Director - Business Excellence at TATWEER DUBAI LLC (a member of Dubai Holding)
United Arab Emirates
- Current
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- Director - Business Excellence at TATWEER DUBAI LLC (a member of Dubai Holding)
- Director at Synergy Performance Ltd.
- Past
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- Director of Awards & Partnerships at EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management)
- Investment Leader at Unilever Ventures
- Managing Director at Persil Services Ltd
- Education
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- Financial Services professional training
- Università degli Studi di Torino
- Recommended
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Laura Salasco’s Summary
Experienced board level executive who helps companies to achieve significant growth by designing, planning and executing new strategies and major implementation projects, in a direct leadership role or as advisor to management.
Highly reputed Business Excellence leader and renowned EFQM Award assessor. Track record of building high-performance teams and creating effective partnerships across different cultures, business sizes and management styles.
A visionary who created new consumer-facing venture capital-backed businesses, and provided thought leadership in environments where chaotic new technologies needed to be commercially evaluated and driven for shareholder benefit.
An English-Italian bilingual with 20 years’ international management experience, has led multi-site cross-functional European projects, delivering on time, in full, below budget and exceeding customer expectations.
Laura Salasco’s Specialties:
· Strategic analysis and planning
· Design and implementation of start-up organisations
· Project management
· Change management
· Quality culture & Business Excellence
· Corporate Social Responsibility
Laura Salasco’s Experience
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Director - Business Excellence
TATWEER DUBAI LLC (a member of Dubai Holding)
(Government Agency; Real Estate industry)
November 2008 — Present (9 months)
• Responsible for Business Excellence strategy and implementation at Tatweer Corporate and its 10 Business Entities.
• In charge of the internal recognition programme “Executive Chairman Award” and all external recognition initiatives. -
Director
Synergy Performance Ltd.
(Management Consulting industry)
July 2006 — Present (3 years 1 month)
- Business formation / transformation in a Venture Capital context
- Non-Executive Director roles in VC-backed or Corporate start-up businesses
- Business Excellence and business performance improvement -
Director of Awards & Partnerships
EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management)
(Non-Profit; Non-Profit Organization Management industry)
March 2007 — October 2008 (1 year 8 months)
Key achievements:
• Reviewed policies and operational execution of the EFQM Excellence Award, making assessment more relevant to business objectives and top management needs.
• Revitalised the EFQM partnership with national quality/excellence bodies in Europe and created the foundations for new strategic partnerships with international performance improvement organisations such as JIPM and MEQA.
• Developed and performed a new “Quick Scan” EFQM assessment that delivers strategic feedback based on minimum supporting documentation and a very limited site visit time. Validated for National, European and Global Assessment.
• Developed and piloted the new EFQM Global Award platform, which will enable the recognition of the capability by high profile multinationals to truly manage themselves as global entities. Launched at EFQM Forum (end Oct 2008). -
Investment Leader
Unilever Ventures
(Public Company; 11-50 employees; Venture Capital & Private Equity industry)
November 2004 — December 2005 (1 year 2 months)
Investment Leader in the seed venture capital arm of Unilever Corporate Venturing Group, offering investment management and incubator services to corporate start-ups.
Key responsibilities:
· investment evaluation (industry research, business planning, financial modelling)
· strategic planning (marketing & commercial strategy, business development, supply chain)
· implementation support (project management, executive coaching)
· holding a Non-executive Director position in the start-up company.
Key achievements:
· Led the creation project of Iota NanoSolutions Ltd., a revolutionary new technology venture with a valuation of £100m in its first 7 years. Identified commercial applications and obtained funding.
· Delivered in 5 weeks the project plan for the formation of PharmaKodex Ltd., a Joint Venture in the pharmaceutical field with a valuation of £50m in its first 4 years, between Unilever and a leading AIM-quoted Speciality Pharma company. -
Managing Director
Persil Services Ltd
(Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Retail industry)
January 2002 — October 2004 (2 years 10 months)
Founder and first Managing Director of Persil Services Ltd, retail dry cleaning & photo processing company based in J Sainsbury’s supermarkets.
Key achievements:
· In 2.5 years transformed a business idea into a company with 3 Executive Board reports, 300 people and £10m annualised turnover.
· Opened 8 pilot stores on schedule over 3 months with an investment of £700k and a 12.5% budget underspend, achieving annualised turnover of £1.2m. Opened further 30 stores in 2003.
· Obtained additional funding from Unilever to continue rollout, and attracted a third party investor, Bank of Scotland. Total investment £4m.
· Increased turnover and profitability by implementing the Instant Photos & Carpet Cleaning services (£0.6m revenue per annum at 70% gross margin).
· Maintained high levels of quality/customer service, confirmed by satisfaction/mystery shopper scores above 85/100 in 6 surveys. -
Operations Director
myhome Services Ltd.
(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Consumer Services industry)
July 1999 — December 2001 (2 years 6 months)
Head of Production and Logistics and member of the founding Executive Team of myhome Services Ltd., a home services company offering home cleaning and home delivery laundry & dry cleaning services.
Key achievements:
· Project planned and executed the acquisition of the laundry processing plant Palace Laundry, maintaining quality performance and staff commitment.
· Managed the laundry plant, with two direct reports, operations staff of 40 and turnover of £1.2m, maintaining high standards of service whilst increasing the customer base by 300% in 2000 and 200% in 2001.
· Introduced in the laundry plant, first in its peer group, product specifications, process flowcharts, staff skill profiles and pay scales, training objectives, targets and plans, resulting in an increase of plant efficiency of 40-60%.
· Took responsibility for the company operations and achieved implementation ahead of plan of the new sales processes, the B2B channel and the redesigned home cleaning supply chain. -
European Environmental Development Manager
Unilever
(Public Company; Consumer Goods industry)
1997 — 1999 (2 years)
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European Category Quality Manager
Unilever
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Consumer Goods industry)
1994 — 1997 (3 years)
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European Product Development Manager
Unilever
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Consumer Goods industry)
1989 — 1994 (5 years)
Laura Salasco’s Education
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Financial Services professional training
IMC , Investment Management Certificate , 2006
The Financial Services Authority-approved threshold competency examination for investment managers and advisors seeking Approved Person status.
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Università degli Studi di Torino
Chemistry , 1982 — 1989
Thesis on quantum mechanics applied to the IT modelling of crystal structures.
Winner of 2 National Awards, from the President of the Italian Republic and the Italian Chemical Industry Association.
Additional Information
Laura Salasco’s Honors:
National Award "Alfiere del Lavoro" from the President of the Italian Republic
National Award "Federchimica - per un futuro intelligente" from the Italian Chemical Industry Association.
