Sir Stelios holds traditional easy Family reunion in Monaco
The 2024 Autumn easy Family reunion took place in Monaco on October 11 and 12
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, creator and owner of the famous easy family of brands, again hosted the now traditional Autumn family of brands reunion at the easyGroup premises in Monaco, on 11 and 12 October.
All the members of the easy family were represented, as well as associates who work closely with the Group. The packed 2-day programme included business updates as well as social opportunities that gave the brands a chance to interact, exchange ideas, and explore potential collaborations.
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Among the speakers at the main event were host Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the creator and owner of the easy Family of brands, Stephen Hester of easyJet, Karim Malak of easyHotel, as well as Alejandro Stefan of Google, and David Cracknell from the PR agency Tavistock
Sir Stelios also hosted an online Zoom session, so that even members who could not attend in person could be part of the ‘family reunion experience’.
A dinner at the prestigious Hermitage Hotel rounded off day 1. Not only was this an opportunity to taste the best that Monaco hospitality has to offer, and indulge in some more networking, but there was also the 6th and much anticipated edition of the easyQuiz, based on the latest printed edition of easyHistory. The quiz winners received prizes of a week’s stay on the Greek island of Spetses, including a complimentary dinner for four at the five-star Poseidonion Grand Hotel.
Tony Anderson of easy.com was the evening’s MC and he spoke about how it all started, with Sir Stelios making bold and risky decisions in launching easyJet as a challenge to the dominant British Airways of the day, cutting out the middle man through direct sales, a first in Europe, not offering a free meal but instead creating a revenue stream by selling food onboard, and creating ‘easyLand’ at Luton airport with much-needed local jobs for many. Anderson read out a personal testimonial from Gary, a former bouncer at a Luton nightclub whose then girlfriend had started working at easyJet as a reservation agent. He applied and joined too, with much better working conditions than a doorway on a wet Friday night in Luton! After a while he moved up to a supervisory position, then into the cash management side, becoming treasury manager with the airline. Benefiting from training opportunities and passing exams. Gary eventually left easyJet in 2005 and has now been with a $2 billion finance software company for 8 years. Gary concluded his testimony by thanking Sir Stelios “for the opportunity that set me on my journey.”
And so the toast was not only to Sir Stelios, for having created easy Jet as a first step on the road to today’s vast easyGroup, but to entrepreneurship as a whole, embodied by those present, which provides opportunities for many.
Day 2 started with a buffet lunch at the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation’s conference hall, followed by two working sessions featuring members of the easy family of brands and associates, with contributions in the first from British, European and Indian entities among others.
A second working session covered broader legal and brand-related subjects, concluding with updates from the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation.
All photos courtesy easyGroup.