Sir Alan Collins KCVO CMG, Non-Executive Chairman

Sir Alan is a former British diplomat, and brings to Nair & Co. a wealth of experience in international trade and investment, particularly in the US, Asia, and the Commonwealth countries. His association with various international industry bodies and government organizations provides invaluable political and economic insight to the company’s strategies and operations.

Previously, he has been the High Commissioner to Singapore and the Ambassador to the Philippines, Deputy Ambassador to Ethiopia, and the Director General of the British Trade and Cultural Office in Taiwan. He was also the Director General of Trade and Investment USA and Consul General New York, where he worked extensively to attract high-value inward investment to the UK.

During his time in Singapore, Sir Alan was part of the delegation that won the 2012 Olympics for London.  He was the Olympics Ambassador for the UK, and directed international business-related work from the London 2012 Games aiming at outcomes worth over $15 billion to the UK economy.

Sir Alan is a Non-Executive Director of Amlin plc, ICICI Bank UK, plc, JPMorgan American Investment Trust plc, and Prudential Assurance Singapore Pte Ltd, as well as the Non-Executive Chairman of Powetec Energy Ltd.

Dr. Shan Nair, Co-founder

Dr. Shan Nair is an expert in international expansion, a highly sought after speaker on globalization and a contributing author for various publications. 

Since founding Nair & Co. in 1994, he has helped grow the company from a small U.K.-based professional services firm to a global enterprise with offices in U.K., India, China, U.S., Japan and Singapore. Nair & Co. currently acts for 740+ client operations in over 50 countries, each client operation being on average in four countries.

Under his leadership, Nair & Co. has exponentially scaled its global footprints and broadened its service portfolio while maintaining a strong culture of innovation, ethical conduct and dedication to unrivaled client service. Recently, Nair & Co. was recognized for its excellence in client service and named a Top 100 Outsourcing Service Provider in the World by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP).

Shan oversees the company's business strategy with an emphasis on client care, new business development and the proactive use of technology to secure business advantage, alongside co-founder Vyoma Nair.
 
Shan obtained his Ph.D. in nuclear physics from The University of Oxford and was instrumental in developing a code which set the then U.K. standard for calculating waste arising from spent nuclear fuel. When the Chernobyl accident occurred, he was one of the two U.K. technical experts selected to assist the European Commission in its post-accident response.

Shan has received multiple recognitions for success in business. In 2010, he was honored with the David Flint Special Mention Award and the Bharat Samman Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2009 Shan won the Hind Rattan (Jewel of India) Award and the Bharat Shiromani Award and in 2008, he won the Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business Award, the Bharat Samman (Pride of India) Pravasi Award and the Gulland's Excellence Award.

He is a long-standing Charter Member of TiE-Boston and an International President of the Non-Resident Indian Institute. He is a regular contributor to charitable causes in the U.S. and in India. Having lived in 13 countries, he has a keen interest in world politics and economics and also in world history, particularly history of the Napoleonic wars. Shan also loves to race cars, travel and read action novels

Manoj George, CEO

Manoj George leads the development and implementation of strategic initiatives at Nair & Co. and driving growth for the company.

An industry veteran, Manoj was formerly President and COO at Art.com where he engineered a 600% growth in annual revenue and upped the company’s enterprise value tenfold. Prior to Art.com, Manoj was the founder CFO of Red Hat where he managed nine acquisitions and an IPO in his tenure that helped the company grow into a global enterprise spread across 12 countries.

At Red Hat, Manoj pioneered the hugely successful subscription revenue model making Red Hat one of the first companies to make a profitable business out of open source. The revolutionary model continues to be at the core of the company’s success.

Manoj started out his career as a public accountant with the regional firm of Hayflich and Steinberg in Huntington, West Virginia. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Morehead State University. In his spare time, Manoj hangs out with his kids and feeds the menagerie of pets his kids have accumulated over the years.

Venkatesh Eswaran, Senior Vice President, Global Services 

Venkat heads the global services operations of Nair & Co. and overseas the delivery of all client services. Venkat joined the company in 2003 and worked in operations and client services before moving on to a management role.

He has played a significant role in expanding Nair & Co’s India operations from modest beginnings. Venkat is an expert on India inward investment and acts for a variety of private equity and VC firms, in addition to multinational companies of varying size. 

Venkat is a qualified Indian Chartered Accountant and tax expert and has more than 22 years of experience in multi-country management accounting, audits and has assisted transnational organizations and leading Indian enterprises across sectors on regulatory, tax, financial and business advisory related matters. Prior to joining Nair & Co. he was a partner in an established firm of Chartered Accountants in Mumbai.

Venkat loves cars and taking long drives in them. A nature lover, he likes to spend whatever spare time he can manage outdoors and on the weekends can be found trekking in the mountains  or enjoying the sun at the beach.

John Sullivan, CFO

John is a skilled finance professional with extensive commercial experience across multiple sectors within the U.K. and abroad and a track record of delivering significant value to corporate operations. With more than 10 years of board-level experience, John has handled some of U.K.’s most dynamic, fast growth service businesses.

He most recently worked within Financial Services as Group Finance Director, focusing on increasing shareholder value and delivery of sustainable growth from a strategic perspective. 

John spent his early career within the marketing sector following completion of his training in London. He holds a BA (Hons) in Business and is a Chartered Accountant (ACA). His notable achievements include leading a strategy of diversification with significant M&A content across several continents, coordinating a billion dollar pan-European restructuring exercise, adoption and roll-out of cross border treasury management, and designing and implementing a series of control regimes to secure regulatory approval. 

Whenever possible John loves to visit Sydney, his favorite vacation spot, and he spends time in the English countryside with his family and an ever-growing pack of dogs. John’s list of things to do includes trawling art galleries, and unearthing the “next big trend”.

Jody Fullman, Vice President, Technology & Internal Audit

Jody leads Nair & Co.’s group Technology, Business Transformation and Internal Audit divisions. Jody joined Nair & Co. in 2001 when his first task was to modernize, design and reconstruct the company’s international IT infrastructure from the ‘ground up.' 

In 2006 he successfully designed, sourced and built the IT infrastructure for Nair & Co.’s China and Japan offices. Jody has full ownership of the group’s annual SASAE16 attestation. Jody continues to spearhead innovation and strategy at Nair & Co. always utilizing best of breed technology systems to improve the efficiency of our internal and external processes. Recent achievements have been the successful implementation of a new financial accounting platform for client support and an associated web portal software development called MyAccounts. He is also led the development and release of MyNair, the client facing extranet, as well as the release of MyHR, Nair & Co.’s first SaaS offering to clients to enable them to more efficiently manage their US and international HR administration.

Jody graduated from the University of Wales, Swansea with an honors degree in Mechanical Engineering. Prior to joining Nair & Co., he worked at Northgate Information Solutions, (formerly known as McDonald Douglas Information Systems) where he was a technical specialist for many of the company’s key central London-based clients. Jody’s spare time is dedicated to his wife and two children and whenever possible, skiing in the beautiful French Alps. Jody also enjoys music, cinema, and participating in marathons.

Deborah Sullivan, Client Services Director

Debbie leads Nair & Co.’s client services team and ensures best in class service delivery and experience for clients. Debbie joined Nair & Co. in 1999 and has held various roles within the company including leadership positions in accounting services where she managed day-to-day support for clients and covered service situations ranging from simple single country start ups to managing operations with more than 100 employees in multiple countries across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and the Americas. 

Debbie has extensive knowledge and expertise in helping companies expand internationally and is an authority in “untangling” complex situations where multi-country management is incorrectly handled leading to compliance and other penalties.

Debbie graduated with a BSc in Accounting Practice from the University of Wales, Newport and is also a qualified accountant (FCCA). She enjoys foreign travel and her favorite destination is Cyprus.

Stuart Buglass, Director, Human Capital Consulting

Stuart leads Nair & Co.’s international HR service that handles employment law, compensation & benefits, stock options, expatriate tax, and immigration related issues for clients. Stuart successfully operated as a client services director for several years before returning to the International HR Service, which he had nurtured and developed into a full scale unit during his early years at Nair & Co. 

Stuart’s structured approach and exposure to the full gamut of Nair & Co.’s services has helped him gain a unique blend of HR, legal, accounting and tax expertise. With his strong knowledge base and experience in client management and service delivery, Stuart is driving the strategic expansion of the International HR services and increasing focus on delivery of an exceptional quality of service.
 
Prior to joining Nair & Co., Stuart worked with Lloyds-TSB bank on their fast track management scheme, undertaking assignments in legal, marketing, and finance. He later went on to specialize in HR, attaining the CIPD qualification and worked in a leadership role.

Stuart attained his LLB at Leicester University followed by the LPC at the College of Law, York. Stuart likes to spend much of his spare time with his three children but sometimes manages to squeeze in a few moments for painting and running.

Alvin Chan, Client Services Director

Alvin successfully led the development and formation of Nair & Co.’s China operations and is currently managing a diverse portfolio of clients. Since joining Nair & Co. in 2004, he has improved Nair & Co.’s innovative service portfolio and strategies, and established himself as an expert in overseas expansion.

Alvin has over 20 year of experience in the accounting profession and the commercial field, and was involved in IPO, due diligence, internal and external audit work in Asia. His experience spans the Asia Pacific region including Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand and he has been instrumental in helping many companies set up their operations in the region.

Alvin qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG in the U.K. and also holds an MBA from Cardiff Business School. His favorite leisure pursuits are burning calories with racket games but he often finds these substituted by the more competitive arena of Nintendo Wii at home.

Anup Pendse, Head of R&D

As the head of Nair & Co.’s R& D department, Anup leads a team which oversees the preparation and up-to-date management of the company’s research templates across all service areas and the technical updates for clients. His role is key in ensuring that Nair & Co. fee earners are kept fully current so that clients receive accurate and up-to-date advice relating to their needs. Anup leads an important role within Nair & Co. given our commitment to a high level of technical competence and expertise,

Anup has over 10 years of experience in research, taxation, foreign exchange regulations and audits. Prior to joining Nair & Co., he worked with the tax and consulting group RSM Astute (part of RSM international). Anup also has extensive experience in providing audit, tax and foreign exchange laws related advisory services to some of the largest corporate groups in India. He began his career at A.F. Ferguson (now part of Deloitte India).

A commerce graduate and certified Chartered Accountant, Anup has produced a magazine for Chartered Accountancy professionals and also served as a lecturer with various business schools in India. In his spare time, Anup likes to jog and read literature on global finance and economics.

Akihiko Higa, Head of Japan Operations

Akihiko leads Nair & Co.’s Japan operations from the company’s local headquarters in Tokyo. Akihiko oversees service delivery and management for the clients in Japan and is an expert in helping international companies navigate the country’s complex legal and regulatory framework.

Akihiko has over 30 years of experience in finance, accounting, human resources and managing back office operations for Japanese and foreign capital companies. Prior to joining Nair & Co., he worked as an accounting, HR and general affairs manager with a European capital and international medical device company. Akihiko graduated from Hosei University in Tokyo with a BA Business Administration.

In his spare time Akihiko enjoys movies and has an interest in learning about various genres of music, including opera, pop and rock. 

Gary Pavlik, Director, Business Development

Gary’s is Nair & Co.’s director for business development and the “face” of the company in the northeast. His association with Nair & Co began as a client in 1997, when he needed help straightening out incorrect filings with a U.K. branch that his then employer had inherited in an acquisition. A happy customer, Gary acted as a reference for Nair & Co.’s services to many others, and eventually came onboard as a top sales strategist in 2005.

Prior to Nair & Co., Gary held senior finance positions with Network Engines, Artel Video, and Teloquent Communications. After completing his education at the US Coast Guard Academy he had a Coast Guard career involving operational assignments including command at sea. He achieved the rank of commander.

Gary likes to spend time with family and enjoys hiking, boating and snowboarding.