Yolanta Gill

Chief executive, European Electronique

Career so far I was born and educated in Poland, and studied law at the University of Warsaw. I moved to the UK and further studied for my MBA at Oxford. I joined European Electronique as a director in 1996 and have been chief executive for about nine years.

What was your first job and were you any good at it? As a student I worked as an au pair in London for a family with six children and managed to keep them controlled and entertained at the same time.

Who was your top teenage pin-up? Daniel Olbrychski.

My colleagues won't know this about me but... as a teenager during the martial law period in Poland, I demonstrated against the Communist regime which used heavy-handed tactics including tear gas to disperse the crowds.

What is your favourite snack? I always make sure I have some fresh fruit to hand in case I run out of biscuits.

What has been your career high point to date? Achieving a hat trick a couple of years ago at the Oxfordshire Business Awards by winning the Large Business Award, overall Business of the Year and Business Entrepreneur
of the Year.

Has 2013 been good, bad or ugly? 2013 has been a great year. We have had a record year in terms of revenue and profit. We have expanded into other markets, both within the public and corporate sectors. Another exciting development has been the launch of our innovative cloud offering Freedom which has become the centrepiece of many of our solutions.

What do you say when asked at a party what you do for a living? I am the chief executive of a technology company, which funds many of the exciting hobbies my husband has taken up.

If I wasn't working in the channel I would probably be... a lawyer. I have a law degree so am well prepared and qualified for this as a back-up career.

What will be the channel's biggest challenge in 2014? There are still many challenges that face us in 2014. Customer budgets continue to be tight and with an ever-expanding range of technologies this makes the channel even more competitive. In these times of continuing austerity, all our customers will be looking for ‘best value' for money. I believe that through better investment in technology our customers can achieve greater efficiency, which ultimately delivers cost reduction.

Quality client engagement and managing procurement timeframes will be key factors in being successful this coming year. We will continue to invest and work with our key partners and vendors, creating industry leading solutions, such as Freedom, where we have clearly understood, communicated and delivered the "cloud solution" well in advance of our competition. The rise of data analysis requirements (big data) is also providing an opportunity to look at how we can offer further value to our customers and gives us the potential to provide them with a wider portfolio of services. I intend for European Electronique to lead with emerging and transformational solutions to enable our clients to achieve their goals and objectives.