With all the skills and personal qualities of C-suite level Business Unit Leader, I manage the tension between the demands for value creation of PE firms, and the challenges of the real-world, whether during market entry or in more mature commercial situations. My clients have included Citi Bank, Shell, BP, Total, Eni, Chevron, the American, British, German, Brazilian, Japanese, Dutch, Korean and Swiss Governments, the United Nations, European Union, World Bank and the world’s leading NGOs. This required building trust with major companies and stakeholders in situations where it is easily lost.A leader in international highly leveraged PE-backed companies for a decade operating in the most demanding of commercial and physical environments, I have delivered industry leading EDITDA in exceptionally competitive markets. I thrive in ambiguous environments, where my judgment and initiative decide success or failure, and where my ability to find and win clients and lead teams is permanently under the utmost pressure. These have been up to 850 in size (expats and locals), and I have delivered $60m EBITDA in the last ten years.Selected Achievements:• Delivered a significant financial improvement on Gardaworld’s Libya operation despite challenges ranging from political instability, war and the COVID-19 pandemic.• Achieved the highest results in the Division leading the business in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) despite the 2014 collapse in the oil price and the near simultaneous ISIS uprising. • Won significant work in the power sector with numerous multinationals who relied on us to inform their Libyan market re-entry or expansion strategy. • Won significant work with the US DoS for their newest embassy construction in the KRI. • Broke new ground by finding and partnering with an element of the Libyan national security establishment; trained and seconded national Policemen as a critical part of the security solution for several new power plant constructions. I thrive in market sectors where high risks must be managed exceptionally well to produce the large profits I have delivered. I am now seeking a career defining challenge where my leadership, profit creation, relationship management and ability to adapt to cultural contexts can deliver meaningful and enduring commercial results and value creation.
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Country Director UkraineIqarusDubai, Ae -
Country DirectorIqarus Jun 2024 - PresentEastern Europe -
Incident Response DirectorIqarus Mar 2024 - Jun 2024Somalia -
Regional Director, LibyaGardaworld Oct 2018 - Apr 2024LibyaGardaWorld provides risk management and logistics services to companies, governments and NGOs in some of the World’s most hostile environments. PE backed, it has a t/o of $4bn and more than 130,000 people. It’s growth and ROI have been market leading. I was appointed to lead the Libyan operation (which I grew to more than 800 staff) after the dismissal of the previous RD and given my existing knowledge of Libya (see below). The aim was to keep existing clients, find new ones, deliver high and stable EBITDA the PE backers demanded while managing the exceptionally complex political context on the ground. I succeeded in all of these objectives.Selected Achievements:• Won back a commercial performance of an industry leading EBITDA on a $25m t/o, a 140% improvement; and grew the company (including its contracted allies, including in the Libyan security establishment).• Successfully managed the reputational turnaround necessitated by a previous failure with a high profile diplomatic client.• Solved a potentially business ending moral crisis caused by these previous events, threating to destroy the local team with its knowledge and relationships, using my instinctive leadership skills to win trust. • Managed the many moral hazards working in Libya posed, any one of which could have ended relationships with our international clientele and tarnished our global reputation, maintaining a long-term growth and diversification strategy, high quality standards and a code of ethics. • Engineered an inventive solution meeting the very specific security needs of an engineering and construction company, meeting legal obstacles to armed protection by sub-contracting a neglected Libyan specialist police force, training, arming and mentoring them to enable the construction of two new powerplants. -
Regional Director, Kurdistan Region Of IraqGardaworld Feb 2014 - Oct 2018With its huge oil reserves, tourism potential and relative political stability, the KRI provided a huge opportunity for GardaWorld. The region was subsequently hit by the 2014 oil price crash and the ISIS rebellion. I mastered both these crisis and after four years passed to my successor a thriving going concern.I twice received recognition at our annual awards ceremony for the highest % margin business unit in the division. At its peak the business employed 700 local and international staff.Selected Achievements:• Rapidly established, after extensive engagement with local political stakeholders, local partner allies and potential clients, a fast growth strategy, using the near complete autonomy I was gifted by the management.• Negotiated and operated risk management and logistics contracts with the oil and gas super majors (including BP, Chevron and TAQA), the British and American Governments, the World Bank, numerous infrastructure service companies and international NGOs. • In addition to the core energy companies, NGO and diplomatic clientele, built an ever deeper relationship with the US Department of State, including the security solution for the 6 year build of the newest American Embassy. • Successfully managed the commercial operations of the business in an environment weak on legal norms and enforcement, including contract negotiation and delivery, dispute resolutions, quality control, fleet management. • Radically adjusted the firm’s strategy and operations due to the near simultaneous oil price crash in 2014 and the eruption of ISIS. • Changed the service offering and had either retained, or won back, 75% of GardaWorld’s client base by 2018 despite these unprecedented upheavals. • Safeguarded GardaWorld’s reputation by engineering the safe evacuation of more than 70 international engineers, despite their encirclement by ISIS terrorists, engaging with the many diplomatic missions and other stakeholder, executing an airborne rescue mission. -
Country Manager - LibyaAegis Defence Services Aug 2011 - Jan 2014LibyaAegis Defence Services was a British risk management and security company with offices in Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Somalia and Mozambique. With Colonel Gaddafi deposed, the international community, global corporations and NGOs were interested in working in the country. Regardless, all would require a level of risk management sophisticated enough to meet the challenges of a post-revolutionary, and then rapidly failing state. My role was to enter this market, provide these services and deliver the financial returns Aegis demanded for this high risk business.Selected Achievements:• Grew from zero a business with an EBITDA of 25% and a staff (local and expat) of 90.• Led and delivered a comprehensive on-the-ground survey of Libya its post-revolutionary threats and opportunities, providing BP, Shell and others with critical decision support analysis needed to plan their market re-entry and shipping of oil and gas products.• Established relationships with the post-revolutionary defacto power brokers in the country, ensuring goodwill and establishing pathways to ensure compliance with all known laws. • Gradually grew the key elements of the Libyan business, its unrivalled market leadership as a provider of risk management. • Developed risk management products and services in dialogue with potential clients leading to rapid expansion, including winning deals with Occidental, BP, Shell, numerous Governments and NGOs.• Maintained the focus and employee engagement of the team despite the exceptionally demanding circumstances, providing strong, inspiring leadership which kept the confidence of everyone in-country.• Created the conditions that enabled the first wave of oil and gas majors, service companies and NGOs to return to work, and among others, supported the World Bank and the Swiss, Brazilian, Norwegian and British embassies to return to work, securing their supply lines, people and assets and reputations.
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Regional Director - Project MatrixAegis Defence Services Mar 2011 - Jul 2011Iraq
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Deputy Regional DirectorAegis Defence Services Jun 2010 - Mar 2011
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AssociateR&F Defence Services Jan 2010 - Jun 2010Civil contingency planning in Libya
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CaptainThe British Army May 2002 - Nov 2009For the Royal Green Jackets and The Rifles. Mentor to the Afghan National Army.
Nicholas Bennett Education Details
Frequently Asked Questions about Nicholas Bennett
What company does Nicholas Bennett work for?
Nicholas Bennett works for Iqarus
What is Nicholas Bennett's role at the current company?
Nicholas Bennett's current role is Country Director Ukraine.
What schools did Nicholas Bennett attend?
Nicholas Bennett attended University Of The West Of England, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
Who are Nicholas Bennett's colleagues?
Nicholas Bennett's colleagues are Louise Shaw-Jones, Aska Aseno, Sasa Mladenovic, Eugenijus Martinkus, Akhila Thilakan, Shahzaib Naziri, Kaz Secker.
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Nicholas Bennett
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Nicholas Bennett
Washington Dc-Baltimore Area
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