1st July 2009 posted by Leah Vyse
A love of Shakespeare, beautiful antiques and Manchester’s most famous export, MUFC, have been the surprise attractions for Lucie Paterakis? relocation to Manchester from Athens.
“I moved to Manchester from Athens two years ago to take up the position of General Manager at Japan Tobacco International (JTI). My career has meant that I have lived and worked in some of the world’s largest cities including New York and Paris. An American, originally from Connecticut in New England, I moved to Athens in 1985 to be with my Greek husband, which was actually well-planned as I had already fallen in love with the country and the lifestyle.
So, why Manchester? Not for the weather of course! My company set up a Business Service Centre in Manchester in 2003. Having worked for JTI for 13 years as Finance Director for Greece, the General Manager job presented a fantastic career opportunity for me to develop the centre into a quality service centre with outstanding customer service as its core priority.
JTI is the international tobacco business of Japan Tobacco, the world’s third largest and fastest-growing industry player. In 2007, the group expanded with the GBP 9.4 billion acquisition of UK-based tobacco company Gallaher, at the time the largest ever foreign acquisition by a Japanese company. Much of the transactional processing business from this acquisition will be integrated into the Manchester centre over the next 6 months.
My relocation also worked well personally as my kids are both at university in the UK – they had their minds set on it! My daughter is at London College of Communication studying for a degree in creative advertising – she’s having a great time. My son is at Manchester College studying for his second degree in popular music and production.
His first was in economics at Glasgow University. He chose Manchester College as the degree focuses on academic education along with real-life professional experience. The school has state-of-the-art studios, a great learning environment and teachers who remain actively involved in the music world.
I live in Bowdon, which is green, beautiful and has plenty of restaurants. I also love to go into Manchester to socialise – San Carlos is my favourite restaurant. My neighbourhood is very friendly, even the shop assistants in Tesco are friendly. I love the way that if you’re looking for something specific, like espresso coffee, they will actually take you to the aisle and to the exact product, rather than just tell you where it is – you don’t get that in Greece! In fact, the whole city is very friendly, a truly multicultural and international experience.
I am also close to the airport which is great as I travel quite a bit with work and because my husband still works in Athens part- time, it’s easy for us to go to and from the two locations.
Aside from my family, two of my passions are antiques and Shakespeare – so my first year here was spent travelling to antique fairs all over the UK to fill my new house with beautiful furniture – as a result, I now have some brilliant pieces.
I was lucky my first year coincided with the Royal Shakespeare’s History Cycle so I got to watch nine of the great Shakespeare plays in Stratford-upon-Avon in just 6 months.
I also found my third passion – Manchester United FC, much to the distaste of my “Blue” colleagues. There were a few raised eyebrows when I put up my signed United shirt on my office wall – some of my team schedule meetings elsewhere on purpose!
I love Manchester. I like to describe it as ‘hopping’ because it’s vibrant, alive and new and although I will not be here permanently; it is now on my list as one of the best cosmopolitan cities in which to live.