Iain Rawlinson

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Iain Rawlinson
Iain Rawlinson in 2014
Born (1958-09-18) 18 September 1958 (age 65)
NationalityBritish
EducationBirkenhead School, University of Cambridge and City Law School formerly known as the Inns of Court School of Law
OccupationBusinessman
Known forLeadership of businesses and charities in transition
Children2

Iain Rawlinson is an English businessman.

Career[edit]

Rawlinson has a background in banking, investment and business. After attending the University of Cambridge he was called to the Bar in 1981[1] before joining Lazard Brothers and later Flemings. He spent six years in South Africa which was followed by leadership of the Fleming Family & Partners business in London. He is an independent director of a number of companies and is now a non-executive director of The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust[2] and Parkmead Group PLC where he is also Remuneration Committee chair.[3] Rawlinson is also a non executive director of the UK company Eurasia mining who are currently in a winding up process.

In an advisory capacity for the Mantegazza family, Rawlison was Executive Chairman of the Monarch Group from 2009 to 2014, during which he initiated a reorganisation and modernisation of the UK-based travel group.[4] Throughout his Chairmanship Rawlinson lead two successful turnarounds of the Group in 2010 and 2013[5] without redundancy programmes or cost to the public purse. In the period during the second turnaround from 2011–2013, the oil price was US$115/bbl.[6] He believed that the correct industry response to the competitive pressures experienced in European commercial aviation in 2014[7] was consolidation of carriers, creating alliances which would result in efficiencies and the safeguarding of employment and pensions. He initiated "Project Sandringham" in early 2014 when the industry faced significant challenges, which involved facilitating discussions with potential investment and merger partners.[8] In 2014, a new senior airline executive was appointed, and a three-year-long negotiation with Boeing to update the airline's fleet with Boeing 737MAX aircraft was concluded - this deal being announced in at the Farnborough Airshow in July of that year.[9] Rawlinson built up and communicated a distinct investment case and track record for each of the Monarch Group's three businesses to allow the underlying value of each to be demonstrated. In 2014 it emerged that alongside the Mantegazza family, Rawlinson had allowed a £220 million pension blackhole to develop,[10] which latterly lead to Dean Street Advisors being appointed to advise the Board on a more proactive process to support the business with either merger or investment partners. Dean Street introduced Greybull Capital, who eventually bought the business in 2014 for £1, while Rawlinson was also pursuing  merger discussions with Thomas Cook.[8][11] Rawlinson was replaced by Andrew Swaffield in late July 2014.[8]

He established Rawlinson Partners Limited in 2005 which provides leadership, advocacy and innovation to business, social enterprises and charities, with a focus on periods of transition and development. Rawlinson is a Co-founder and Chairman of Online Radio Broadcasting Limited[12] which in 2015 launched its revolutionary social broadcasting application, crowdCaster, which won a bronze Bookmark Award for mobile applications in March 2016. From 2015–2016, he was a Partner in Renegade Inc and Chairman of Asymmetric Return Capital, a US-based investment firm. He was appointed a Fellow of the Centre for Social Innovation at the Cambridge Judge Business School in February 2016.[1]

Personal life[edit]

He has two children, and lives in the New Forest. His other interests include writing, music, aviation, the sea, Scotland and Africa.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Fellows of Social Innovation". Cambridge Judge Business School. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust".
  3. ^ "Board Committees". Parkmead Group. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  4. ^ "Monarch Group announces return to profitability". TTG Digital. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  5. ^ "Monarch flies back into profit". 11 December 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  6. ^ Bolton, Paul (2 January 2019). "House of Commons Library - Briefing Paper" (PDF). researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  7. ^ "Call for ITT to raise issue of low margins". Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  8. ^ a b c Armstrong, Ashley (24 June 2018). "The fight to reverse Monarch's tailspin" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  9. ^ "Monarch Airlines Selects Boeing as Preferred Bidder for Fleet Replacement". 14 July 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  10. ^ Johnson, Steve (30 November 2014). "Monarch Airlines pension fund reduced to a pauper". Financial Times. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  11. ^ O'Connell, Dominic; Goodman, Matthew; Collingridge, John (22 February 2015). "Thomas Cook holds secret talks to offload airline arm". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  12. ^ "Online Radio Broadcasting – About Us". ORB. Retrieved 20 December 2014.