Published: 26/11/2009 00:00 -
Updated: 03/12/2009 16:50
THE hardship caused to a community when its main employer collapses is something that Stansted Airport's new managing director has seen at first hand.
David Johnston was born into a County Durham mining family - his grandfather was the pit's explosives expert - and the 44-year-old BAA high-flier grew up in an area where unemployment was more than 10 per cent once the collieries closed and the North East's shipbuilding industry imploded.
The experience has shaped his attitude to business and means bad news for Stop Stansted Expansion.
The new man at the airport's helm is unapologetic about his priorities - he will be putting the interests of his staff before the concerns of protesters.
BAA employs about 1,300 people at Stansted and the 180 companies within the airport's perimeter have a total workforce of some 11,500, of whom 20 per cent live in Bishop's Stortford and 81 per cent in Herts and Essex. Their wages total £400m.
Mr Johnston's message to objectors was frank: "I think there are certain things we're going to agree to disagree on. We'll look to do whatever we can for the environment, but we have responsibility for the economic growth in the area."
His own working life began when the recession of the 1980s was biting deep, yet he decided to leave school aged just 16. He is frank now about the folly of quitting: "I completed my O-levels and got out of school. I was interested in women, beer and football. I'd had enough of education."
He turned his hand to a host of menial tasks - from cleaning squash courts to manning a petrol pump - and spent six months on the dole.
The arrival of the Japanese in the North East offered him a second chance - and he seized it in 1986, eventually becoming production supervisor for NSK Bearings. Within a year, he was in charge of a team and had his first taste of management. He said: "I learned a lot about leadership."
He also began collecting qualifications. "I had quite a broad education," he said. "I got nine O-levels and that was enough for me, but going into a work environment, I realised there were gaps I needed to fill."
After five years with NSK he was ready to move on and joined Hashimoto Ltd, becoming a production manager and honing his "lean approach" to business by working "the Nissan way". He became increasingly interested in behavioural psychology and the need for "a balanced portfolio of characters in a team".
He spent six months in Japan as wife Tina prepared to give birth to the couple's first child, Charlotte. He returned to the UK for his daughter's arrival, but had to fly back to the Far East soon after, setting a recurring pattern of teamwork by the couple, who also have a 10-year-old son, Sam.
While Mr Johnston forges ahead at work, his wife keeps the home fires burning, hence she and the children have remained in the North East on the family's farm while he is based in a Dunmow flat during the week. He said: "Tina has always been a tremendous support to my career."
Her patience was tested again when her husband studied for an MBA while juggling his family and home responsibilities. He admitted: "It was tough. Charlotte was about 18 months old, we had two family bereavements - and I was back in Japan."
He then moved on to Wilkinson Sword. He confessed: "I'm ambitious - that's how I would describe myself and I think my colleagues would as well. Any job has to be a challenge for me. I need to get destructive and break things; I like dealing with complex problems."
At Wilkinson's the problem was a loss-making, ageing and heavily unionised factory, but Mr Johnston turned the business around. He was offered a posting to Connecticut in the USA, but passed up the transatlantic challenge as his daughter was still just a toddler and he did not want to take her so far away from her doting grandparents.
As a result he moved on to Grorud Engineering after venture capitalists 3i came knocking, lured by his growing reputation.
At the age of 32, he relished what to many would seem like insurmountable problems to turn spiralling loss into healthy profit - but as a martial arts expert he is used to fighting and winning.
He said: "I started again from scratch and rebuilt it - I needed to make it profitable, not pretty." That meant turning away clients who were eating the company's cash with disproportionate overheads.
However, when he met with board resistance to his methods, he simply walked away to work as an independent consultant for a year before he was snapped up in 2003 by Thorn Lighting.
There, he faced his biggest challenge: the factory was "a complete shambles". It had been in existence for 50 years, growing in a haphazard way over the decades in a "hotch-potch" of sheds in Spennymoor in his native County Durham. There had to be drastic changes. "It's all about being fit for the future, trimming overheads and moving waste out of the process," he said.
Rothmans, Black and Decker and Electrolux had already moved out of the town, so Mr Johnston was determined to find a rescue plan and stop Thorn being lost. He decided to move the factory one and a half miles to an efficient, purpose-built complex and use the old site for housing.
He said: "When I had all the plans together, I briefed the workforce, saying there would be 20 per cent job losses, but I have to think about the jobs of the majority."
By the time the move occurred, that toll had been trimmed considerably. The wait to get planning permission and save the community was "the most nerve-wracking of my business career".
Ever restless, he then decided to join BAA and in 2007 he became managing director of Edinburgh Airport before moving to head office in London as procurement director in 2008 and then on to Stansted to succeed fellow North East native and Newcastle United fan Stewart Wingate.
Mr Johnston said: "The airport's in good condition - there's nothing broken, but we can fine-tune it and make it better."
Stansted's two biggest carriers, Ryanair and Easyjet, were, he pointed out, among the most profitable in the world, and as the worst of the recession was over, the current fall in passenger numbers would reverse in the next two years.
He refused to be downbeat about the deliberations of the Competition Appeals Tribunal, which is to rule next year on future ownership of the airport. BAA is fighting the Competition Commission's order to sell the Essex hub.
He is also bullish about the prospect of an imminent General Election, despite the Conservatives' current disdain for a second runway.
BAA's G2 project is on ice, but Mr Johnston said: "I stand fully behind it and believe it's right for the future."
He pointed out that Stansted remained the only airport with planning permission to expand by an extra 10m passengers a year.
"I think we have a good business, but I think that we can be better and I want the employees on the airport to feel very engaged in the day-to-day operations.
"In the past we haven't communicated effectively and I think that management needs to be more visible. The key for me is leadership."
The experience has shaped his attitude to business and means bad news for Stop Stansted Expansion.
The new man at the airport's helm is unapologetic about his priorities - he will be putting the interests of his staff before the concerns of protesters.
BAA employs about 1,300 people at Stansted and the 180 companies within the airport's perimeter have a total workforce of some 11,500, of whom 20 per cent live in Bishop's Stortford and 81 per cent in Herts and Essex. Their wages total £400m.
Mr Johnston's message to objectors was frank: "I think there are certain things we're going to agree to disagree on. We'll look to do whatever we can for the environment, but we have responsibility for the economic growth in the area."
His own working life began when the recession of the 1980s was biting deep, yet he decided to leave school aged just 16. He is frank now about the folly of quitting: "I completed my O-levels and got out of school. I was interested in women, beer and football. I'd had enough of education."
He turned his hand to a host of menial tasks - from cleaning squash courts to manning a petrol pump - and spent six months on the dole.
The arrival of the Japanese in the North East offered him a second chance - and he seized it in 1986, eventually becoming production supervisor for NSK Bearings. Within a year, he was in charge of a team and had his first taste of management. He said: "I learned a lot about leadership."
He also began collecting qualifications. "I had quite a broad education," he said. "I got nine O-levels and that was enough for me, but going into a work environment, I realised there were gaps I needed to fill."
After five years with NSK he was ready to move on and joined Hashimoto Ltd, becoming a production manager and honing his "lean approach" to business by working "the Nissan way". He became increasingly interested in behavioural psychology and the need for "a balanced portfolio of characters in a team".
He spent six months in Japan as wife Tina prepared to give birth to the couple's first child, Charlotte. He returned to the UK for his daughter's arrival, but had to fly back to the Far East soon after, setting a recurring pattern of teamwork by the couple, who also have a 10-year-old son, Sam.
While Mr Johnston forges ahead at work, his wife keeps the home fires burning, hence she and the children have remained in the North East on the family's farm while he is based in a Dunmow flat during the week. He said: "Tina has always been a tremendous support to my career."
Her patience was tested again when her husband studied for an MBA while juggling his family and home responsibilities. He admitted: "It was tough. Charlotte was about 18 months old, we had two family bereavements - and I was back in Japan."
He then moved on to Wilkinson Sword. He confessed: "I'm ambitious - that's how I would describe myself and I think my colleagues would as well. Any job has to be a challenge for me. I need to get destructive and break things; I like dealing with complex problems."
At Wilkinson's the problem was a loss-making, ageing and heavily unionised factory, but Mr Johnston turned the business around. He was offered a posting to Connecticut in the USA, but passed up the transatlantic challenge as his daughter was still just a toddler and he did not want to take her so far away from her doting grandparents.
As a result he moved on to Grorud Engineering after venture capitalists 3i came knocking, lured by his growing reputation.
At the age of 32, he relished what to many would seem like insurmountable problems to turn spiralling loss into healthy profit - but as a martial arts expert he is used to fighting and winning.
He said: "I started again from scratch and rebuilt it - I needed to make it profitable, not pretty." That meant turning away clients who were eating the company's cash with disproportionate overheads.
However, when he met with board resistance to his methods, he simply walked away to work as an independent consultant for a year before he was snapped up in 2003 by Thorn Lighting.
There, he faced his biggest challenge: the factory was "a complete shambles". It had been in existence for 50 years, growing in a haphazard way over the decades in a "hotch-potch" of sheds in Spennymoor in his native County Durham. There had to be drastic changes. "It's all about being fit for the future, trimming overheads and moving waste out of the process," he said.
Rothmans, Black and Decker and Electrolux had already moved out of the town, so Mr Johnston was determined to find a rescue plan and stop Thorn being lost. He decided to move the factory one and a half miles to an efficient, purpose-built complex and use the old site for housing.
He said: "When I had all the plans together, I briefed the workforce, saying there would be 20 per cent job losses, but I have to think about the jobs of the majority."
By the time the move occurred, that toll had been trimmed considerably. The wait to get planning permission and save the community was "the most nerve-wracking of my business career".
Ever restless, he then decided to join BAA and in 2007 he became managing director of Edinburgh Airport before moving to head office in London as procurement director in 2008 and then on to Stansted to succeed fellow North East native and Newcastle United fan Stewart Wingate.
Mr Johnston said: "The airport's in good condition - there's nothing broken, but we can fine-tune it and make it better."
Stansted's two biggest carriers, Ryanair and Easyjet, were, he pointed out, among the most profitable in the world, and as the worst of the recession was over, the current fall in passenger numbers would reverse in the next two years.
He refused to be downbeat about the deliberations of the Competition Appeals Tribunal, which is to rule next year on future ownership of the airport. BAA is fighting the Competition Commission's order to sell the Essex hub.
He is also bullish about the prospect of an imminent General Election, despite the Conservatives' current disdain for a second runway.
BAA's G2 project is on ice, but Mr Johnston said: "I stand fully behind it and believe it's right for the future."
He pointed out that Stansted remained the only airport with planning permission to expand by an extra 10m passengers a year.
"I think we have a good business, but I think that we can be better and I want the employees on the airport to feel very engaged in the day-to-day operations.
"In the past we haven't communicated effectively and I think that management needs to be more visible. The key for me is leadership."
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