Our Team
QRP International has achieved great success due in no small part to the dedication, knowledge and expertise of its staff. In any industry where the people behind a company are as important as the company itself, QRP is blessed to have such energetic and customer-driven individuals.
Jacobus Groot
Managing Director
Jacobus was born in the Netherlands in 1969. He studied Tourism in Breda and International Management at the University of Maastricht. After his graduation he started a career in Project Management in various telecommunications companies. Being passionate about international management he worked in Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany , Cyprus, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Through his various experiences he wanted to improve project management, facilitating change.
In 2003 he started his long time dream to have his own company and founded QRP International which quickly grew to a Pan – European leader in Project Management training and consultancy.
Jacobus loves travelling, speaks Dutch, English ,German, Italian and some French. Wine and good food are his passion which he enjoys in his home town Como in Italy. In his free time he bikes around lake Como and plays Football. Jacobus is married and has 3 children.
Michelangelo Carbone
Chief Operating Officer
Freshly graduated into business administration at European School of Economics in Bari, Michelangelo joined QRP in July 2004 as an intern in charge of doing market research for the Italian market, the company was then made of 2 persons: Jacobus and He. QRP activities increased quickly at an international level and he soon became in charge of finance and operation, ensuring that business operations are efficient and effective, planning, scheduling and controlling all QRP services provided worldwide.
As QRP’s senior team members, Michelangelo is a reference and a guide for the whole team, always ready to answer to our (numerous!) questions, with patience and great understanding. Michelangelo is also an expert problem solver. We haven’t met a problem he can’t untangle. A man of few words, when he does speak up, we all listen. But don’t let him fool you. Just under the surface, Michelangelo harbors a wicked sense of humor.
Outside the office, as a father of three sons, Michelangelo keeps pretty busy with his family life and his passion for reading.
Sarah Barbot
Marketing Executive France
Newly graduated from a master’s degree in marketing, communication and events in Lyon, Sarah is the youngest person to join the QRP team.
In 2021, she joined the City Hall of Bollate to help organise the Villa-Arconati FAR festival, which introduced her to Italian culture by meeting artists such as Remo Anzovino, Rachele Bastreghi and Michela Murgia. The following year, she moved to Florence to do an internship in communication for the MUS.E association. She will take you on a tour of the city’s major museums. For her final internship for the master’s degree in 2023, she joined the Institut français Milano to organise and coordinate the communication for cultural events and exhibitions.
Outside work, Sarah enjoys playing the piano, visiting museums, baking cakes and taking her friends and family to Disneyland Paris.
Eva Body
Service Executive
Eva is from Budapest, Hungary where she attended Eötvös Loránd University and graduated in Psychology in 2003.
After her studies she came to Italy to learn the language and travel. A few years later she decided to move here out of passion for Italian food and landscapes.
She worked for various companies with international relations in administrative roles and as interpreter/translator, including 7 years at one of the Big Four auditing firms in Milan. She joined QRP International in March 2020 to support the Administration team.
Eva moved to Como in 2015 and enjoys discovering the area’s beautiful surroundings since then. She loves war novels, biographies and psychology literature as well as cinema. She also enjoys swimming and cycling around the lake with her family.
Ricky Boeykens
Trainer and Consultant
Ricky was born in Belgium, the land of chocolate and beer, and graduated in Economics as a professional Bachelor. Having seen too many figures while studying, he decided to limit them just to the one’s and zero’s and became highly interested in Informatics.
He became a Microsoft Certified System Engineer on Windows 2003 and wanted to share knowledge as much as possible with Microsoft Certified Trainer as the logical next step. Meanwhile he came in contact with the upcoming IT Service Management (ITIL V2) trend in Belgium and decided to leave the technical IT world for “A Brave New world”, and the nickname “Rickitil” has been born.
Training and consultancy to many different types of companies, small to big sized, national to international an last but not least IT and non-IT, became his habitat. The combination of all these environments and technical background made him a very flexible and trusted expert in ITIL with a lot of real life experience.
Sports (Tennis, Football), Bruce Sprinsgteen, italian food, and most of all his family are filling the rest of his time.
Noor Bouwdewijn
Marketing Executive Belgium
Originally from the Netherlands, Noor graduated from Wageningen University with a degree in Nutrition & Health. Due to her enormous passion for food, she soon found a job at a food start up. She discovered that working at a startup obliges you to take on many responsibilities and be very versatile. It taught her many lessons, but most of it all it helped her discover her passion for (online) marketing and content creation.
Her professional journey took her past some other startups and scale-ups before she decided to settle in Milan. After the big move to Italy, she joined the QRP team as a marketing executive for the Belgian market.
Noor is passionate about different languages and cultures and spent a year in Russia to discover the country. She now uses this curiosity to explore all that Italy has to offer, from North to South. In her free time you will probably find Noor with her family, food shopping or cooking some challenging recipe. Noor also loves to be out in nature, be creative with her sewing machine or read a good book!
Martina Caspani
Sales Assistant Italy
Martina was born and raised in Como. She graduated in Languages and Culture from the University of Insubria in Como and then she started a master in Modern Languages. Martina can speak English and Spanish and knows Russian and a little bit of French.
After graduation she started working for a company in the furniture sector where she managed the foreign commercial back office. From that experience she learned that her strength was the ability to do her best to ensure customer satisfaction and earn clients trust with her kindness and hard work.
She joined QRP in March 2024 as Sales Assistant for the Italian market.
In her spare time she loves reading, listening to podcasts and spending time with her loved ones.
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Francesca Cecconi
Sales Executive Italy
Francesca graduated in Political Science with a specialization in Sociology from University of Milan – Università degli Studi di Milano She continued her studies by conducting two Masters in Human Resources: One at the Lugano Business School and one at the Alta training school in Milan. Her professional career began in the insurance sector in 2015, where She held the role of Consultant and Junior HR support later. In this dynamic environment, She discovered her aptitude for the role of Account, specializing more and more in the Training and Human Resources Sector. As Sales Manager for Italy, She began working in 2016 for a body accredited by the Lombardy Region and specialized in interprofessional training services and Active Labor Policies (HR) services. She has been continuing to grow professionally by becoming Account Specialist in Adecco in 2017. Strongly motivated and always on the lookout for new worlds to explore, she has combined ambition with generosity and patience, aspects that have strengthened her in her role as a consultant, continuing her activity in supporting customers by helping them in their choices and in achieving their goals. These attitudes allowed her to achieve the role of Sales Executive for the Italian market in QRP in 2019. Her contribution to the company is her strong motivation to achieve the goals.
Francesca also loves playing volleyball and has a strong passion for cooking, anthropology and sociology, but finds particular satisfaction in making people happy.
Maria Chindamo
Sales Executive Switzerland
Maria was born and raised in Switzerland, where she completed a technical-commercial study. Afterwards she followed various specialist courses in the banking sector, where she gained many years of experience in the Swiss banking sector, initially as a consultant for credit and credit cards and later as a financial advisor.
She moved to Como, the city and landscape that she has always particularly appreciated in 2004 to rejoin her family. In 2013 she took on a new independent professional challenge as a free-lancer as a German language teacher.
She started working in QRP in September 2020 as sales executive in the Swiss market.
In her spare time Maria is a very active person. She loves trekking in nature, as well as various gymnastics and yoga practices.
Maarten Dauwe
Business Development Manager Belgium
After obtaining his Master in Economics from the Ehsal Management School in Brussels, Maarten went to work at Belfius, a bank company, where he was in charge of guiding private clients in their key investment decisions. This extensive experience (>5 years) created a real customer-centric focus in his present business approach and brings an interesting flair to QRP.
Maarten joined us in July 2010 as Business Development Manager in order to create and increase the satisfaction & happiness of the Belgium and Luxembourg customers. Maarten brought to the QRP Team and QRP Clients the perfect combination of clients focus and problem solving spirit as he is PRINCE2 and MSP certified himself.
When he is not working, his hobbies include his family, sports, reading, writing and enjoying Belgium beer with friends.
Federica Errante
HR Assistant
Federica was born and raised in Como. She studied economy and languages. During her high school studies has travelled several times in the United Kingdom. The main aims of her experiences abroad was to improve her English and learn to be always more indipendent. After high school she started university studies at Università degli studi dell’Insubria in Como, where she’s studying languages and culture. During 2017, she spent one month studying at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, Cina, learning and improving her Chines. Federica in 2019 spent 5 month in Belgium to do an Erasmus, where she learned a bit of French.
Federica can speak English and Spanish fluently, and knows French, German and Chinese.
Federica is a very curious person, that’s why she is interest to know and understand everything she doesn’t know yet. She loves travel and read. During her free time she is used to go for a walk with her dog, go to the gym and spend time with family and friends.
Gabriele Franconi
Finance Assistant
Born and raised in Como, Gabriele graduated from the Bocconi University with a bachelor’s degree in Economics & Management in December 2016. After his graduation, he started working in the Finance Department of an American logistical company in its Swiss branch. In 2020, he moved to Porto and worked in the Credit Team of Adidas, managing the AR side of the Italian market: contact with customers and the other financial departments. Then, after 3 years in Portugal, he returned to Italy; he started working in the Finance Department of a Swiss Tech Company near Lugano, but then in November 2023 arrived the QRP’s opportunity and he decided to join this project.
Gabriele is a sports lover: he has practiced basketball since he was 9 years old, but in general he never says no to something linked with sport (go to the stadium, tennis or padel match). In his spare time, he also likes to organize events such as beer pong, sport tournament or quiz night. In general, he loves spending time together with his family and friends, enjoying dinner or a beer.
Jessica Giuliani
Service Assistant
Jessica graduated from Cattolica University in Milan with a Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics Sciences and Foreign Literatures. Shortly after her graduation, she started working in the Customer Service department of a multinational company near Como, leader in industrial packaging solutions. In 2022, she decided to begin a new work adventure in Switzerland and joined the Levi’s Customer Service Team, following Footwear and Accessories business. After almost 10 years of experience in the Customer Service world, Jessica is now ready and excited to start a new experience at QRP!
Outside work, Jessica is mother of an amazing 6 year old boy and lives with her husband near Como. Apart from her passion for foreign languages, especially English and German, she loves listening to music (of all genres), dancing, going out with her friends in her spare time…but as true Italian, Jessica loves food and she would never be able to say no to a delicious plate of Pasta!
Erwin de Graaf
Business Development Manager Netherlands
Erwin joined QRP in 2024, he is the first Dutch person working for QRP’s new market: the Netherlands.
Erwin’s career is marked by his ability to build sustainable relationships with clients and partners. As a Senior Account Manager with 20 years of experience in business and IT training and certification, he understands companies’ needs and translates them into tailored solutions. Erwin has successfully led numerous projects, from large-scale training programs to individual certification tracks. Known for his proactive approach and passion for education, he continually updates his knowledge of industry innovations and best practices. His deep expertise and strategic insights make him an invaluable partner, helping organizations achieve their goals through high-quality training and certification.
When not working, he loves spending time with his family and dogs, walking, bicycling, and gardening.
Jorien Hettinga
Sales Executive Belgium
Born and raised among the cows in the Northern province of The Netherlands, Jorien moved to the student city of Wageningen for her degree in Management, Economics and Consumer Studies. After working for a few years as an analyst in the backoffice of BNP Paribas, Jorien and her partner took a leap of faith looking for a new challenge in the region of Milan.
With her people-oriented mindset, she joined QRP in 2022 as a Sales Executive for Belgium. Her natural feeling for understanding the needs and desires of colleagues and clients, guides her in being the ultimate go-between in this position.
Being a humble Dutchie, she finds joy in the simple things in life. You’ll find her enjoying nature, either in hiking boots or on skis, watching football matches and occasionally strumming on her guitar. And having moved to Italy recently, she can’t help but accommodate to la dolce vita, with good food and local wines included.
Laurent Louboutin
E-Learning Developer
Laurent was born in Brittany, France and graduated in History and Politics at Rennes II University. He moved to the United Kingdom where he started his career as IT support on IBM service desk. Thanks to a keen interest for project management, he moved to Royal Dutch Shell IT project management team where he certified as an ITIL expert and Prince2 practitioner. He taught these two topics for four years at QRP and later gained experience in Cloud technologies and eLearning development at Oracle. Laurent returned to QRP in 2021 to develop our digital offering.
Outside of work he enjoys reading, running, spending time with family and Qi Gong meditation.
Seif-Eddine Kara
Sales Executive Belgium
Originally from Algeria, born and raised between the Mediterranean sea and the mountains, Seif-Eddin has a Master and PhD in process engineering from University of Blida, Algeria.
After his Master degree and as passionate about cars and sport cars he started working at Renault Automotive – sport cars department in quality of sales manager.
As a person, he loves challenges and big achievements. He decided to start a PhD in Engineering.
Getting a PhD allowed him to work and collaborate with a lot of scientific groups from all over the world and this work brought him to settle in Italy. While he was working on research he struggled a lot with respecting project deadlines due to the enormous work till he started using best practices project management, where he discovered the importance of project management and how best practice makes the work easy.
As a father of two beautiful daughters and a wonderful wife in his free time Seif love being with his family, especially around the food table. He likes sports: football since he was a player, mechanical sport because there is a lot of engineering and strategy around, especially F1. Reading real success stories is also one of his favorite hobby.
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Gianluigi Manusia
Marketing Assistant
Born in Siracusa on January 24th, 1999, Gianluigi followed his passion for Communication and Marketing wherever it took him. From a Bachelor’s Degree cum laude in Communication Science from the University of Turin to a Double Degree Master of Science in Marketing Management from Bocconi and in Marketing from Wirtschaftsuniversität (Vienna University of Economics and Business).
After an experience as Marketing Assistant for a Fashion company located in Pero, near Milan, Gianluigi found a new stimulating challenge in the city of Como.
In his spare you can find him playing his electric guitar and/or singing, collecting trophies and living memorable adventures through videogames or watching the latest stand-up comedy show.
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Alessandra Morciano
Marketing Manager
Alessandra graduated from Sapienza University of Rome with a Master’s degree in Business Economics and got a job fresh out of school as an intern in Etnocom, an advertising agency specialised in ethnic strategies. After the internship, she found an opportunity for an European Voluntary Service in Croatia where she was in charge of promoting projects and visibility of the organization through social networks, writing articles for the blog and facilitating events.
If you combined those skills with her willingness, curiosity, creativity and positive attitude, Alessandra was for sure the best candidate for the role of Marketing Executive for the QRP Italian market in 2016.
From January 2023 Alessandra is Marketing Manager, overseeing the department’s operations and providing guidance and feedback to other marketing executives.
In her free time, Alessandra loves reading and practicing & teaching yoga.
Linda Ngoune
Finance Assistant
Linda was born in Cameroon and traveled to Italy for her university studies where she obtained her bachelor’s degree in economics and management in 2021 at the University of Ferrara. She will soon obtain her master’s degree in economics for global challenges at the same university.
Linda is passionate about numbers and has a particular interest in finance and accounting, thanks to the skills she acquired during her training and university career. She joined QRP in August 2023 as Finance Assistant.
Apart from her love of numbers, Linda enjoys traveling, dancing, football and hanging out with friends.
Chiara Orsenigo
Service Manager
Chiara graduated from the University of Study Milan-Bicocca with a Bachelor’s degree in Science of Tourism and Local Community in November 2013.
After that, Chiara was in charge as customer and partner care in an Online Travel Agency in Milan until November 2015, when she decided to leave Italy and stayed for nearly one year in England at the beginning for an English Course and after like a volunteer in a Youth Hostel.
After this experience, she started to work like a receptionist in a 5 stars’ hotel by the Lake Como until the beginning of November 2016.
All these experiences enriched her cultural and professional knowledge, making her the perfect candidate for the Office Assistant role in 2017.
From January 2023 Chiara is Service Manager, making sure that services are being seamlessly delivered to our clients.
As you can figure out from her studies, tourism, travel and geography are her favourite passions. She has a lot of hobbies as well, besides music and cooking, she has been playing Volleyball since she was a child.
Hajar Ouifak
Business Development Manager France
Born in Morocco, Hajar obtained her Master’s degree in Strategic Marketing in Paris, where she began her career and pursued her professional career internationally, passing through France, Switzerland, and returning to Morocco. From the beginning, she has held positions of responsibility, participating in the launch of new projects and business development, particularly in the field of consulting and training in Morocco.
Back in Europe, she decided to settle in Italy. Being passionate about lakes and mountains, she chose to settle in Como, where she joined the QRP sales team to strengthen its presence in France.
Hajar loves to travel and never misses an opportunity to discover new countries. She has already visited the United States, several countries in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and her list of destinations to explore is still long. In her free time, she likes to share a good sweet-food with family or friends. She can skip dinner, but never the sweet-food time.
Donatello Partipilo
Business Development Manager Italy
After graduating from the Thames Valley University in London with a Bachelor of Marketing, Donatello went to work for an italian sports wear company. Donatello officially joined the QRP team in March 2006, as Sales and marketing assistant, where he carved out a niche with his passion for SEO, paid search and data-driven marketing.
In his current role as Business Development Manager for Italy, Donatello gets the most enjoyment from cultivating long-term relationships with QRP Italian clients; he acts more as a consultant than sales man, supporting clients and partners in achieving their goals and solving their problems. His contribution to the company is mainly reflected to his ability to get results and to get things done.
When not taking care of customers, Donatello finds pleasure in doing sport, reading and traveling.
Renato Passalacqua
Finance Manager
Born in Naples and raised in Rome, Renato graduated from University of Rome La Sapienza with a bachelor degree in International Economics and a Master’s degree in International Management and Business. Having acquired relevant experience in the international finance and cash flow management, Renato found his way in Como at QRP International as Finance Assistant, in June 2018.
From January 2021 he runs the Finance department and his growing team as Finance Manager for the whole QRP group.
Thanks to his international and finance experience, combined with his quick thinking and analytic skills, Renato is a good guide through the complex world of international invoicing, cash flow management and financial forecasting.
Renato has a huge passion for videogames, books, tabletop games and cooking (especially chinese and japanese). In his spare time he tries to fulfill all of these passions, along with managing his extremely energetic dog Tuuli.
Federica Passaro
Marketing Executive Switzerland
Born in Merate (LC) from a German mother and Italian father, she was raised in Lucca. After the degree in foreign languages and literatures in Pisa she moved to Milano where she obtained a master degree in interpreting and decided to remain there because she loved living in Milano.
After working for Valentino as a customer assistant and for a publishing company with different mansions, she landed in Como thanks to her German knowledge, beside speaking German and English she also knows Spanish.
As a good tuscanian she loves a good rare steak and drinks lots of good red wine. Her main hobby is travelling and watching movies but her favourite activity is going to the stadium to cheer for Inter.
Rémi Peduzzi
Business Development Manager Luxembourg
Born in Paris with Italian and Spanish origins, after graduating into Sales Techniques, Rémi decides to move to Milan.
In 2000, he started a career as salesman, and he collaborated with various companies. He was in charge for Belgian, Swiss, Spanish and Turkish markets for a group in the textile industry. He got experience as a Sales Account for Emilia Romagna, Tuscany and Lazio for an enterprise that distributed robots for industrial automation.
In 2018, Rémi joined QPR International team for the role of Sales Executive Belux.
His experience and passion for sales make him the right candidate to improve our presence in the Luxembourg market.
When he is not working, he enjoys spending time with his family and his friends , he is also a sport passionate.
Valentina Pozzi
Training Assistant
Valentina was born and raised in Varese. She graduated in communication science from the University of Insubria of Varese and during her studies she spent 5 months in Paris to do an Erasmus.
After graduation she started to work for the town hall of Olgiate Comasco, where she was in charge of the school service. In October 2021 joined Qrp as office assistant.
In her spare time Valentina loves reading, watching tv series, travelling, cooking cakes.
Marit Pruijn
Marketing Assistant
Marit was born in a village in the south of the Netherlands (Boxtel) and moved to several cities in The Netherlands. She obtained a Bachelor in Dermal Sciences in 2018 in Utrecht and worked in cosmetic clinics as a practitioner and clinic manager. During the corona pandemic, Marit was responsible for marketing duties and in her career she became part of a project management team for Belgium and France. Because of the combination of her previous work experience, Marit suits her role as a marketing assistant for the Dutch market within QRP which she started in 2024.
Marit enjoys hanging out with friends, playing sports and loves to be outside in nature. She can be found on the ski slopes in the winter and in the summer she enjoys using her stand-up paddle board in Lake Maggiore (Arona) where she lives since 2023. Marit feels completely at home in Italy because she is passionate about the Italian culture and the dolce vita lifestyle.
Justyna Ptasznik
Accreditation and Compliance Specialist
After obtaining her Master in Pedagogy at The Maria Grzegorzewska University in Warsaw, she worked in international elementary schools in Warsaw, London and Frankfurt. She joined our team in February 2013 as country manager for the Polish market and was in charge of all the sales and marketing activities for Poland. Unfortunately in 2016 QRP has to take the difficult decision of leaving the Polish market to focus on its main countries, however we could not leave Justyna as she was a great asset for QRP! Justyna learned about the office and administration manager position at QRP.
It was clear that she had the right competences for the position: she is naturally thorough, hard worker, steady and reliable, and she’s been mastering our office ever since, monitoring and delivering training material and examination worldwide.
From 2023 her main focus is on maintaining the excellent standard as well as ensuring that the company follows its defined internal policies and procedure, and as well is responsible for ensuring external compliance related to all accreditations of QRP.
In her spare time, Justyna is most likely hanging with her family or cycling.
Sara Selkan
Sales Executive France
Sara graduated with a degree in Finance and Accounting from Mundiapolis University in Casablanca in 2017. She began her career in digital consulting with a leading French telecommunications company, where she honed her skills in strategic communication. Her passion for technology led her to join DELL Technologies in 2019, where she managed several projects focused on improving internal processes and ensuring optimal service quality for clients and partners.
In 2021, Sara was promoted to the position of Sales Operations Specialist for wholesalers. In this role, she developed strong expertise in partnership management, commercial negotiation, and supply chain optimization.
Driven by curiosity and a passion for both personal and professional growth, she decided to learn Italian and moved to Italy in July 2023. This experience allowed her to immerse herself in a new culture, enhancing her ability to navigate international and multicultural environments. She subsequently joined QRP as a Sales Executive for the French market, where she now leverages her expertise to drive business growth and build strong client relationships.
Andrea Smedile
Sales Support Specialist
Born and raised in Como, Andrea started working in the tourism industry in high school, organizing social and sporting events. He graduated in Tourism Sciences from the University of Milano-Bicocca. After graduation, he traveled to Bournemouth to improve his English. He worked for a hotel at first, and then for five years for a company called Conduent, which provides IT support. In 2020, he moved to Amsterdam and worked as a seller for Tours and Ticket, a company that organizes tourist experiences. He also worked in the back office, selling tourist experiences, managing bookings and providing customer support.
In 2023, he decided to return to Italy and his passion for IT and for sales brought him to work at QRP International.
Andrea is passionate about sports, especially football, tennis, padel, and volleyball and skiing. He also studied piano for many years and enjoys spending time with friends for a craft beer or a typical dinner.
Lin Swik
Marketing Executive Luxembourg
Born and raised in Belgium, Lin graduated with a Bachelor in Sinology after which she lived and worked in China for 8 years. She holds a Master in Corporate Communications and took on various commercial roles in sales and marketing for start-ups, medium-sized companies as well as large organisations. Besides being a passionate foodie, Lin is also an endurance sports enthusiast with a degree as a personal trainer.
Upon returning to Europe in September 2019, she landed in Milan with her partner and shortly after, their daughter was born. After working as a freelance marketing consultant and starting-up her own coaching initiative, she encountered QRP and the Belux Team.
Lin speaks 5 languages and keeps learning more, of which the current one is Italian. In her spare time, she loves to cook, train for triathlons, run marathons, and support other women in fitness as their running coach, strength and yoga teacher.
Aziz Tellili
Sales Executive France
Born and raised in Tunisia, Aziz Graduated from the University of Carthage with a bachelor’s degree in Management and Business administration in 2018. After his graduation, he started working as a project coordinator in a NGO that promotes entrepreneruship through training, coaching and mentoring programs. After getting promoted to the position of Junior M&E officer, Aziz acknowledged the art of customer satisfaction through data collection and direct contact with beneficiairies.
Being passionate about economics and having a constant desire to learn, he decided to move to Rome in 2022 and pursue a master degree in Sustainability and circular economy. Following his end-of-study internship in Paris, he came back to Italy.
Following his goal to operate in an international environment and his will to support customers and assist them, he decided to join QRP in September 2024 as Sales Executive for the French market.
Aziz loves playing basketball and ping pong as well as discovering new cultures and trying new food. However, he still can’t decide between couscous with fish and Cacio e Pepe as his favourite dish.