Finding the best possible partners in the various territories has been one of Atterbury Europe’s big strengths in ensuring a foothold in Europe. In Cyprus, one such fortuitous bond was formed with Cyprus-born and South African-raised John Mavrokordatos, who had relocated back to his home country some years back to establish an auditing and accounting practice. John became part of the Atterbury Europe family five years ago and as board member and consultant has been a great asset to the team. We spent some virtual time getting to know him better.

 

How did your path first cross with Atterbury Europe’s and how did you come to be involved with the company? What is your exact role?

In June 2015, I was introduced to Henk Deist and Martin Olivier by a family member and business partner of Atterbury just after they acquired the Mall of Cyprus and Mall of Engomi, both located in Nicosia. Our first meeting was over a lengthy and very pleasant Sunday lunch in Ayia Napa which was a most enjoyable introduction to the Atterbury culture – both professionally and socially.

Subsequently, I was invited to join the Board of Atterbury Cyprus Ltd and its two subsidiaries, Mall of Cyprus and Mall of Engomi as non- executive director initially. With time however, our professional relationship expanded to the degree where we also provide other professional services such as accounting, VAT, audit and payroll to the various Atterbury Europe group companies as well as their associates.

During 2016 Brightbridge Investments Ltd (now renamed Brightbridge Real Estate Ltd), one of Atterbury Europe’s holding companies and controlled by the Atterbury executives, was redomiciled from Isle of Man to Cyprus. I was appointed to the board of this company as well and in addition as a consultant, providing consultancy services in various areas for this company.

After five years of working with Atterbury Europe I like to think of myself as very much part of the team and their local representative, in all professional aspects, in Cyprus. Not a day elapses without contact between me and the various Atterbury Europe team members.

 

You have the unique position on the team that you know both South African and Cypriot culture well. Tell us about your background to illuminate this for us: where your footprints started and how you came to be where you are now? 

I was born in Cyprus, but my parents emigrated to South Africa when I was 10 years old. I matriculated from Hyde Park High School and completed my various academic qualifications at Wits University and then completed a post-graduate degree at Wits Business School on a part-time basis as I was holding a senior CEO position at the time. I qualified as CA (SA) with a medium-sized accounting firm which subsequently became the founding firm of Grant Thornton in Johannesburg

I had a varied career, leaving the profession after qualifying as CA (SA) as my interest was towards the business sector. I held a number of senior positions at CEO and CFO levels in large public and private companies, as well as senior roles in private equity, corporate finance and investment banking for a number of years.

After disposing of my various financial interests, I decided to return to Cyprus in 2002. Cyprus at that time was emerging as an efficient tax jurisdiction and there was an opportunity to set up a tax, audit and corporate services practice. Most clients in the early years were from the former Soviet bloc, mainly Russians and Ukrainians who set up Cyprus investment-holding companies to hold their international investments and thus take advantage of the significant tax advantages offered by the Cyprus tax system, including numerous Double Tax Treaties established with a multitude of countries. Over time, Cyprus became popular with clients of other nationalities, including a good number of South Africans.

It has been most interesting and stimulating as I deal with professionals and business people of various cultures and nationalities from all over the world, including visiting them in their home countries. My clients are active in various industries, from oil and gas exploration in places like Siberia, to supermarkets in Belarus, financial services and banking throughout Europe, shopping malls in Moscow and St Petersburg, interne- based companies and of course now, the Atterbury Europe group.

 

What in your opinion is the biggest advantage of knowing both cultures well – can you give us a practical example of how you’ve been able to facilitate the business processes within Atterbury Europe?

In my varied business experience, I have found that CAs, and especially those who are a CA (SA), speak a very similar language. You can almost spot one from the moment you exchange a few words. They also have a set way of thinking! Atterbury Europe is well endowed with CAs and it was easy to develop the rapport one needs in formulating a good working relationship.

Typically, I provide a support role for Atterbury Europe in meeting statutory and compliance requirements for their Cyprus-based interests.

Having spent most of my life in SA, I also participated, as player and spectator, in local sports like rugby and cricket. These sports are foreign to Cypriots as they are football and basketball crazy. I am still a huge supporter and follower of the Springboks and Proteas and watch as many of their games as possible, including the autumn internationals in the UK when I get a chance to travel there.

The Atterbury Europe team are all fanatical Springbok fans, so it is easy to have a few drinks discussing their games. Of course, last year I did not miss any of their World Cup games on TV and it was so thrilling to watch the Boks lift the trophy.

 

We like to introduce Atterbury Europe’s families to our wider network, so kindly give us an insight into your personal life.

I have been married to Kalia for 40 years now and we have three children, Erene, Anthea and George. All three have followed in my footsteps and all are also CA (SA)s. The two girls are married and still live in Johannesburg, while George now lives and works in London. Kalia works with me as a secretary and is an excellent HR asset with our professional staff members who all seem to confide in her; she keeps them very motivated!

We live in the capital, Nicosia, but we also have a home in a beautiful, tranquil Venetian village, Lefkara, about 50km from Nicosia, in the mountain region. All the houses in Lefkara are traditional stone-built houses with Tuscan influence, since Cyprus was a colony of Venice from the 15^th century for about 90 years. We can trace the history of our house there for about 300 years and it obviously has been renovated within the requirements of traditional and listed houses.

I know the Atterbury Europe team has a soft spot for Lefkara and on most of their visits here for business and meetings, they like to spend some time there. We have had many memorable lunches and dinners in Lefkara and in fact, one of our recent board meetings was held there.

In addition, I was appointed as the Honorary Consul of South Africa in Cyprus in March 2019. There is a large South African community who permanently reside in Cyprus and in the absence of an embassy, we provide very convenient and valuable visa, passport, certification and other services to these South Africans. In this way, I feel I am still giving back something to my adopted country.

 

What has been the Atterbury Europe project so far that you have found most rewarding to work on and why? 

It has been rewarding to see the methodical and professional approach of the Atterbury Europe team in establishing their presence in Cyprus, Romania and Serbia and growing their asset base in a fast, but financially prudent manner. Atterbury Europe’s successful strategy is evident five years later through the combined holding of shares in real estate companies worth more than €500 million (net asset value), spread over three countries, mainly consisting of dominant shopping centres in prominent locations.

Presently, we are working on a new and very exciting project in Limassol, Cyprus with tremendous potential. It is early days, but it is very promising, and we hope to bring it to completion within 18-24 months.

 

Professionally, what are your priorities for the rest of 2020, this very unexpected year of the pandemic?

As regards my practice, we had to adapt to the conditions brought about by the pandemic. Fortunately, our profession allows us to provide our services working from home, so we were not really impacted badly by the lockdown. Cyprus has managed the pandemic well to the extent that we have now all returned to our offices, while most businesses here, including the malls have reopened.

The safety of our staff and clients is our top priority. At the same time, we are aware of our clients’ needs, so we have managed to achieve the correct balance in assuring our service levels are almost at pre-Covid standards. We are obviously monitoring the Covid situation closely to ensure the ongoing mitigation of the health risk. At the same time, we will maintain the current high levels of service provided to all our clients.

With respect to Atterbury Cyprus, my top priority is to assist and support the team in taking the Limassol project forward and to complete this within 18-24 months. It will be an important addition to the Atterbury Europe portfolio.