ROMANA ABDIN
Romana Abdin, group corporate affairs director, Simplyhealth Group, Andover

In 2001 Romana joined HAS, a company that was established nearly 80 years ago. The morale in the work force was low due to the autocratic management style and it had just one but successful product called Healthcare Cash. Romana's remit, using her experience as an entertainment barrister and as an in-house counsel for a number of leading banks, was to create a legal audit and compliance function and bring the organisation into the 21st century.

Along with a new chief executive and a board of executive directors Romana helped to improve the infrastructure, the brand and to get the staff enthused and trained. In less then a year she also had to prepare the organisation for regulation from The Financial Services Authority. Romana's team also successfully acquired seven businesses and what started out as a one product organisation is now a community healthcare business called Simplyhealth Group.

Within five years the turnover has increased by 111%, customer numbers by 56% and reserves by nearly £99m, as well as making 'The Sunday Times Best 100 Companies to Work For' list five years running.

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