Batelco bids farewell to Tony Hart

The lunch was held yesterday at the Regency Inter-Continental Hotel's Versailles restaurant.

Batelco's Chairman , Hassan Ali Juma, and the Governor of the BMA joined a gathering of some 20 Batelco Board members, executive managers and new Chief Executive, Peter Kaliaropoulos, to convey their official goodbyes to the man who has successfully led the company into a new era of Bahrain's telecommunications market.

Tony joined Batelco eight years ago as Chief Operating Officer - Customer Services. Then, in the summer of 2002, he took the reins as Chief Executive and steered the company through 'Project Get Ready!' and the historic introduction of competition to the telecoms market in December 2003. During the last three years under his leadership, Batelco has enjoyed outstanding performance and the company has posted record results for every quarter since the introduction of competition.

"Tony's knowledge and understanding of our market combined with his enthusiasm for the job and good sense of humour made him a real asset to the Batelco team," said Hassan Ali Juma, Chairman at Batelco. "He is a true gentleman who will be missed by many people here in Bahrain."

"During his tenure as Chief Executive, Tony managed Batelco's transformation into a customer-focused, fast-moving and highly-effective market leader that provides world-class state-of-the-art communications solutions for its customers," added Hassan.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of my Batelco colleagues," says Tony Hart. "As I have said many times before, it is the talent, skills and efforts of Batelco's management and employees that have driven the success of our company. I am extremely proud to have served with such a gifted and dedicated group of people."

"Although it is difficult for me to say goodbye, it is very satisfying to know that I am leaving the company in excellent hands," says Tony. "Peter is highly qualified for the job and has a wealth of global experience which will prove invaluable to Batelco and our customers, as the company moves forward into an ever more competitive marketplace.'