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Stalo Pilakouta: Emboldened Women Business Leaders in 2022

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Stalo Pilakouta
Pilakoutas Group

‘Based on our dynamism, innovation and quality of our products and services, we pave the way to the future, aiming to be the best in our sector’

“Being the youngest member of the family, I joined the Pilakoutas Group two years ago. I studied Business management at King’s College London and completed my master’s degree in Strategic Marketing at Imperial College Business School. I always wanted to work in the automotive industry, not only because I feel cars are a main part of my family’s DNA, but also because I have a passion for this industry. Together with my siblings, we are the fourth generation in the family business.”

Tell us about your company.
“Pilakoutas Group was established in 1932 and since then has demonstrated a course of development and growth. Today the group is the leader in the Cypriot automobile market and its family of brands includes BMW, MINI, Rolls Royce, Land Rover, Jaguar, Nissan, Renault, Dacia and Mitsubishi. Another member of Pilakoutas Group of companies is Char. Pilakoutas Industrial Ltd – the exclusive agent of the diesel engines Perkins, Deutz, Yanmar as well as the generators FG Wilson and Pramac in Cyprus.”

Why do you think companies would benefit from having more women at the top?
“It is all about diversity, in a way that companies of our era can get new benefits having women at the top. In a modern business culture, women play an even more significant role defining decision making and enriching leadership with new perspectives. Although both genders have specific characteristics, what matters most today, is how the corporate environment embraces and promotes diversity and equality, in a manner that both men and women can follow a promising career path, based on their technical and soft skills. In my opinion, a good combination of both talented women and men can make an organisation thrive.”

How has your organisation impacted the community?
“It is simple. We do what is right. No matter what. At Pilakoutas Group our business DNA consists of continuous evolution. A very important part of this process is our corporate impact on the local society. In this context, we have designed our business transformation model, with the sustainable development at its epicentre. Unfolding our strategy, we deploy Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) actions such as ‘Axia Zois’ (Value of Life), supporting the initiatives and actions of Ayia Skepi in the battle against narcotics. We also support the non-profit organisation of Europa Donna in their efforts preventing breast cancer and enhancing patients’ quality of life.
As a business, our CSR does not stop here. We continue to systematically reduce our environmental impact, and this emerges from Pilakoutas Group sustainable development policies plan. According to this plan, we have under progress a study which analyses our energy needs and will drive the implementation of solar energy panels during the first quarter of 2022. We aim to cover 66 per cent of our energy requirements through green eco-friendly sources. In another area, with direct impact to the environment, we have managed to recycle almost 100 per cent of industrial waste.”

What is your vision for your organisation that will help drive your company forward?
“For any modern business organisation, I believe that the ability to adapt is the driving force for the future. Being able to change, in an agile and efficient way, helps tackle the new challenges as it enables and coordinates the company’s internal strengths towards a direction of growth. So, under the wider umbrella of business transformation, which includes digital transformation, I envision our group’s progress based on the axiom of continuous change. In our era and as the pandemic has proven, there is no time to rest, no time for complacency. We are a group of companies specialised in the automotive industry. Our products have to do with mobility. Therefore, we are obliged to constantly move forward, adapting to new challenges, and exploiting new business opportunities.”

What is your definition of success?
“I think everyone defines the meaning of success differently. As far as I am concerned, success depends on how you can achieve the right balance between work and life accomplishments. This is also related with the internal joy and personal fulfillment of doing things that cause a positive impact not only for yourself but also for the people you care, for your family, friends, colleagues, and society.”

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