The Responsibility, Covering 11 European Countries

Birsen Cevik Akgunlu has been assigned with the responsibility, covering 11 European countries

Birsen Cevik Akgunlu, the Human Resources Director at Mey|Diageo, has been appointed as the Human Resources Director of Mey Diageo Northern Europe, as of January 2022.

Birsen Cevik Akgunlu, who served as the Human Resources Director at Mey|Diageo since 2018, has been appointed as the Human Resources Director of Mey Diageo Northern Europe, as of January 2022.  As part of her new position, Akgunlu shall be responsible for development and actualization of talent and culture-related strategies in Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

After graduating from the Department of Economics of Bogazici University, Birsen Cevik Akgunlu started her career as a Human Resources Specialist at PwC. After 2 years, Akgunlu switched to Hewlett Packard, and in 2001, she started to serve as the Manager of Wages and Fringe Benefits at British American Tobacco (BAT) during its entry into the Turkish market in 2001. In 2008, she was appointed as the company's "first Turkish HR Director", and during her 15 years at BAT, the number of the employees she led reached 1,500 from 25. In 2016, Akgunlu was assigned as the Senior HR Director at PepsiCo Türkiye, and she has been serving as the Human Resources Director at Mey|Diageo since April 2018. Akgunlu, who has developed the innovative working model of Mey |Diageo, called "New Beginning",  played a key role in the corporate transformation of the company, spreading the culture of participatory leadership and establishing an employee-oriented mindset. Akgunlu will start to serve as the Human Resources Director of Mey Diageo Northern Europe as of January 2022, in Hamburg, Germany.

Innovative and trail-blazing HR practices of Mey|Diageo

Making a difference through its innovative and trail-blazing HR practices, Mey|Diageo aims to create an agile ecosystem in all aspects, free from hierarchy, centered on justice, focused on empathy and compassion, in which all of employees, regardless of their positions, fully respect and trust each other.   Making efforts to create an inclusive and diverse corporate culture, Mey|Diageo also stands out with the international career opportunities it offers to its employees within the organization of Diageo, which carries out business operations in approximately 180 countries with regional offices in 80 countries.

About Mey|Diageo

Mey|Diageo is one of the largest companies in the alcoholic beverage industry in Türkiye. It has been incorporated in 2004 upon the privatization of the alcoholic beverages department of Tekel. Since 2011, it has been operating under the umbrella of Diageo the alcoholic beverage producer trading in approximately 180 countries with regional offices in 80 countries. Mey|Diageo, the present representative of the legacy, dating back to the General Directorate of Monopolies that was established in 1862, is a company that is engaged in viticulture on its own land and holds a farming license. It continues to operate in Türkiye as two separate companies, one for production and the other for sales and marketing. It has become one of the largest companies in Türkiye, thanks to its more than 2 thousand employees, including its distributor and sales teams, by combining the talents of its employees with the power of its brands. Thanks to the employment opportunities it provides, as well as its significant contributions to the economy of the country, its approach to social responsibility and its premium brands, it holds a market-leading position in every field.

For information

Selim Zeytinoglu / BN Strategic Communication / [email protected]