The Conversation THE SHOW RUNNING
More than half-way through his term as Chair of the ITM, Jamie Hindhaugh reflects on his achievements and challenges in the role so far, in an interview with Gillian Upton
THE maze of colourless corridors inside the BBC TV Centre in White City stop abruptly when you arrive at one, emblazoned on both sides with large posters brandishing rather grand mission statements for the London Olympics 2012. This is the entrance to Ground Control, the
office managing the BBC’s largest ever live event. What was a team of three has now swelled to 60 people beavering away on the detail of delivering all that is hoped for from the Games. It is also the office of Jamie Hindhaugh, the BBC’s head of sourcing – logistics, and now the mastermind of all the production of the Olympics. He poses uncomfortably for photo- graphs in front of the 2012 posters, declaring that he won’t be smiling, and doesn’t. To be fair, Hindhaugh has lots to be earnest about. He is currently juggling the juggernaut that is the Olympic Games, alongside procure- ment at the BBC, chair of the ITM, studying for an MBA in production management, being a Parent Governor and a hands-on parent.
“I work nine to midnight every night,” he explains. Asked how he’s managing to fit in the Olympic Games project in addition to what was already a hefty workload, he says: “I’m working on a piece of business that’s the biggest event for the BBC so how can I not enjoy it?” If ever the adage, if you want something done,
ask a busy person, was apposite it’s with this 45-year-old workaholic. Fitting in his old day job is only do-able, he says, because the BBC has a mature travel policy for travel and transport and he has a great team of people helping to manage it. “Our core requirement doesn’t change and we check whether the scope is still correct,” he says. A profit share with the company’s TMC (Amex) has been hugely successful. Each one of his six ‘projects’ seem to receive
100 per cent of his attention. Once his children have been fed and put to bed, the ITM is one of the jobs that get done in the hours left before midnight, and he is still as passionate today as he was when he became Chair 15 months ago.
Following Astra Zeneca’s Caroline Strachan
was always going to be a hard act to follow. However, Hindhaugh has not tried to mimic her style but set out his own stall while accelerating the work she began. Despite being a more self- effacing character, he has surprised many with his outspokenness, including the odd expletive that sometimes peppers his sentences. Reference to ‘bad buyers’ was one bombshell; ‘bollocks’ another. On bad buyers, he explains: “Some are not as good as others, although it’s easy to blame buyers, but I do want to help rein the bad ones in.” And on his language? He says he’s a reformed character. People in business travel that deal with him admire him for his straight-talking. “He’s a breath of fresh air,” said one. His stance has broken through all but the most Dickensian of industry bodies. More importantly, under his guidance, the ITM has emerged from an uncertain period after the NBTA deal, when Strachan disappeared into the stratosphere as European chair.
20 I THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84