Syntegra has created a pan-European sales team to manage its growing European Trading Systems business. It replaces the previous system of reliance on local distributors.
The company says the new sales operation was formed to provide a single point of contact for the management of individual accounts, both in the UK and in continental Europe, including liaison with local distributors and agents.
Ben Fursman will lead the team as head of sales for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and will continue to report directly to Rod MacDonald, managing director for trading systems at Syntegra. Syntegra has appointed four new account managers to the European team of account managers and channel managers: Richard Seekins, Philip Cooney, Matthew Gadd and Kevin Sparks.
The new team will manage direct sales activity and distributor relationships in Syntegra’s primary European markets – the UK, Holland, Spain, Germany, Italy and Switzerland – as well as a further 26 sales and service agents throughout the region.
Richard Seekins is a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and intercom systems specialist and, having previously worked with companies Syntegra endorses from a systems integration perspective, has a clear understanding of Syntegra’s strategy for trading systems. He was most recently global sales director at Speakerbus, and co-founded Purple Voice.
Philip Cooney has over ten years experience in dealing room technology in both the City and Europe, having worked for Pegasus Data Services, SunGard Data Systems and Reuters.
Matthew Gadd was previously strategic alliances and senior account manager at Reuters, and Kevin Sparks joins Syntegra from BT, where he directed major global investment banking accounts.
“We are delighted to welcome such high-calibre talent to the European sales team to further augment our sales capability in the region,” says Ben Fursman, head of sales for EMEA, Syntegra. “The combination of our customer knowledge, technical capability and the strength of our local distributors throughout Europe means we are unrivalled in our ability to respond to customer requirements.”
Rod MacDonald, managing director for trading systems at Syntegra, added:”As a full service provider, our expanded European team is well-positioned to respond to individual client requirements – including systems integration projects. I believe the ITS strategy with its parallel investment in VoIP, and ITS Myriad, truly provides us with a winning combination in today’s difficult market. The new appointments illustrate our commitment to sharing our vision for the virtual trading organisation with financial institutions throughout Europe, and to delivering on this unique proposition.”
Syntegra currently sells directly within the UK and serves the European market indirectly through strong, local distributors.