Executives at Woodchester could have been forgiven for being anxious about their future when the world's biggest company, General Electric, gobbled it up three years ago. Over that time though, Mr Dan O'Connor and his team have quickly adapted to doing business the GE way and are now driving the group's global business in Europe.

GE Woodchester is part of the US conglomerate's global finance operation, which provides financial services ranging from Harrods and Debenhams store cards to car and equipment leasing. It is one of GE's fastest growing businesses and is on course to leap from being the top 10 earner to number five this year, largely because of its rapid growth in Europe.

Based in Dublin, Mr O'Connor heads the European business, which has assets of $22 billion (€26 billion) and employs 12,000 people in 20 countries. In terms of scale it's a very different organisation from Woodchester but in some ways it bears great similarities.

"Obviously it is a much bigger organisation, but the issue for GE is that net income is always a key driver and that was always the focus in Woodchester. We had already branched out beyond Ireland with a presence in four or five EU states at the time of the GE takeover," he says.

GE is a very different shareholder for Woodchester from its predecessor, the French bank Credit Lyonnais, spanning industries such as aircraft engine manufacturing, medical systems and the NBC media organisation.

It has a well-defined operating system and "social architecture" that encourages the flow of ideas and strategies across each industry, which is something the staff of newly-acquired companies must embrace. "Every business within the group has to learn to speak GE's language. You have to realise there is a GE way of doing business," says Mr O'Connor.

He spends two to three days every week travelling to the various European operations, meeting management and customers. He also regularly visits the US to comply with the rigid reporting and review sessions that apply across GE.

Mr O'Connor says the fact that GE has been so quick to give him and other key former Woodchester executives key roles in the European organisation shows how well they have adapted to this new environment. "They said `you seem like you know what you are doing, here's some broader responsibility' - and they don't do that lightly."

His office is adorned with framed montages of significant events that have shaped the company's progress so far. Among these are handwritten notes he has received from GE's chairman and chief executive, Mr Jack Welch, revealing that there can be very personal touches even in the biggest companies.

Meetings with Mr Welch are a regular feature. He travels to Europe twice a year to review the business and there are other sessions during the year.

"It is a very effective operating system. Your year is planned out and begins in the first week in January with a meeting of 150 officers in Florida, where Jack Welch delivers his opening statement for the year. He highlights what is important, forecasting and looking at where the businesses are going, and they stick to it."

The European consumer finance business offers huge potential for GE, with strategic interests in emerging economies such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. At the moment it accounts for around 40 per cent of revenues generated by the global consumer finance operation and this is expected to grow to more than 50 per cent in the coming years.

The consumer finance group was set up eight years ago and has aggressively set about acquiring businesses in Europe to position itself to be a key player in a market with a population of between 250 million and 300 million.

This acquisition programme has been a major part of its success and has earned it a tough reputation when doing business. At any one time 100 people are dedicated to originating deals, conducting due diligence, negotiating contracts and integrating new companies. And now that financial assets are considerably cheaper than a year ago, the pace is likely to be stepped up again.

Mr O'Connor says it would like to be more active in huge markets such as Germany, Poland and Spain, and will also consider acquisitions that bring new products to the company.

"Over the next two to three years we will be required to come up with new and clever products. The whole world of financial services is going through a huge change and I think for us it's a very interesting market to be in."

Another challenge will be to produce these products in the cheapest way. Whether making appliances or other products, GE has always looked to source manufacturing in low-cost economies. This will apply to financial products and will increasingly shift that focus away from economies such as Ireland.

"Over the last two years GE has set up two call centres in Shannon and Woodchester has set up its back office but I think where we are at the moment with the level of inflation, skills shortages and the high level of staff turnover you will not see our back office activities increasing in Ireland." Some 35 jobs have recently been moved from Woodchester GE to the UK operations, as the group's activities are being streamlined to take out costs.

Mr O'Connor says becoming part of GE has been a big challenge and has been hugely beneficial for Woodchester.

"There is always a concern when you are being acquired about what is going to happen. In our case we had a $4 billion business in terms of assets and now it's five times bigger. The challenge is greater as you are operating in the GE environment, which is by its reputation the most successful company in the world. That has not been earned by public relations but by consistent earnings growth."