Thomas Mathews Email & Phone Number

United Arab Emirates

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Dubai, Uae

IPSOS is the third largest research and consulting organization in the world and the largest agency in the middle east. Specialties: Market entry strategy, market assessment, market sizing, growth strategy, feasibility studies, diversification strategy, competitor bench-marking, strategic analysis & intelligence, market research study management, primary and secondary research, business development supportKey Recent Project/Engagements- Formulated a customer acquisition and retention strategy for the largest fresh produce market/mall in the UAE. This included setting up a KPI matrix, base lining them for future performance monitoring.- Conducted a detailed market assessment of the architectural glass market in the GCC and developed a new market sizing model for one of the world’s largest glass manufacturers.- Formulated the pricing model for the UAE’s National Oil Company's new base oil offering, based on a market sizing model developed to estimate the size of the local base oil consumption.- Developed a market entry strategy for a global logistics major entering the E-Commerce space. Opportunity scoping across 4 key retail verticals in the UAE were conducted and individual customer targeting strategies were devised.-Helped devise a phased brand-positioning strategy for a leading real estate developer in Dubai in conjunction with the launch of their latest development. - Managed and implemented a customer brand experience engagement for the worlds largest education publisher. We helped measure the current satisfaction and possible expectations among their customer base which included some of the leading schools and universities in the region.- Developed a new after sales brand for a leading Chinese automotive manufacturer in the region. A “Brand Bible” was developed to allow the after sales marketing organization to successfully deploy the newly developed brand..

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

- Successful in securing projects worth sar.700,000 with Rotana/Adex and Crown Plaza Hotel within months of launch.- Secured an “Internal Branding/Art-Works project with Park Inn/Al Hokair Group for their latest property in Riyadh, worth more than sar.350,000- Managed to secure a “Retainer Contract” with Cityflower Retail a leading Retail/Hypermarket chain for a range of design services. Re-curing business from this account totaled sar 200,000- Helped secure “special” partner status with leading technology and design houses in the UK, China and India.- Secured “Approved Vendor Status” with a number of major organisations like Adex, Wipro Arabia etc. in the Kingdom.

London, United Kingdom

*Sourcing Strategy: Conducted a detailed internal, external and strategic analysis of the ePRO category culminating with the proposal for a new global sourcing strategy*Engaged with business and functional stake holders with the aim of getting a buy-in for a vendor refresh initiative*Comparative Analysis: Provided a comparative study between FTE and Transaction Based Pricing Models to help the category manager make a decision on the preferred model to pursue for a new IT services vendor contracts.*Tactical Work: Compared and analysed bids as well as engaged with vendors, contracts and legal to drive through new payment terms and other such contract amendments.

Birmingham, United Kingdom

At Aston with its well rounded curriculum, that comprised of a good mix of both traditional taught courses and live consultancy projects, I was able to develop not only good understanding of the various facets of business but also polish and acquire skills like good quality presentations, team management, strategic analysis and consulting.KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AS MBA STUDENT • Part of a team of four that was adjudged as having proposed the best marketing strategy for Halfords, a UK wide Auto repair and servicing company• Member of a team of three that was awarded highest marks in class for a live consultancy project that looked at opportunities for Rolls Royce within the development of an integrated supply chain in the civil nuclear space• Secured highest marks in class for a video report of a live consultancy project that focused on developing a “servitization” strategy for a Midlands based forklift manufacturer. • Instrumental in my team winning the best “innovation and entrepreneurship” project, as the presentation and “prospectus” style business proposal I designed secured close to full marks.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The leading A/V systems integrator in Saudi Arabia, I was Initially hired in a purely technical/installation role, upon proving to be market savvy, creative and having the desired people skills, was asked to take on a wider range of customer & supplier facing responsibilities. *Market Intelligence: Possessed in-depth knowledge of the LED & Digital Signage products, their market and industry trends.*Identified, evaluated, and initiated communication with product suppliers as well as negotiated proposal from them.*Relationship Building: Visited international supplier facilities to evaluate quality standards and further build strategic relationships, previous visits included facilities of SBFI (A leading control room consoles provider in London, UK) and BesdLED (A LED manufacturer in Shenzhen, China).Provided Pre-Sales Support which included sales meetings with clients and providing solutions based on client requirements.Proposal Writing: Prepared technical & sales proposals/presentations after assessing client requirements.*Project Planning: Developed the statement of work, project roll out plan and attended kick-off/project progress meetings as the primary implementation POC for my organization.*Team Management: Managed a team of engineers and technicians in off and on-site conditions during project implementation.*Developed training modules to enable clients to use the completed systems.KEY ACHIEVEMENTS *Instrumental in the growth of the company’s digital signage “brand” by developing a packaged offering that included Design Services to System Maintenance.*Developed strategic relationship with suppliers like SBFI and OneLan (A leading digital signage systems provider in London, UK). *Successfully implemented projects worth more than $10,000,000.*Achieved savings of close to 15% per project by convincing subcontractors to practice open book costing.

Masters In Business Administration, Business Administration And Management, General

Bachelor'S Of Engineering, Electronics And Communications Engineering

Activities and Societies: Choir, Arts & Culture