Liliana Solomon, CEO Vodafone Romania - "London is the most effervescent city in Europe, unique, cosmopolite".

APRILIE 01, 2008, 08:00 EEST

She settled in London in 2000, when she took the position of CFO of T-Mobile UK. Four years later, she joined the Cable&Wireless team as Group Financial Controller and CFO (C&W UK, Europe, Asia and US), member of the Executive Board. She says she has gained a lot of her professional expertise in Britain.

"The Brits are a cosmopolite, non-conformist society, very open to other cultures. You are appreciated and judged as a person, for the experience, value and contribution you carry with you and not for your nationality.

I cannot speak about my stay in London as something in the past, because I still live there. It has been my second home for well over eight years and I love to go back there whenever I can find the time. London combines cultural and business life ideally. One of the experiences I fondly remember dates back to my time at T-Mobile.

I had colleagues of 20 different nationalities and together with them I introduced a team-building model: each of us would host a dinner party serving dishes specific to their country of origin. I thus sampled the Irish, Pakistani, Chinese, Indian, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka cuisines and many others. I also learned a lot interesting things about the cultures of those countries, from every part of the world."

Dan Petrovici, marketing lecturer at the University of Kent - "I was impressed by the passion of soccer fans".

At 36, he has two colleges in his CV, two master's degrees and two doctoral degrees, and his career spans over two directions - marketing and nutrition research on the one hand and teaching on the other. He left for Britain in 1997 to attend an international marketing master course.

"The British academic environment has impressed me with its rigour and creativeness. I lived in the North of the country (Newcastle) for four years. I was surprised by the regional differences. The image most Romanians have about English people as being reserved is more compatible with the South of the country, while up North, mentality is closer to that which is characteristic to Latin people.

One of the memorable experiences has to do with football. I was impressed by the passion of the Newcastle United supporters. During game days, the streets are invaded by supporters wearing black and white jerseys going to the stadium. It is an electrifying atmosphere, which generates a general good mood and of course euphoria in case of victory."

George Iacobescu, CEO Canary Wharf Group - "Britain is the point where the world's cultural and financial interests converge".

A graduate of the Civil and Industrial Engineering Faculty of Bucharest, Iacobescu immigrated to the United States well over 30 years ago. He worked at Olympia and York, as vice-president for development and construction of World Financial Center (New York), and of Olympia Center and Neiman Marcus Buildings (Chicago). The London Docklands project brought him back on the continent.

"I settled in the United Kingdom at the end of '80s, when I started to work on the Canary Wharf development project, the most extensive regeneration project in Europe. I find that there are many synergies between Romania and Britain, from business and environmental issues to arts and theatre.

One of the biggest flaws the Brits have is the capacity to debate even when debate is less important than decision. The biggest quality - the extraordinary power to accept, understand and integrate people from outside their country. They are a tolerant people and have a strong sense of fair play."