Board of Directors
Executive Directors
Pascal Bazin (Age 51)
Appointed to the Board 1 January 2008
Chief Executive (since January 2008)
He joined Avis France as President in 2005 from Redcats, the third largest home shopping group worldwide, where he was CEO of the Redcats specialised brands division and Senior Vice President of Group Strategy/Development. His previous appointments include Chief Executive Officer of a number of international divisions of the cosmetic group,
Yves Rocher. He began his career in 1980 with management consulting firm Peat Marwick Mitchell, after graduating from Polytechnique school in Paris.
Jean-Pierre Bizet (Age 59)
Appointed to the Board 29 October 2002
Executive Deputy Chairman (since May 2004)
He was appointed a non-executive Director of the Board in October 2002.
In May 2005 he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of s.a. D’Ieteren n.v.,
and he is also a Director of Belron s.a.
Lesley Colyer (Age 55)
Appointed to the Board 18 April 2002
Group HR and Corporate Affairs Director (since April 2002).
She joined Avis Europe in April 1977 and held a variety of positions before
being appointed Director of Personnel in 1990. She assumed her current responsibilities at flotation in 1997. Prior to joining Avis, she worked for the Jaeger Group and Harrods.
Simon Palethorpe (Age 39)
Appointed to the Board 6 December 2004
Group Commercial Director (since December 2004)
He joined Avis Europe from the John Lewis Partnership where he was Finance Director for John Lewis Department Stores. He was previously Managing Director of John Lewis Direct. His earlier career includes appointments with Levi Strauss Europe and PepsiCo (latterly called Tricon Global Restaurants).
Martyn Smith (Age 52)
Appointed to the Board 11 September 2002
Group Finance Director (since September 2002)
He joined Avis Europe from John Menzies plc where he held the position
of Group Finance Director from 1999. Prior to joining Menzies, he was
Group Financial Controller for Inchcape plc, and previously held a number
of financial roles with Inchcape plc and Rothmans International.
Non-executive Directors
Alun Cathcart (Age 63) † #
Appointed to the Board 3 February 1997
Chairman (since May 2004)
Chairman of the Nominations Committee
Until 1 January 1999 he was Chairman and Chief Executive of Avis Europe plc and served as Interim Chief Executive from November 2003 until March 2004. He spent 14 years in executive positions in the transportation industry before joining Avis Europe in 1980, and became Chief Executive in 1983. He is executive Chairman of EMAP plc and Chairman of Palletways Group Limited.
Les Cullen (Age 56) † # *
Appointed to the Board 25 May 2004
Chairman of the Audit Committee
He has held successive appointments as Group Finance Director of STC plc,
De La Rue plc, Goodman Fielder Ltd, Inchcape plc and Prudential plc, having previously held senior financial roles with Black & Decker and GrandMet.
During the last few years, he has also been Chairman of a number of private equity-backed companies. He is a non-executive Director and Chairman of the Audit Committees of DTZ Holdings plc, Interserve plc, F&C Global Smaller Companies plc and BT Pension Scheme Trustees Ltd. He is also a trustee of the charity Sustrans Ltd.
Roland D’Ieteren (Age 66) † #
Appointed to the Board 3 February 1997
Since May 2005 he has been Chairman of s.a. D’Ieteren n.v., having previously been President and Chief Executive Officer since 1975. He joined s.a. D’Ieteren n.v. in 1971. He is a non-executive Director of Belron s.a.
Benoit Ghiot (Age 38)
Appointed to the Board 15 December 2004
He is Chief Financial Officer of s.a. D’Ieteren n.v., having joined the Company
in 2002, and is also a member of the Board of Directors of Belron s.a..
Prior to joining the D’Ieteren group, he was Group Controller and Strategic Planning Director with the Belgian retail group GIB.
Gilbert van Marcke de Lummen (Age 70)
Appointed to the Board 3 February 1997
From November 1987 until the sale of the Group’s leasing business he was Group Leasing Director. He has been employed by s.a. D’Ieteren n.v. since 1962, retired in 2002 and is a member of the Board of s.a. D’Ieteren n.v..
He is a non-executive Director of Belron s.a. and of s.a. Cofinimmo n.v.
Malcolm Miller (Age 52) † # *
Appointed to the Board 21 February 2001
Chairman of the Remuneration Committee
He is Chief Executive of Raymarine plc. He was Chief Executive of Pace Micro Technology plc from 1997 to 2002, and was formerly Chief Executive, Europe for Sega. His earlier career was with Amstrad PLC, culminating in appointment as Managing Director.
Axel von Ruedorffer (Age 65) † # *
Appointed to the Board 27 June 2001
From 1984 to 2002 he was a member of the Board of Managing Directors
of Commerzbank AG, having joined the bank in 1967 and was responsible for Accounting and Taxes, Compliance, Financial Control and Internal Auditing. He is a non-executive Director of a number of companies, including Audi AG, Stiebel Eltron Group and a number of financial institutions.
Pierre Alain De Smedt (Age 63) † # *
Appointed to the Board 1 February 2007
He is Chairman of Febiac npa (Belgian Automobile Association). He was
with Volkswagen for 25 years, managing operations in Belgium and South America and was appointed Chairman of Volkswagen’s Spanish SEAT business in 1997. He moved to Renault for five years, becoming Deputy Director General for Renault Groupe SA. He currently holds a number of directorships with Belgacom, CNP, Deceuninck, Valeo and Alcopa.
† Member of the Remuneration Committee
# Member of the Nominations Committee
* Member of the Audit Committee
