Digby Jones
Business Leader
Martin McCourt
Former CEO, Dyson
As Chief Executive of Dyson, Martin transformed it from a niche manufacturer to a £1bn global brand, moving production to Asia. Even after the onset of recession, he doubled turnover and trebled profits - increasing sales in 70 markets. Now in private equity Martin argues we must use our inventiveness rather than try to compete with China on their terms. But with 40,000 unfilled skilled jobs, UK industry needs to work much more closely with educators.
Speaking Topics
- Business Competitiveness
- Manufacturing & Engineering
- Strategy
JLA Agent - Simon KingMartin ran the business side of Dyson while James focused on the creative and engineering. He now lifts the lid on the workings of one of Britain's most successful companies. Whether it's James's drive being both a blessing and a curse, or Dyson's skirmishes with competitors, there are lessons for any organisation about brand, strategy and honing innovation.
Biography
Martin McCourt has worked for some of the biggest consumer brands for over 40 years. As CEO of Dyson for 15 years, he led the business from niche vacuum cleaner maker to a global brand with an extensive product line. Working closely with James Dyson, Martin devised and implemented a strategy that transformed the company and allowed James the freedom to focus on inventing products. His work saw Martin named as Orange UK Business Leader of the Year.
Having worked in sales and marketing for brands including Duracell, Toshiba and Mars, Martin was drafted in by James Dyson to expand the company and drive it towards market dominance. He was given control of the commercial side of the business leaving James to focus on the design, engineering and innovation aspects. Alongside a new brand strategy, Martin transferred manufacturing to Asia whilst increasing skilled jobs in the UK, and expanded into new global markets. On his departure, Dyson revenue had exceeded £1bn and the business was a brand leader around the world drawing 80% of its income from over 60 worldwide markets and with operations in the US, Japan and Germany.
With his extensive experience in manufacturing, design and marketing Martin went on to advise a private equity group and chair the market leader in vehicle valuation data and new vehicle information. He then chaired CliniSys Group, the European clinical laboratory information management system provider, and DORC, a leader in innovative instruments and equipment for ophthalmic surgery. He is on the board of Your Life, Ideas Britain, and Headbox, all cutting edge organisations aimed to encouraging young people to create, invent, collaborate and embrace science and business. He is also Chair of the venture capital firm Dudson Group, electronics manufacturer Glen Dimplex and the training providers Learning Curve Group.
Martin explores the importance of innovation, the role of leadership, and the differences (and similarities) between large and small businesses in a passionate, humorous and insightful presentation. He looks at growing a business in challenging times, expanding overseas, and the importance of manufacturing and export to the UK economy.
“Stimulating, funny, thought provoking and challenging – the best we’ve had”
The event went wonderfully! We were thrilled with it and the feedback so far has been wonderful. Martin was an utter professional and everybody really loved his presentation! I really enjoyed working him, and you all, so thank you very much!
As we were delivering a leadership module on Leading a Business for our 22 global talents on senior management level, we asked Martin to speak to them about balancing the wobble board of investors, customers, suppliers and employees.
Martin delivered a great speech followed by a Q&A session on his story of Dyson and engaged our participants from the start to the end. His examples were compelling and disruptive delivering a great message around idea generation and how to behave in a very competitive market. Our leaders really much enjoyed the session and found him very authentic and charismatic.
Martin's presentation was excellent and we have had a great deal of very positive feedback from a number of people already.
He made a big impression and his contribution to our morning was invaluable and helped make it a great success for us so far.
Martin judged the requirements of the audience and the company very well and I am particularly pleased by that.
Though relating to a totally different industry, it was great to see just how much relevance the audience saw in the messages and experiences he described. The talk was very entertaining, informative and stimulating; I thoroughly enjoyed it and the feedback from all of the group was very positive.
Martin was stimulating, funny, thought provoking and challenging. His Dyson story is a great one but what really shone was the manner in which he bridged between his experiences at Dyson and the world of BDO. He worked hard to make the connections and had clearly done a significant amount of 'homework'. Martin was also superb during the 30 min Q&A which followed his speech, answering each question fully. The standout for me however was the ease of working with Martin and the thoroughly enjoyable nature of our interactions. I'd love to work with Martin again.
More from Martin McCourt
Start an enquiry to book Martin McCourt
If you’re interested in booking Martin McCourt for your event, please fill in the form and one of our team will be in touch to talk your through the details.
"*" indicates required fields
JLA Presents
