Global market research company Synovate announced the appointment of George Christodoulides as Managing Director of Synovate Gulf, with responsibility for the company’s business in the UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.

Based in Dubai, he replaces Andreas Zachariou, who has been named Executive Director - Consumer Insights for Central/Eastern Europe and the Middle East (CEEME).

Previously, George Christodoulides was Managing Director of Central Europe (Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic) for two years.

He earlier served as General Manager for Synovate Hungary, where he more than tripled that market’s revenues in four years.

George Christodoulides started his market research career at Synovate in Cyprus 15 years ago.

He is no stranger to the Middle East, having been based in Dubai from 1995 until 1997 leading several regional accounts in the FMCG, automotive and financial sectors.

Synovate CEO for CEEME Kurt Thompson says that under Zachariou’s leadership, the company’s business in the Gulf markets has been on a constant growth path, adding: “In his exciting new role, Andreas will be working with our teams across the CEEME markets to add greater value to our insights and partner with our clients to take research in innovative new directions”.

Pointing out that Christodoulides was instrumental to Synovate’s continued growth in the very competitive Central European market, Thompson looks forward to similar success in the Gulf.

“George has made a very positive contribution to Synovate, thanks to his strong management and client-service skills. Our immediate goal is to expand Synovate’s offerings across a wider range of sectors in the Gulf, and George is ideally suited to take on this challenge”.