Industry News
July 2010
Veterans of the Direct Selling Industry offer a unique service across Europe
Meridian associates are a group of experienced direct selling professionals who have combined to offer their expertise to support the direct selling industry across Europe.
 Ian Morgan |
 Dr Karlheinz Ossig |
 Philippe Dailey |
 Paolo Giuliani |
The origins of Meridian came from the realisation that a combined and concerted effort in Europe would be of benefit to everyone. In the mid 1990s Peter Bunn of Meridian-MMi UK and Dr Karlheinz Ossig of Meridian Deutschland agreed to help and support each other. Their combined appearance at the annual DSA conferences in the USA had a profound effect on creating a greater awareness of European business and in establishing many long standing clients, both from the US and Europe. Since then the company has expanded and grown, and been strengthened by Ian Morgan who joined Peter Bunn in 2003 and who has been the owner of MMi since 2004. This expansion has since continued with the introduction of Philippe Dailey from France and Paolo Giuliani who represents Italy and Spain.
Today Meridian Associates offer their services of Executive Search and all facets of Consulting including Merger and Acquisition across Europe. They believe that the most valuable crucial experience comes from actual time spent in the dynamic direct selling industry. “If we personally do not have the experience to help, we know someone who does. Networking allows the introduction of industry experts where required for specific assignments” said Ian Morgan.
He expanded, “All of us have given freely of our time to help start-ups and with established clients often a friendly discussion is all that is needed to solve an issue. It is a source of frustration when sometimes we see newcomers to the industry making the classic mistake of applying retailing techniques to the direct selling operation.”
Recruitment is a key area for Meridian. Ian said, “In recruitment we pride ourselves in the area of building strong personal relationships where many of our candidates have become our clients. We endeavour to use our best skills to ensure that candidates are put forward to clients where there is a really good match to our clients’ requirements in both experience and personal qualities. We also gain pleasure from continuing the relationship by following candidates subsequent careers. At the same time, a genuine desire to help those in need of employment is another key part of our ethos. We are particularly proud when a company that we help to start in our country is successful and develops its activity rapidly.”
When outlining the Company’s methods of working Ian was keen to stress the code of business ethics Meridian follows. “It is important to note that we do not share CVs and resumes with any third party, as the content is confidential to the candidate and the individual Meridian company.
“We believe the larger the industry becomes the better it will be for everyone who is engaged in direct selling. Our power to negotiate with lawmakers is dependent on how important the industry is in employing and encouraging people to develop their own income. We are very pleased to see our industry unified in a new European Federation and we will participate to it as we do with national DSAs,” he said.
Ian concluded, “Our consulting activities are normally the result of new entrants to the industry. We are active in expanding the base of companies both within Europe and mainly from the US. Our assignments can be simple advice of a full business plan with forecasts, cash flows and compensation alternatives based on the client’s product range.”
Partners Backgrounds of Experience
Peter Bunn formed MMi in 1992, later to become Meridian-MMi after an extensive career in direct selling in both the UK and USA. Specialising in the recruitment of senior managers and executives, MMi achieved a reputation for providing the right people for the right roles. More importantly MMi prided itself on its careful and confidential business principles. This, plus the all important personal relationships that were built with both clients and candidates, was reflected in Peter being honoured with the privilege of becoming a member of the DSA Hall of Fame in the UK.
Dr. Karlheinz J. Ossig, Founder and CEO of MERIDIAN DEUTSCHLAND, empowers new companies for a successful European market entry as well as for improving internal efficiency and external set-up. High level performance and top level quality work are their main priorities. Customer satisfaction through individual procedures, independent and face to face, are key to ‘Executive Search’, ‘Restructuring’ as well as ‘M&A’.
Ian Morgan joined the direct selling industry with Amway in 1980 in Australia and has worked mainly in Asia and Europe. Prior to this, Ian held various positions as MD and Operational roles. He has extensive experience on advising and working with direct selling companies to achieve business turnarounds, as well as being instrumental in advising new companies on their business launches. Ian is a key member of the UK, DSA Supplier Group.
Philippe Dailey joined the direct selling industry by working with the dictionaries company Larousse and with Encyclopedia Britannica. He has held the positions of Chair of the French DSA and was also FEDSA’s Chairman for 11 years, as well as serving as the French DSA’s General Secretary. He has been awarded a place in the Hall of Fame for his contributions to the direct selling industry by the World Federation of the Direct Selling Association, (WFDSA). He joined Meridian in 2004.
Paolo Giuliani is the Meridian partner in Italy and Spain. He was educated both in Europe and USA and holds an MBA in International Business. His career in direct selling started with Amway 18 years ago, and he has held many direct selling senior positions from Commercial Director to CEO with some of the worldwide leading MLM and Party Plan companies. Paolo is a specialist in Market Development with extensive experience in opening new markets for start-up and major multinational companies. In 2006 he established a consultancy to share his experience about direct selling market development with companies who want to succeed in Europe. Paolo also joined Meridian the same year. With a team of direct selling specialists, Meridian Italy provides a full range of services, ranging from product and business compliance, to outsourcing of all the corporate operational needs. They also offer a recruitment service, from corporate interim management up to CEO levels.
