Europ Assistance bolsters core executive team

Christelle Colman, CEO of Europ Assistance.

Europ Assistance South Africa (EASA) has recently undergone structural changes to strengthen its core executive team. Together with the recent announcement of new CEO, Christelle Colman, comes three key appointments at the company including Wynand Snyman, Vernon Tutton and Helen Szemerei.

According to Colman these structural changes form part of a period of positive change that the company is entering. “This new team will continue to reinforce Europ Assistance’s stance as the market leader in the assistance services industry in South Africa. I look forward to heading up an established and innovative company, as well as providing continued excellent service to all of our clients.”

Colman explains that Europ Assistance has been operating globally for over 50 years now, with 44 companies and branches, a presence in 33 countries and a global customer base of over 300 million people.

Wynand Snyman has been appointed as the Acting Chief Financial Officer. He is a registered Chartered Accountant with the South Africa Institute of Chartered Accountants and is also busy completing his Master’s in Business Administration through the Gordon Institute of Business Science. He lived in Chicago from 2010 – 2011 where he worked for PwC, thereafter he moved back to South Africa to work for PwC in Johannesburg and then joined Europ Assistance SA in 2013.

Vernon Tutton is the new Chief Information Officer / Chief Operations Officer and has 15 years’ experience of being a director and board member of various companies. He will bring an extensive wealth of knowledge to the team due to his familiarity in technical, managerial and leadership positions, as well as assist to provide direction and vision to overcome tough economic conditions in competitive markets – both domestically and internationally. He has worked with various local and global brands on designing, developing and deploying systems for customer support, service delivery reporting and managing customer improvement planning.

Helen Szemerei was appointed as the Executive: Special Projects and she has over 29 years’ experience in the short-term insurance industry. She will be involved in multiple projects including client retention, new business development, strategic-client relations as well as process management and its efficiency, as a means to enhance overall client experience.

“I am extremely confident that these three passionate individuals are perfectly suited to handle their responsibilities and, together, we will make Europ Assistance a force to be reckoned with in South Africa’s assistance services arena,” concludes Colman.