Management Team
Gehan Talwatte
Managing Director
A 15-year veteran of the business information industry in the US and Europe, Gehan was recruited to Ascend in 2005 to direct the company’s international growth. Gehan was previously Managing Director of Hoover's Online Europe, a subsidiary of the US business information company [NASDAQ:HOOV]. In 2001, he led a buyout of the European business, and in 2004, having profitably increased revenue by over 10 times, he sold it to D&B.
In the late 1990s, Gehan was founding partner at eccelerate.com, a Silicon Valley start-up specialising in real-time decision support solutions for e-business. He was also a director of D&B UK [NASDAQ:D&B], where he ran several global and European business divisions. Earlier in his career, Gehan was instrumental in setting up D&B’s software business in India, now Cognizant Technology Solutions [NASDAQ:CTS].
Gehan holds an MBA and a Masters of International Affairs from Columbia University, New York, and a BA (Honours) from Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania.
Eddy Pieniazek
Director
Eddy brings over 24 years’ experience in the aviation sector to his role as Director of Ascend’s global consultancy, industry analysis, asset valuation, and technical services. He is a trusted advisor to Ascend clients and his most recent engagements have involved supporting the leading airframe and engine manufacturers, operating lessors, and financial institutions.
Eddy is a regular conference speaker and a visiting lecturer at the Air Business Academy in Toulouse, specialising in aircraft values, market dynamics, and asset management.
Les Weal
Director of Valuations and Appraisals
As Head of Valuations and Appraisals, Les' primary responsibility is the development of Ascend’s Future Values databases, covering commercial aircraft, engines, simulators and spares. Les is also responsible for the valuation and appraisal of aircraft of all types and provides support and analysis on all industry matters relating to values and market dynamics.
Peter Morris
Chief Economist
Peter is a veteran of over 20 years’ in the air transport industry. His expertise spans strategic and economic studies, industry forecasts and a range of traffic, capacity, revenue and cost analyses.
Before joining Ascend in 2003, Peter was Chief Economist and Director, Research Consultancy for the International Air Transport Association (IATA), where he developed IATA’s Aviation Information & Research (AIR) department into a leading global commercial supplier of air transport information and research.
Peter is a regular media commentator on the aviation industry and the impact of new market developments. He holds a BSc (Economics) and MSc (Energy Economics).
Few people in aviation can match Paul’s extensive 30 years’ experience in air safety and his achievements as a trusted advisor to governments, regulators, insurance markets and airlines worldwide. Paul joined Ascend in 1974, having previously worked for National Air Traffic Services at London Heathrow Airport.
With his extensive international consultancy experience, Paul has led development of several of Ascend’s key aviation and space offerings.
Paul’s unique achievements include assisting Russia to present the former USSRs’ full airline safety record to the international aviation insurance market – work that led to close co-operation between Russia and the CIS and the release of data on some 600 airline accidents not previously recorded in the West. Paul has also been instrumental in managing the research and production of the CP479, the World Aircraft Accident Summary in collaboration with UK’s Civil Aviation Authority.
Jacques René
Chief Technology Officer
Jacques has over 20 years experience of senior IT management in the City, the US and Europe.He started his IT career in France for UK computer manufacturer ICL, and prior to joining Ascend in 2004, worked in blue chip financial institutions, Insurance and management consultancy. Jacques is a regular contributor to industry publications such as Silicon.com and CIO Jury, and is frequently published in the press.
Rob Taylor
Global Sales Director
Rob, who joined Ascend in 2005, has a rich and varied background, predominantly in Financial Services. He began his career in stock broking with Scrimgeour Vickers before moving into dealing room sales with Knight-Ridder Financial. After selling banking services with Citigroup and Société Générale he moved into the online market place. Rob most recently ran the sales teams at Alacra and OneSource where he performed a central role in developing global customer relationships and client-focused product development.
Oliver Morris
Product Development Director
Since joining Ascend in 2003, Oliver has led a number of key product development projects for Ascend, including most recently the delivery of the .Net data product AIR and the industry’s first online engine valuation tool, EV1. Oliver was previously Systems Analyst for Ford Financial, where he rolled out PeopleSoft General Ledger to Ford’s European HQ. Earlier, at Global Freight Exchange, Oliver managed the implementation of a cargo trading platform for British Airways, American Airlines and Panalpina.
Oliver holds a B Eng. Aerospace Engineering from the University of Bristol and an MSc in Air Transport Management from Cranfield. A qualified Prince 2 certified project manager, Oliver is currently studying for MCTS: .NET Framework 2.0 Web Applications.
Fiona Benharoosh
Marketing and Communications Director
Fiona is responsible for all aspects of Ascend’s corporate marketing and communications, including the recent re-branding of the company. Fiona joined Ascend from the Marketing and Commercial Services division of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), where she developed and marketed a range of B2B publications and international events. She has significant experience in traditional and new media and was a staff writer at industry Europe magazine. Fiona holds a BA (Hons.) in Transport & Tourism Management.
Phil Davies
Director of Operations
With over 18 years senior-level experience in project and programme management, Phil joined Ascend in 2007 to realise best practice across Ascend’s consultancy solutions.
Phil’s expertise spans strategic business planning and development, quality assurance and operational improvement. Phil was previously Managing Consultant at Serco Consulting and held senior posts with IBM Business Consulting Services, PwC Consulting and British Airways.
"We require a high level of accuracy from the data we use and the reason for selecting Ascend is that they are a respected source of such data. We have been associated with the company for many years."
Anne Marie Little,
UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT
ASCEND'S SERVICES >