HeroITES: Leadership Team

Eddie Bates – Vice-President, Business Development, Europe

As Vice-President, Business Development (Europe), Eddie’s prime responsibility at HeroITES includes promoting and establishing new businesses within Europe and particularly in the UK. Once the business is set up, he also takes care of the overall performance including the operational and the financial activities. Working with the Business Development team based in India, Eddie manages the Marketing and Sales process and acts as the prime interface with clients and partners.

Eddie has more than 30 years of experience in outsourcing and has served several respectable global organizations such as Audi, Serco, EDS and Merchants. He has held profit center responsibility for several years and has enormous experience of handling business integration through M&A. He has worked in the UK, Germany and New Zealand.

Educated at St. Augustines College, Ramsgate, Kent in England, Eddie’s career began in 1962 as a trainee data processing operator with the Volkswagen Audi Group in the UK. He progressed to become the Head of Computer Services in 1973. In 1976, Eddie was promoted to the position of Director, Group Services, which included responsibilities for Group Computing, Administration, Personnel and Training.

As part of the diversification plan for Volkswagen Audi in 1978, Eddie was promoted to Managing Director of Blakelands Computer Services Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Audi Group (UK) Ltd. In this role, he was responsible for the provision of information technology services, not only to the Volkswagen Audi Group, but also to market services externally, particularly in the motor trade.

In 1980, Eddie was offered the opportunity to join RCA Ltd. (later to become Serco Ltd. through MBO) as Manager Operations, Europe. He was located in Germany for 10 years overseeing all outsourced facilities management contracts throughout mainland Europe. The highlight of this role was the management of computer service contracts to the European Space Agency, spanning five different locations throughout Europe. During this period, he had developed Serco’s business to provide a wide range of outsourcing services to a number of key international organizations.

In February 1989, Eddie took up a challenging position with the State-owned Enterprise GCS Ltd. (Government Computing Services) in New Zealand. He joined as General Manager Operations reporting directly to the Chief Executive. GCS had been established by the Government as a commercial entity, providing IT services initially to Government Departments as well as expanding into the Private Sector. Eddie was responsible for the Operational delivery of all IT services, managing a resource of 800 staff. In January 1994, he was promoted by the Board of Directors to the position of Chief Executive with total responsibility of the Company.

In November 1994, EDS (Electronic Data Systems) acquired both GCS Ltd. as well as Databank Ltd. (a company owned by the four major trading Banks in New Zealand). Databank provided IT services to the New Zealand Banking industry.

Eddie was appointed Managing Director of both the organizations in March 1995. His initial task was to merge the two companies keeping in mind the different cultures and to introduce the EDS corporate culture as well. This entailed transitioning 1800 employees to new employment contracts, working through a major consolidation program, reducing five very large Computer Centers to two as well as introducing new technologies and an additional range of capabilities and services now available through the EDS global operation. In January 1998, Eddie was promoted to the position of Regional Director, Business Development for Asia Pacific).

In April 2000, Eddie returned to the UK and took up a position as General Manager with Merchants Ltd. (a member of the Dimension Data Group), one of the largest contact center companies in the UK. In this role, Eddie was responsible for a portfolio of clients with full accountability for the business management of those clients, both from an operational delivery point of view as well as the financial performance of the business. During this period, Eddie had successfully established a new, purpose-built Customer Contact Centre in Scotland on behalf of a major International Bank. This operation was recognized by an independent consultancy organization, working on behalf of the Bank, as being one of the best, most efficient Customer Contact operations within the Financial Services sector in the UK.

In 1992, Eddie successfully completed the intensive three-month International Senior Management Program at Harvard Business School, Boston