Thomsons Online Benefits Appoints Andrei Pantelimon as General Manager and Continues the Developmentof the Office in Cluj-Napoca

Thomsons Online Benefits, one of the world’s leading employee benefits software providers, has appointed Andrei Pantelimon as the General Manager of its fast growing office in Cluj-Napoca. Andrei Pantelimon is Thomsons 100th employee in Cluj, and he joinsin this important new role to continue Thomsons expansion in the region.The Cluj office forms an important part of the Thomsons global strategy, and Andrei will also join the global senior management team, assisting in delivering group strategy as well as driving the operation in Cluj.
Michael Whitfield, Chief Executive Officer at Thomsons said: “Since we started in Romaniathree years ago, we have been very pleased with the way in which the people of Cluj have embraced Thomsons, bringing their high performance and quality to our business. As we now have 100 people in Cluj, we need a local senior manager to run our business there, and manage our continued expansion”.
“It is only natural that with this expansion, we strengthen our local management team with a new leader, and the appointment of Andrei reinforces our commitment to our people there, to Cluj-Napoca as a town, and our position as a leading technology employer in Romania – we are here to stay and intend to grow a lot further”, added Whitfield.
Andrei Pantelimon said: “I am proud to be joining of one of the most successful employee benefits software businesses in the world. I am really looking forward to leading the Cluj-Napoca team towards becoming the strongest of the four Thomsons offices worldwide. I have been aware of Thomsons for some years now, and I have seen them grow successfully year after year. It is clear to me that Thomsons have a local competitive advantage because they are a technology business that clearly cares for its employees, and which invests into developing them, as well as their Darwin technology. I love the fact that they have placed the Thomsons Academy in Cluj, it shows how much they trust their team in Cluj to develop their global talent. I can’t wait to get started and look forward to leading the business forward”.
“Thomsons employs special people all over the world, and our people in Cluj are no exception to this. When we decided to find a General Manager to lead the Cluj office for the very first time, we wanted to make sure that we chose a leader who was not only locally experienced, but who was also full of passion, energy and who would inspire and develop Thomsons People in Romania to even higher levels of performance. In Andrei, we have not only found someone who is all of these things, but also someone who is thorough professional, and who clearly demonstrates the values of a true Thomsons person already. We are so pleased that Andrei is joining us at this exciting time in our global growth”, said Michael Whitfield.
Andrei Pantelimon has over 15 years of work experience in technology, while the past 10 years he spent at Endava, where he founded the Managed Services division,and coordinated over 150 people in 8 locations in Romania, Moldova and Macedonia, as well as in the United Kingdom (London and Glasgow).
Among his responsibilities as General Manager of Thomsons in Cluj-Napoca, the most important will be todevelop further the local strategy and implement that with the local teams and also to ensure that the strategic investment in Romania deliver on their promises. He joins Thomsons on 7th July 2014.
Thomsons office in Cluj-Napoca has hired a further 30 people since the beginning of 2014 and, with Andrei joining, have now reached 100 employees in Cluj, which has contributed to a 12% growth in turnover and a 19% increase in profit for the global business last year. The company also launched The Thomsons Academy, its global training centre in Clujin 2013, an investment of £450,000 (521,500 euros). The Thomsons Academy isthe only training base for the company’s locations in London, Singapore, Cluj and Silicon Valley in San Francisco.