Finance Monthly Global Awards 2022 South Africa 17 www.finance-monthly.com About EugenedeVilliers “After leaving school, I started my career in retail, working as a sales assistant in the Edgars chain while studying parttime. I was recognised and fast-tracked on a management development path and managed a store by the age of 21. After completing my degree, I moved into the Edcon Centralised credit head office before being chosen to start a regional bank’s credit card division (Boland Bank). The bank’s most notable achievements during my tenure were achieving notoriety for acquiring the largest food retailer and representing 12% of the national acquiring market. We also founded the second retail in-store credit card in the country – that being Ackermans, who are part of the Pepkor Group. This is where my journey with the Pepkor group started, back in 1995. After a stint with RCS (now part of BNP Paribas), where I set up the only non-branded credit card in the country, I moved back to retail at Pepkor, where I set up Tenacity Financial Services. We serve all the CFH (clothing, footwear and home) retailers in the group. Pepkor is the largest CFH retailer in South Africa. Our CFH brands include Ackermans, Pep Stores, Shoe City, Tekkie Town, Refinery and Dunns. As previously mentioned, I studied part-time to achieve my Bachelor's degree in Commerce, but learning cannot stop there. Through the years, I have continued my formal education through Oxford Business School, Stanford and MIT, but I ammost proud of recently completing my Master’s degree in the Business of Fashion through LIM College in New York. This was a two-year journey, requiring time sacrifices every evening and early rising over weekends and holidays to ensure I stayed on top of things and met all the deadlines. Being awarded my Masters with Honours was the culmination of the dedication and passion that I put into my studies. I believe in always keeping busy, so if I am not working or studying, I love to read, walk (trail-walking), cook, or spend time with my photography. In a highly structured financial working environment, I believe creativity needs to be nurtured. Of my hobbies, cooking is my great passion, followed shortly by photography, where I concentrate on wildlife. I spend time in the bush as often as time permits and am particularly fond of Phinda in Northern Natal and Kenya.” CEO | Tenacity Financial Services Eugene DeVilliers Inahighly structured financial working environment, I believe creativity needs tobe nurtured.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Mjk3Mzkz