Vodafone Chooses Hungary

NEWBURY, U.K. -- Vodafone is to establish a Shared Service Centre in Budapest to deal with common financial processes and transactions across the bulk of the Group.

The Shared Service Centre is set to handle simple business transactions such as accounts payable and business-to-business billing, enabling existing Vodafone employees to focus more on business analysis and strategy.

The project is expected to be supported by the Hungarian Government under its investment-incentive scheme. Budapest is already home to several shared service centres operated by multinational companies. Following a rigorous selection process, Vodafone chose Budapest for a range of benefits, including a central location and a sophisticated communications network.

"There are expected to be clear advantages in basing this Shared Service Centre in Hungary," said Andy Halford, Chief Financial Officer of Vodafone. "The Hungarian Government has made Shared Service Centres a pillar of its national growth programme. Its support and understanding of the needs of modern business will help Vodafone to operate even more efficiently and effectively in a competitive market."

The shared centre forms part of a three-year business transformation programme aimed at harmonising processes across the Vodafone Group to deliver greater efficiencies.

Under the initiative, Vodafone will set in place a single, integrated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system for finance, supply chain and human resources in all operating companies where the Group has a majority ownership.

It is anticipated that the system will deliver a range of business benefits to the Vodafone Group, including the more efficient use of resources, better information sharing, enhanced business agility and a stronger customer focus.

The programme is expected to ensure that Vodafone is even better prepared to deliver on its key strategic objectives of reducing costs in Europe, supporting strong growth in emerging markets and enhancing the management of its business portfolio to maximise returns.

Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD)