The Council of EuRA 2007-2008

Helmut Berg EuRA President

Helmut Berg, born in March 1945, lives and works in Frankfurt/Main, Germany. Most of his business life has been spent working for German companies owned by US corporations. He is an expert in marketing and franchising for service oriented products.

Helmut has been in the relocation industry since 1987 when he started as General Manager for PHH Homequity in Germany. In 1990 he founded RSB Deutschland, a leading relocation provider in Germany. He is one of the promoters of the relocation industry in Germany and has strongly supported the formation of EuRA. Prior to that Helmut was a member of the ARP and still is.

Helmut has been in relocation for 17 years and feels that serving EuRA will help him to give something back. Helmut believes he has the skills to drive EuRA forward and increase its success as the mouthpiece for the European Industry. Helmut’s extensive experience in international relocation along with his experience in marketing will be an asset to the council.

As well as being the President, Helmut is also the PR Liaison for EuRA.  You can contact Helmut at helmut.berg@eura-relocation.com

Kathryn Andrews EuRA Vice President

Kathryn Andrews of ABC Relocation, joined the EuRA Council as representative for the Benelux region in 2006. Kathryn has a great deal of experience in domestic and international relocation, having been Managing Director of Andrews Blakeway Consult for over 8 years.

The company is based in Belgium but has offices also in the UK.

As well as being the Vice President, Kathryn is also the Membership Liaison for EuRA.

Sabine Baerlocher (Central Region)

Sabine Baerlocher is the owner and CEO of Active Relocation, Switzerland, based in Geneva.  Sabine studied law at Geneva University and after graduating in 1993, spent time working in the US.  On returning to Switzerland, she continued her professional career managing the real estate and expansion department of a branch company from the second largest Swiss retailer (Simeco Management, Coop Group).  In 2000 she was invited to join the Board of that company and subsequently bought Active Relocation.   

In 2008 Sabine was appointed by the Swiss government as a member of the Forum SME, an expert commission representing the interests of small and medium enterprises.  Sabine is president of the boards of TIRA, The International Relocation Associates, and of SARA, the Swiss Association for Relocation Agents.  She has achieved her CERP3 designation, one of only 14 relocation professionals globally. 

Nathalie Gazal (Southern Region)

Nathalie Bourdin Gazal,  has extensive experience in international relocation management, but also has personal experience of international assignment and the relocation process having lived in South East Asia for 12 years.  Returning in 1990, in France, Nathalie joined the industry and has become since  an expert in HR Mobility Management.  Nathalie has always placed a great emphasis on the importance of understanding cultural difference, and has been very involved in the development of training on cultural adjustment and the repatriation process.

Nathalie is the Marketing Liaison for EuRA.

Åse Löfgren Gunsten (Northern Region)

Åse was voted onto the EuRA Council in 2006 as representative for the Northern Region. Being a member of EuRA and participating in the various trainings and events, meeting other managers, participating in the networking EuRA provides has been very positive and helped develop the company into what it is today. Åse’s main interest has been in the area of training and education. Today she heads the training committee of EuRA and is the EuRA representative at EARP (European Academy of Relocation Professionals). 

Åse is the owner and CEO of Nordic Relocation Group. She is born in Norway and grew up in the Philippines.  She holds a Swedish degree in Nursing from the Red Cross School of Nursing and also a degree from the Stockholm University in Human Resource Management. Åse has been in the relocation industry since 1993. Today Nordic Relocation Group has their own offices in the three major cities of Sweden; Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö. In April 2008 Nordic Relocation, as the first relocation company in Sweden  to receive the EuRA Quality Seal, a quality certification offering our clients  guaranteed high standard of inbound as well as outbound relocation services.

Eric Klitsch (Benelux)

As you are aware, I have been for three years a member of the EuRA Council, from 2003 to 2006 representing the Benelux Region. I have worked in several of the Council Commitees, most recently in the Marketing Commitee and in the Training Commitee. 

After a year out of the Council, I have a feeling of unachievement and I really want to be able to again share my expertise and provide my dedication to this Council to help our Associaion continue its progresses and remain more and more when it comes to quality and professionalism for Relocation Services in Europe.  As for the biographic part, I have been working in the Relocation sector in Belgium since 1988 and I have founded and managed Brussels Relocation since 1990.

Patrick Oman (Northern Region)

Patrick is a veteran of the relocation industry. Prior to his involvement with IrishRelo, which itself was one of the pioneers in Ireland having been established in 1994, Patrick served on the board of OMNI the Overseas Moving Network International and was President of that organisation from 2000 to 2002.

He became managing director of IrishRelo in 2002 and has been fully engaged in relocation since. Patrick joined ERC in 1996 and EURA prior to their Dublin conference, when IrishRelo was Gold Sponsor. He has been invited onto various industry committees and is currently on the editorial advisory panel of “Mobility”.

As a strong supporter of the EARP and EURA Quality Seal Initiatives, Patrick is a CERP Level 2 and IrishRelo is among the first to achieve the Quality Seal accreditation.

Isabel Reis (Southern Region)

Isabel Reis, Triplicado’s Senior Partner and Manager started life as a third culture kid in Angola. Isabel finished her higher education in Translation and Portuguese Language and Culture, at Lisbon University. She also studied at the French Institute and British Council, achieving full qualifications for teaching Portuguese to relocatees to Portugal.

In 1987 Isabel began teaching expatriates Portuguese Language and Culture, at the same time as working with a government sponsored relocation initiative.

In 1992, she became Lead Teacher in the AUTOEUROPA Ford / Volkswagen project to 200 families moving to Portugal. This involved taking over all teaching and translation activities, employing around 30 teachers, consultants, technical translators and interpreters.

To facilitate these activities and to meet the strong demand for relocation services, Isabel formed Triplicado Relocation. In 2000 Triplicado took-over Portugal Relocation, their main competitor and have since became the accredited Portuguese representative for the largest international relocation companies as well as direct clients.