 Making a Difference
Raising money for the RAF Benevolent Fund, ‘Great Britons on Success’ has been compiled and edited by alumnus Alan Coppin.
We interviewed Alan on his own successful career.
Since leaving KPMG, you have been involved in a number of different businesses and charities.
What do you enjoy most about the work that you do?
I really do get enormous pleasure from getting involved in new challenges, hopefully making a positive difference and then moving on! In personality tests my need for change is off the scale!
I happen to believe that, virtually whatever the position, people can only give of their maximum for a relatively short period of time before becoming stale, which is my justification for being such a jack of all trades!
My career has given me lots of variety, which I have really enjoyed, but has also given me the opportunity to really make a difference to the way the organisations operated.
Have you had any exciting challenges?
I was CEO of Wembley for 10 years and during my period in office the parent Company, Wembley plc, grew and grew largely by acquisition for cash.
Financial problems arose and I was given the job of plc CEO and asked to turnaround the company – this took three years and the team I led turned an £8m operating profit from 30 companies to £30m from five companies.
Why is the RAF Benevolent Fund such an important charity to you?
I was appointed a NED of Air Command (RAF) shortly after it had been formed from the merger of Strike Command and Personnel and Training Command.
What impresses me about the RAF Benevolent Fund is that it cares for the RAF family, anyone in need who has served their country by serving in the RAF.
I have no armed service history and it’s only recently that I have fully realised what an incredible debt we owe to people who serve in the armed forces.
How did the idea for this book come about?
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Alan's Career Path |
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Past:
CEO of Wembley Stadium Ltd and Wembley plc
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Also:
- Chaired the NW London Training and Enterprise Council
- NED of Metroline plc
- Chair of Include, a national charity
- Visiting Professor of the Business School of the University of North London. |
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Executive Board of Compass
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CEO of Historic Royal Palaces
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Also:
- NED of Carillion plc
- Non Executive Chair of Danoptra
- Associate of the Prime Ministers' Delivery Unit
- Patron of the Windsor Leadership Trust
- Co-wrote a book, Timeless Management |
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Portfolio career, including Chair of the Prince’s Foundation
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Currently:
- Chair of Redstone plc
- NED of Capital and Regional plc
- NED of Berkeley Group Holdings plc
- NED of Air Command, the operating board of the Royal Air Force
- Patron of the Windsor Leadership Trust
- Greening Management Steering Board for the Chartered Management Institute
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I visited six RAF stations and met over 200 people in small meetings. I was extremely impressed with their professionalism, their dedication and their ethos. It seemed they didn’t really appreciate how valued they were.
When I learnt that 2008 was the RAF’s 90th anniversary and 2009 the same anniversary of its charity the RAF Benevolent Fund, I thought it would be a good idea to write a book on success with proceeds to the charity.
I then contacted a large number of great Britons to ask them to provide a written donation for the book setting out their own formula for success/views on the topic. Their responses form one chapter of the book.
 Which part of the book left you most inspired?
I think two contributions from the contemporary chapter come to mind – the first from Sir Paul Nurse, the Nobel prize-winning geneticist for his sheer humility (putting his success down to ‘fortune’), and the second, a moving piece, from Dawn Dyne who works for the Marie Curie Cancer charity.
What are your plans for the future?
If you really want to make God laugh show him your plans!
Apart from my Non Exec work, my goal at the moment is to promote Great Britons on Success in order to raise as much money as possible for the RAF Benevolent Fund – all my royalties from the book and an equivalent amount from the publisher, Kingsham Press, will be donated to the Fund.
After that I am not sure. I think I have a space for one more Non Exec role – at least that is what my wife tells me – I am at home too much!
Do you have any advice for people working their way up the career ladder?
Read ‘Great Britons on Success’ (!) as there are lots of insights and tips, and I suppose an important one is – define what success if for you before you start running after it!
Great Britons on Success is available to order, with 30% of the proceeds (and all of Alan’s royalties) donated to the RAF Benevolent Fund.
Are you interested in working as a Charity Trustee? KPMG can help. Find out more.
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