11th November 2004: Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) today announced the appointment of Helen O’Hanlon as the first HR Manager for Europe, reporting to Stephen Park – General Manager.  Helen has been recruited to bring a strategic view to personnel management across the companies European operations as part of NCL’s ongoing commitment to giving the best trade and customer service in the business.

Helen will oversee and direct all HR accountabilities across the London based office of 100 staff and the NCL office in Frankfurt of 30 staff.

Helen has over 16 years experience in Human Resources and began her working life as the assistant to HR Manager of fashion house Courtaulds, before moving to Woolworths to work with Senior Management on HR related issues for the South East region.  Helen’s most recent position was as HR Director for Europe at Equifax, an information provider for business, consumers and the public sector, and at the same time achieved her post-graduate diploma in Human Resources Management.

Helen O’Hanlon, HR Manager for Europe, commented: “I am absolutely delighted to be joining NCL and look forward to achieving the challenging targets set for my department.  I was attracted to the company by the visible employee commitment and passion for the product, as well as the talent in teams and supervisors, while still seeing an opportunity for me to make my mark. 

“NCL has done great work in terms of looking after its people, and what I will bring to the mix is a strategic vision and a clear direction going forward.  I truly believe that happy employees make happy customers, and that we have a real opportunity to create a buzz in the business and grow the bottom line.”

Stephen Park, General Manager for NCL UK, commented: “We are delighted that Helen has joined us.  Her appointment comes at a time when we are looking to improve all aspects of our UK operations and she has a real drive to build on the foundations that we have in place. 

“NCL is committed to providing a quality working environment for its employees and, by creating a dedicated HR role, we will continue to be a great place to work and to attract the best people to our company. 

“We are in the business of providing fun, exciting and rewarding holidays for our customers and there is no reason why the organisation can not reflect those same values, and offer those same ideals to its employees.”

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