helpers had been in action for two days and had even started with the Pfennigbazar’s installation Monday before. They unpacked the goods, gave assistance to the clients and wrapped fragile items.
The DMSG in Hesse thanks sponsor Galeria Kaufhof, caterers JP-Ela Gourmet-Service and Evangelical Regional Association (which has provided the rooms of the Dominican Monastery) for their support and help. The DMSG in Hesse gets three quarters of the revenues and one quarter goes to the Hospice Association St. Katharina. Anything that has not been sold was given to other non-profit organisations that care for families in need or homeless people.
Photo: Susanne Freifrau von Verschuer, CEO Fermont; Renate von Metzler, Honorary Chairman DMSG; and Bernd Crusius, Managing Director DMSG.
Martin Brock from Fermont has become Germany’s best apprentice as a specialist in furniture, kitchen and removal services. Together with his training manager from Fermont, Veronika Acker, he travelled to Berlin and was honoured by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry at a celebratory gathering, which was anchored by the very popular German entertainer Barbara Schöneberger.
The Chamber of Commerce in Frankfurt on the Main honoured Martin for his outstanding results in the Hessian final exams. Susanne Freifrau von Verschuer, the CEO of Fermont was very proud and accompanied him on this special day.
A few weeks later, it was clear that he was not only the best apprentice in the Hessian exams, but he has also the best results compared with the results from all other German federal states. Martin Brock is still with Fermont and started a second apprenticeship as an office clerk in the Frankfurt Office.
Photo: Veronika Acker, Martin Brock, Susanne Freifrau von Verschuer
Photo credit: Stephan Krutsch Photographie
AIReS has recently announced two new pieces of technology designed to help clients: PuzzlePack and AIReSChatter.
PuzzlePack is a mobile puzzle game that’s designed to engage the children of relocating families, but it is fun and challenging for kids of all ages. The game challenges the player to fill a moving truck quickly to earn the most points and move on to the next level (twenty levels in total). Players earn bonus points for answering the mid-level trivia correctly and will want to play again and again to earn the most points and all the rewards. PuzzlePack was designed by AIReS in conjunction with Sword & Spirit Software and is available for download for free on Apple App Store for iOS and Google Play for Android.
AIReSChatter is a new client forum allows corporate mobility professionals and AIReS’ clients to share ideas and information with each other and allows them to ask and answer questions in an open forum. Additionally, the AIReS Consulting Services team will post key information from surveys, white papers, and articles of interest and benefit to clients.
Image: PuzzlePack
Graebel Relocation was recently named a signatory member of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the world’s largest corporate citizenship and sustainability initiative.
Companies that have signed the United Nations Global Compact are expected to align their operations and strategies with ten universally-accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment, and anti-corruption. By doing so, business, as a primary driver of globalization, can help ensure that markets, commerce, technology, and finance advance in ways that benefit economies and societies everywhere.
“We are very proud of Graebel’s CSR program and activities,” said Bill Graebel, Chief Executive Officer. “We determined that the UN Global Compact is an ideal initiative to unify our worldwide support for progressive human rights, labour, environmental and anti-corruption actions. In the area of human rights and labour we have identified being the ‘Employer of Choice’ as one of our critical company objectives. Further as we have expanded globally we have updated many of the company’s and supply chain policies and procedures to meet and exceed local requirements and to aggressively support our commitment to fair labour practices, freedom of association and to abolish child labour. We will use our ISO 14001 environmental program to support the UN Global Compact environment principles. Over the last year’s we have strengthened our anti-bribery programs and have conducted internal and external training. Graebel has many robust programs in place and will use the UN Global Compact annual ‘Communication on Progress’ to document these programs, identify areas for improvement and to establish metrics to measure our results”.
The Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact
Human Rights
Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and
Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.
Labour
Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
Principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;
Principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour; and
Principle 6: the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
Environment
Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;
Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and
Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.
Anti-Corruption
Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.
John Mason International has appointed Simon Hood to its executive board, as sales and marketing director.
Simon (32) joined the company to head up its marketing and sales team in 2015. Since then he has impressed in the role, raising the firm’s profile within the industry, in the wider relocation fraternity, and among consumers.
With a combination of creative flare and a perceptiveness of market trends, Simon has gained individual business success since starting out in 2009.
Simon has worked within the global mobility industry for eight years – and has been recognised for his skills, expertise and achievements on several occasions during that time. Most recently, he was named in the top 10 of the Best Global Moving Rising Star of the Year category, in the International Mobility Convention’s Achievement in Mobility Awards.
Since joining John Mason International, Simon has cemented its reputation as one of the leading international moving companies in the UK. “This is a very exciting time here – and we are thrilled to be welcoming Simon to the executive board,” said Noel Briscoe, Chief Operating Officer at John Mason International. “Our team is world-renowned for the high quality services and support it provides to those wishing to up roots and move to pastures new. Simon’s enthusiasm, innovation, fresh outlook and creative strengths will further enhance our reputation as leaders in this field.”
Based in Liverpool and London, John Mason International is one of the top 100 removals companies in the world – providing professional, high quality, services to and from the UK to international destinations. Founded in 1884, the firm has many years’ experience within the moving industry, coordinating moves – tailored to individual circumstances – by sea, road and air.
“I’m flattered to be asked to take on a more senior role at this long-established and ambitious company,” said Simon Hood. “This is a fantastic opportunity – and I’m looking forward to some challenging but enjoyable and exciting times ahead at John Mason International over the coming months and years. The industry is undergoing a large amount of change brought about by new regulations and growing technology. John Mason has an excellent reputation within the industry and I’m looking forward to ensuring this, whilst we continue to see the company grow.”
Photo: Simon Hood and Noel Briscoe