13_int. community
18.04.2005
19:27 Uhr
Seite 134
international community news
CARGOLUX (30/03) In line with Cargolux’s expansion in the Near and Middle East region, the company introduces a weekly service to Amman/ Jordan, starting on 30 March, 2005. CV 7943 is operated every Wednesday, with late evening departure in Luxembourg, arriving in Amman on Thursday morning. On board Cargolux’s B747-400 freighters to this new destination, mostly construction equipment, machinery, and spare parts are flown, contributing to the growth of local industries. www.cargolux.com
JPMORGAN LUXEMBOURG
Ribbon Ceremony to inaugurate new headquarters (14/04) After a "merger or 2 or 3" and a period of delays and confusion, partially brought on by the need to install a specially constructed vault to hold a treasury valued at over 40 billion euros, the ribbon was finally cut to officially open JP Morgan's new “European Bank & Business Centre” in Senningerberg. American Ambassador to Luxembourg, Peter Turpelek was on hand to do the honours and he claimed that being posted to Luxembourg was like "winning the lottery" for him. The new building will be home to some 800 employees, and also houses the impressive but "difficult" JP Morgan Chase Art Collection. The firm has had a presence in Luxembourg for 32 years, and was formally located in the Grund in a renovated brewery. The company plans to spend 7 billion on technologies in 2005, Quite frankly, the offices are not as attractive as J.P.Morgan's figures, which were outstanding in 2004…
AGENDA 03/05
Classic FirstTuesday on INDIA: From BPO to KPO and beyond FirstTuesday Luxembourg in co-operation with evalueserve and HPMI. More and more business processes are executed abroad. In order to do business nowadays, the markets have opened and extended not only across border. Remote business partners are becoming mainstream. http://www.hpmint.com
03/06
British Chamber Lunch Jacques Santer, former Prime Minister of Luxembourg "The European Constitution: A constitution for a new Europe" www.bcc.lu
07/06
Classic FirstTuesday on Project Management FirstTuesday Luxembourg in co-operation with Luxembourg members of PMI. Today’s project management is not only confined to the [lower] executing levels but is strongly dependant and influencing on senior management unless board level commitment. www.firsttuesday.lu
06/06
ABAL Luncheon in cooperation with Miami University Professor Joseph A. (Jay) Kayne, Ph.D. will speak on "The concept and teaching of entrepreneurship." 12:00 Hilton Luxembourg For more information contact parra@amcham.lu www.amcham.lu
134 paperJam mai 2005
CHARLES OAKES & CO.
Leveraging networks for start ups A FAMILIAR FACE ON THE networking scene is that of Charles Oakes, Managing Director, Charles Oakes & Co. S.à.r.l. Another example of an entrepreneur reinventing himself, he held positions for 20 years in IT for major institutions (including EDS and SONY) and gathering a lot of experience along the way. Charles decided to put that experience to profitable use by starting his own business in 2002. When it quickly became clear that there was a need for good value resourcing and IT solutions, he steered rapidly into this area. This ability to be "agile and flexible" when starting up a new venture is one of the keys to success according to Charles. Another is networking. The organisation now provides to the Luxembourg, Belgian, UK, and German markets. "If you haven't got a network, one of the first things to focus on is building one up." Charles views Luxembourg as a great place to network with very high quality people.
The networking he's speaking about isn't limited to organised events, but also the network of top people that has grown organically within the IT world. Tech people, busy and nomadic by nature, meet a lot of other people within their business. "Clients who trust us recommend us to other clients." An advantage of networking is to keep costs down. "We work hard to keep overheads to a minimum," says Charles. Overexpansion and high initial expenses cause a lot of businesses to fail. "You need to keep the business lean. The IT industry is way ahead in doing things electronically and we leverage this throughout our processes, allowing us to focus our time on servicing clients. Only now that business has grown to the point where we’ve completely outgrown our old facilities are we moving to larger offices." It isn’t enough to simply have access to a network. You need to like what you're doing and be the right person. There's a lot of competition and a network can help you to know what that competition is
doing. You also need to "really know the business, maintain strong business ethics, listen to your clients, respond to their needs, and deliver what they ask for while focussing on value." It sounds simple, but it's surprising how many businesses collapse by failing to adhere to some basic principles. Charles, like a lot of people, was forced to react to the downturn in market conditions which started in 2000, which he sees as a reaction to the bloated market of the preceding years. He's seen many changes in Luxembourg. Remaining flexible and constantly ensuring the business remains aligned with the marketplace is a strategy a lot of people are adopting. "Our goal is to grow with our clients," he says. His clients are official organisations, major IT companies, service providers and financial organisations. As well as IT-Solutions, Charles Oakes & Co. arranges short and long term contracts, permanent employees, and specialises in tailor made hybrid solutions. ■ M. C.
Charles Oakes: “A need for no nonsense, good value solutions.” Photo: Olivier Minaire (Blitz)
New Amman Services