ALEX SOZONOFF APPOINTED CHAIRMAN OF VICTOR –
THE PRIVATE JETSHARE COMMUNITY
2nd November 2011: Victor, the private jetshare community, has appointed business veteran Alex Sozonofff as its chairman.
Sozonoff, 73, brings over 40 years of international business experience and industry knowledge to the role, with 35 of them spent at Hewlett Packard.
These included being the general manager of HP’s Worldwide Channel Business and then becoming the vice president of Customer Advocacy where he was responsible for building key strategic partnerships around the world, and both creating and directing its global sponsorship programmes for the FIFA World Cup and Formula One.
He also served as senior adviser to the CEO of Hewlett Packard.
His appointment comes as Victor (www.flyvictor.com), which was first launched in March this year, continues to expand and now offers Europe’s largest contracted fleet of private jets.
Victor’s unique jet share model enables members to charter jets and then sell surplus seats on their outbound or returning flights to other members, reducing their expense and allowing others to buy individual seats for a fraction of the cost of a whole jet charter.
Victor’s revolutionary model is democratising private jet travel by opening it up to a wider audience and, by growing the overall demand, introducing new revenue streams for its aircraft operator partners.
Clive Jackson, Victor’s Founder & CEO, says: “Alex’s proven experience in the strategic development of international businesses will be invaluable to us with Victor now fully established and entering a period of sustained growth.”
In the last two months alone, the private jetshare community’s membership of high net worth individuals has more than doubled to over 500.
“His experience in creating Hewlett Packard’s channel programme and the strategic relationships it entailed is particularly beneficial as we look to develop new partnerships in Victor’s next stage of growth,” added Jackson.
Victor now has access to 41 of Europe’s leading private jet operators, through which it offers its members a fleet of over 183 private jets.
Since 2001, Sozonoff has been Chairman of Victor’s sister company Global Beach (www.globalbeach.com) – one of the UK’s first digital agencies – which has provided 17 years of award-winning design and web services to global companies. His knowledge of key emerging technological developments and experience of strategic relationship management have been key factors in the company’s fast pace of development.
Global Beach – which was founded by Clive Jackson – developed Autotorq.com, a multi-market marketing and used inventory management technology platform for Ford of Europe and their dealer network. Since its launch, Autotorq.com’s client list has spanned many major automotive brands, including Aston Martin, Bentley, Chevrolet, Citroen, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo and Vauxhall, providing inventory management and web marketing services to thousands of trade partners in 14 languages across 56 countries.
Sozonoff remarks: “Victor is inspiring in the way that it brings real innovation to the private jet industry, and creates a genuine consumer marketplace for both jet charter and individual seat sales”.
He continues, “What I like about Clive’s approach is his willingness to back his own idea from inception to launch. Now with six months trading and significant revenue growth to report, I firmly believe that Victor has extraordinary business potential.
“My appointment as Non-Executive Chairman coincides with the need to assemble a world-class advisory board that will help the management team to scale the business and with the need to provide corporate governance in support of the Company’s anticipated private placement”.
About Victor
Victor’s mission is to become the global transactional search and quotation portal for private jet travel and, in doing so, make it more affordable, accessible and efficient.
Victor is already amongst the most prestigious private members clubs in Europe, with a fast-growing membership.
The business is the brainchild of Clive Jackson, a successful serial entrepreneur who pioneered digital marketing in the UK when he set up Global Beach in 1993, and subsequently reinvented CRM and marketing in the automotive industry with the launch of autotorq.com
