Stevenage, UK & Montreal, Canada – August 18, 2004 – BiblioMondo Inc., a leading provider of integrated solutions to the world's public, academic and special libraries today announced the retirement of library technology industry veteran Humphrey Pickering, and the arrival of Simon Hair, and Peter Hudson to the UK office. With this transition, commencing with the appointment of Mr. Jean-Pierre Sakoun to the position of European Vice-President, and completed with the recent promotion of Jennet Ashton to the position of Library Product Manager, BiblioMondo brings together a new team of leaders for Europe and the UK to complement Mr. Pickering's strong legacy.
“We would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to Humphrey Pickering for his 23 years of pioneering work with this company,” said Ian Ferguson, BiblioMondo President & CEO. “Not only has he been instrumental in bringing BiblioMondo to the leadership position we now enjoy, but he has been a central figure in our promising direction for the future. As I bid a fond farewell to a great colleague, I welcome three dynamic senior executives in Simon, Peter and Jennet under the inspired leadership of Mr. Jean-Pierre Sakoun. I am confident that this new team will only reinforce the strong business values, and consummate leadership Humphrey has instilled in this company.”
With successful track records spanning the data services, media, advertising and telecommunications industries Simon Hair and Peter Hudson have built solid reputations through decades of customer-focused sales and service.
About Simon Hair
Before coming to BiblioMondo, Sales Manager Simon Hair held senior sales and major account management positions with EMAP, Dialog and leading news and data services provider, Lexis-Nexis where he was successful in saving the company's BBC account and expanding it by more than 35% over the following year. A veteran major account manager, Simon has received certification from leading management training institutes and programmes including the Miller Heinemann L.A.M.P (Large Account Management Programme), ICC Information Ltd by Huthwaite Research, and Management International Partners. With decades of experience and a long, successful track record, Simon has distinguished himself for a client-centric approach and results-oriented management style. Simon welcomes UK customers to contact him at shair@bibliomondo.com
About Peter Hudson
Peter Hudson has held a variety of senior positions in large technology companies, including Manager of Support Programmes, and Operations Director for Fujitsu ICL Ltd, and Programme Director for Nortel Networks Ltd. The hallmark of his career to date has been a uniquely customer-focused approach which ensures that client needs are well understood, documented and achieved through his projects. Peter has a degree in Business Studies, is Prince 2 accredited and has managed many major customer accounts through long and multi-phased life-cycles. He is looking forward to meeting all of BiblioMondo UK customers, and invites them to contact him with any questions at phudson@bibliomondo.com.
About Humphrey Pickering
Humphrey Pickering's career in the library world began in the early 1960s as a student at the renowned Manchester Library School. From his first library job as a counter assistant in Wellington (Shropshire) library, Mr. Pickering moved to the Oldham Borough Libraries where he was made manager of the library system in the early 1970s. While active in the Association of Assistant Librarians (AAL), and ultimately appointed regional chairman for the association, Mr. Pickering developed a strong affinity for the library technology industry and through his relations with Oldham Borough Library System vendor, ALS, in 1980 joined the company as Sales Manager for continental Europe. In the decades leading up to the ALS merger with Best-Seller to create BiblioMondo, Mr. Pickering established the company's strong market position in continental Europe and south pacific winning many major accounts in German, France Switzerland and New Caledonia.
Looking forward to his retirement, Humphrey said “I am planning to revive several interests that have been on hold during recent, very busy years, such as my interest in archaeology, classical history and the origin of languages. I will also have more time to revisit some of the fascinating, hidden corners of Europe and further a field that my job has taken me to. There have been many good friends made over the past 43 years and, unfortunately, I have lost touch with some of them; it would be good to renew contact. My new email address is humphrey.pickering3@ntlworld.com or you could reach me via my home phone number: +44 (0)1462 639259
About BiblioMondo Inc.
Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, BiblioMondo provides integrated library automation solutions to the world's leading public, academic and special libraries, and consortia. With a network of 1400 libraries served by offices in Britain, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada and the United States, BiblioMondo brings its clients unparalleled global reach, powered by comprehensive local, multilingual support. Our web-centric, multi-platform family of products reaches an estimated 19 million users worldwide.
