London: This week it was announced that Paul Stanley was taking over from Mike Robinson as chief executive of Global Navigation Systems (GNS), the private equity backed navigation service provider. GNS has created a global, one-stop shop approach to sourcing navigation chart data.
During the last 15 years, Stanley has held a number of senior executive positions in the business information and software sectors, both within the UK and internationally. In 1999 he founded Moneybox and successfully floated the company on AIM. From 2006 to 2011 he held several senior positions at First Data Corporation. His most recent role was as ceo of Retail Decisions, a specialist in fraud mitigation software.
“My goal at GNS,” Stanley tells Maritime CEO, “is to build a market leading business that provides cost effective and efficient support through a global network whether the requirements are for traditional paper charts, digital navigation solutions, managed outfit services or enhanced business intelligence and analytics.”
Shipowners are faced with industry mandates around a shift to digital navigation, Stanley reckons, and they are trying to understand what this really means. Explaining the impact of new mandates and demonstrating the solutions available to ensure compliance, he says, is very topical with shipowners who are faced with what he describes as “a baffling array” of hardware, software and documentation requirements.
GNS has been at the heart of the consolidation process of the navigation sector taking over brands such as HanseNautic, Lilley & Gillie and Thomas Gunn. Stanley gives the impression that this process is not over yet.
“Undoubtedly,” he says, “the globalisation and digitisation of any industry creates consolidation opportunities. However, it also leaves space for creative innovators and disruptors who see opportunity emerging in a different way as the shape and structure of the industry changes.” [08/01/15]
