Rocky road to success

THE FRIDAY INTERVIEW:Alastair Hamilton,  chief executive, Invest NI

ALASTAIR HAMILTON is no stranger to difficult terrain. As a former rally-car navigator he has, more than once, had to plot a route through fairly challenging landscapes. But even he would have to admit that the last few weeks have seen him travel one of the most unforgiving roads of his career.As chief executive of the North’s regional economic development agency, Invest Northern Ireland, Hamilton has been in the direct line of fire following a controversial review of economic policy.

The independent review, commissioned last January by Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment Arlene Foster, critically assessed the Department of Enterprise and Invest NI.

The review examined whether their policies and resources were being properly targeted to achieve the goal of improving productivity and raising living standards, as set out in the Northern Executive’s programme for government.

The opinion of the five-strong review panel headed by Prof Richard Barnett, vice-chancellor of the University of Ulster, pretty much pulled the rug out from under Invest NI.

The panel said its “chief concern” was that, despite spending in the region of £1 billion (€1.1 billion) over a seven-year period, the agency had failed to achieve the goal of improving productivity.

This was not the only issue identified by the Independent Review of Economic Policy panel. It also listed what it believed were other significant failings and made 58 key recommendations, some of which could dramatically change the way Invest NI is structured and operates.

The report is open for consultation until November 16th and until then, Hamilton is playing the diplomat. “The report is very balanced across the board,” he says. “There are things obviously I would agree with and I think if they were implemented would help me and help the organisation to move forward.

“The world is changing, our clients are changing, the opportunities are changing and we need to change with them.”

However, he adds: “There are equally things in the report that I don’t think have been properly worked through and definitely wouldn’t be in a position to help me do the job I need to do.

“But the former is the majority and the latter is very much the minority in that review. I think if you look across it in a very balanced way, it is a very good independent look at the challenge the guys were given.”

Hamilton says he was not particularly upset by the timing of the report, even though it was published just before a number of high-profile US visitors, including US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, came to Northern Ireland.

“It wasn’t bad timing that the report came out then. It was really bad timing that some of the comments that were made around the report were made at that time. I suppose the two are connected,” he says on reflection.

What Hamilton is sore about is how the review panel’s conclusions have been interpreted by the media. “In terms of the reporting of it, the headlines have definitely had an impact on some people because they have read the headlines and drawn their conclusions from that. To carry a headline that £1 billion was wasted by this organisation really does not get anywhere close to what has been happening in this organisation.”

Hamilton believes the headlines do not tell the real story about Invest NI.

“The reality is for that £1 billion, we created 21,000 new businesses, we helped support the creation of 28,000 new jobs and we helped to safeguard 15,000 existing jobs, and we leveraged £4.5 billion of investment from companies that we supported with that £1 billion.

“The fine level of the detail – did we deliver a productivity improvement for the £1 billion? – is the debate, not whether it is wasted,” he says.

There is little doubt Hamilton is prepared to fight his corner when it comes to defending the reputation and integrity of Invest NI – past and present. But the fact of the matter is that Hamilton has only been in the chief executive’s chair for seven months.

Ballymena-born Hamilton joined the agency after a successful 25-year career with telecommunications giant BT. During his time there, he was managing director for major business in Ireland and more recently the director with responsibility for managing BT’s relationship with the entire health sector across the UK.

Hamilton has played an active role in the local business community for more than two decades and is respected by many of his peers.

Through his work with the Confederation of British Industry and the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce, where he served as vice-president, he has intimate knowledge of what makes the local business community tick.

Two years ago, Hamilton was seconded from BT to work as an economic and business adviser to the First Minister.

He spent 12 months in the First Minister’s office just as the new devolved government was finding its feet, so he also has a good idea of how the political machine operates in the North.

Hamilton is determined to leave no one in any doubt about where his loyalties lie today.

“I have never felt the temptation to stand up and wash my hands and say it [the review] is nothing to do with me because I understand the responsibility of the job I am in,” he says firmly in his soft Ballymena accent.

What he wants to do is “get past all of that, get that behind us in terms of the headline stuff”. Hamilton believes what is important now is that people “get into a little bit of detailed debate about what the review says, what the recommendations are, how some will help and how some won’t help”.

“The productivity challenge really only became a goal for this organisation whenever the programme for government was built a year-and-a-half ago. Before that, point the significant focus of the organisation was in job creation; now the significant focus of the organisation is in wealth creation. In terms of the strategy, was it the right strategy five years ago, 10 years ago, to create an organisation that was focused on job creation? Coming from where we came from in Northern Ireland, I think that was the right focus at that time.”

He himself was once an Invest NI client during his days with BT so he is more than aware of the frustrations companies sometimes have with the agency. “As a client I would have had views about the organisation and views about how it serviced the client base. There are significant areas across the organisation where we need to move on. I am pretty clear about where we are today and where we need to move to in some of those key areas.”

Hamilton expands on this, adding: “There are significant opportunities for us to look at the client base that is here and to start to look at the large goal that is out there in terms of productivity and take a look at the strategy which is there, the corporate plan that aligns up behind it and say, are we really delivering against the objectives required to deliver that productivity goal?”

He is also pretty clear about what he sees as Invest NI’s core job and defines it through three elements. “The first one is a very strong focus on starting up new businesses. The second element is we need to work with the indigenous base to scale it to a size where it can be world-class players. The third element is foreign direct investment.”

Hamilton is not, however, inviting any debate about the job he has to do in bringing these three elements together.

“I sent a note out to everyone in the organisation on day one. It had two key messages; first of all the key focus for me is a client focus. That is what will drive and motivate me. And the second one is around delivery and execution.

“You can have all the focus that you want and all the good ideas, but if you can’t actually deliver them and make it happen in a timeframe that suits the clients and delivers value to them, then there is no benefit. We are on a journey, I want to add value here, I see challenges, I see opportunities and I hear the feedback from clients.”

ON THE RECORD

Name:Alastair Hamilton.

Position:chief executive, Invest Northern Ireland.

Family:Married to Jenni, four children.

Background:Born in Ballymena. Before joining Invest NI, he worked for BT, where he was director of BT Health and a managing director for BT major business in Ireland.

Something you might expect:He is a chartered director and member of the Institute of Directors in Northern Ireland.

Something that might surprise:He is a keen motor sports fan and gardener.