Celebrating 20 years as Newcastle Business School
This section of the website is dedicated to our 20th birthday celebrations. We will be adding to it as the year progresses so please do keep checking back.
Newcastle Business School's magzine - inspire.
20th birthday edition of inspire. - Issue 1 (Autumn 09)
* For further editions of 'inspire' please click here
20th Birthday celebratory event
To view the photographs from our 20th birthday celebratory event, please click here
An audience with Jonathan Marchbank
To view the recording of the talk that Jonthan delivered at Newcastle Business School, please click here
To download the presentation slides, please click here
Virgin on Success - An interview with distinguished alumni, Jonathan Marchbank
Jonathan Marchbank graduated from Newcastle Business School’s predecessor The Faculty of Business of Newcastle Polytechnic in 1986 with an HND in Business Studies. Jonathan then went on to carve out an enviable career in the telecommunications industry. He has held various senior posts around the globe and is currently Chief Operating Officer at Virgin Mobile USA. We talk memories and successes with the man behind the current $750m sale of Virgin Mobile USA, who attributes much of his success to having a good start at Newcastle Business School.
It was 23 years ago that 21 year old Jonathan Marchbank graduated with an HND in Business Studies from Newcastle Polytechnic. “Those years were the most memorable of my academic life,” he says. “I was an independent adult for the first time and enjoying an active social life!”
It’s clear by talking with Jonathan that he holds his Newcastle student days in great regard and the experience has had a significant impact on him both personally and professionally. Talking of his student days Jonathan recalls, “I remember being taught practical skills rather than theoretical ones. I related to the course work as I was interested in the subjects - marketing, economics, strategy and I can clearly remember the interactions and relationships I had with at least four of my lecturers who had a profound influence on my career and my management style. I think of them often.”
It’s reassuring to know that Jonathan’s studies have helped shape his career and that the subjects and theories studied still play their part, “To this day I often come across new situations that were discussed in lectures and seminars and I remember the debates and varying opinions clearly.” The qualification from Newcastle Business School has also helped, “Recruiters don’t look at applications without them, even for senior roles later in life. A serious qualification from a credible business school is needed.”
Jonathan’s career began as a Graduate Trainee for Rank Xerox and then 2 years later he entered the telecommunications industry working for the Nokia Corporation based in the UK, Sydney and Singapore. Jonathan’s move to The Virgin Group in 2002 followed senior appointments with Philips Electronics and Telstra Corporation. At Virgin Jonathan has been based in Singapore, Sydney, New York, and has been CEO of Virgin Mobile Asia, CEO of Virgin Mobile Australia and is currently Chief Operating Officer of Virgin Mobile USA. It would be interesting to know what kind of career plan Jonathan followed to achieve so much in his career so far.
Jonathan says “I desperately wanted to have a sense of direction, but my passions were music, cars, technology and managing an active social life. I couldn’t easily pigeon-hole those things into a credible career plan.” He spent the summer after graduation working two part-time jobs, one in a pub and the other in Fenwicks (of Newcastle) department store. Jonathan says “It was when the students went back to University that it dawned on me that I had to self-initiate something. After many applications, I was so pleased to be offered a recruitment consultant job in Watford. I accepted, even though I had no idea what I was doing - it lasted 3 months.”
So if he had to do it all again would he do anything differently? “Probably not,” he says. “But if I was offering advice to new graduates I would say that I was possibly too laid back. Focus on getting a job that sounds interesting, in an industry or a company that you can relate to and take steps from there. Figure out how you will get genuine satisfaction from your work - personally I need to love my job and feel passionate about it and the people around me.” However Jonathan does offer a few words of caution, “I now see people - including parents - who are too stressed from the pressure to demonstrate a pre-determined plan or early career successes. Once you have that first job you will be able to eliminate more than 50% of your career options just by learning from your own experiences and what you see going on around you. You can then start to steer yourself and make informed choices about what you want and don’t want to do.”
“My first two years were in a supply chain job for Xerox and I found it mostly boring but it did expose me to the sales and marketing team. When it was appropriate I spent time trying to be transferred and once in that marketing role I was drawn to various specialties. There is no way that I could have articulated or pinpointed this career track without having started the journey somewhere and it evolved over time but it gave me the start I needed.”
Jonathan is keen to point out that his experience of being a student was both fun socially and stimulating academically, “It gave me a huge platform from which to launch and manage a career, as well as foster and develop business relationships.” Although it’s not just business relationships that Jonathan has been able to manage, he is still good friends with some of his fellow students, “My University friends have been groomsmen and best man at my wedding and godfathers/godmothers to my kids and vice versa. Facebook and Linked-In have also opened up a wider world of connections. Building the network and managing relationships is also critical to steering a career and it all begins at University.”
Jonathan graduated in 1986 just before Newcastle Business School was formed in 1989 but what does he make of today’s Newcastle Business School? “When I was here business was an integrated part of Newcastle Polytechnic. This is a whole new school and very much a part of the global network of Business Schools that have been established since I left.” He continues “Being an overseas resident, it’s actually great that NBS is recognised internationally. This gives my qualifications and academic credentials more weight, in what is quite a competitive market. Most of my peers have been to Ivy League schools in the US and have MBAs from the best business schools. The fact that Newcastle Business School is known internationally and has a good track record for its corporate work all adds credibility for current students and Alumni.”
Jonathan joined The Virgin Group 7 years ago and during that time has been responsible for operations in Asia, Australia and latterly the US. In his current role of Chief Operating Officer (COO) he is responsible for sales, marketing, planning, product management, new service and device development, retention and customer experience. His job is varied and each day brings a new challenge. So what’s life like as a COO? “There isn’t a typical day,” he says. “There’s always an operational crisis, a competitive move to respond to. You can’t plan for those things and they take up about half of my time. The other half is spent managing people and relationships in one form or another. My main interactions are with the Board of Directors and Management team my own team and direct reports, retail partners and handset vendors like Samsung or LG.”
“The one common denominator is interaction with people, I talk and meet with people all day. It’s only after 5pm that I get a chance to think, reflect and tend to emails. It’s a full day but I squeeze in the gym - good thinking time - as well as spending some time with my family.”
Being in such a senior role can be quite lonely and it’s quite hard to motivate others around you as well as yourself - so how does Jonathan manage motivation? “I have to enjoy what I do, make it interesting and have fun. I am lucky I work in a business that fosters that culture.”
“I like to try new things and learn what works and what doesn’t and why. Then try again. I am competitive and I like to focus on quantifyingly beating a competitor. Winning is fun, but you can learn from losing. I am an avid consumer and I feel passionately that brands and products need to differentiate themselves and delight customers. All these things called “work” present themselves to me as fun things to do. I motivate others by trying to make it fun for them to participate in and be part of a successful team that kicks some goals and has fun in the process.”
“Business is like a team sport, everyone has a job to do and if you get it right it’s a great feeling.”
Traditionally COOs are responsible for the day-to-day running of an organisation and report to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Dan Schulman is the current CEO of Virgin Mobile USA and together they floated Virgin Mobile USA on the New York Stock exchange in 2007 and more recently have overseen the proposed sale of Virgin Mobile USA to Sprint. Given that the two have worked very closely together what would Dan say about Jonathan? “He would say I was very impatient,” admits Jonathan, “that I need to learn to slow down a bit and play a longer, more strategic game.” He continues “I enjoy the thrill of the daily challenges and the interactions with people that enable us to achieve our short term plans. I don’t think my career would have progressed this far without a good dose of impatience, so I don’t apologise for it. I will slow down when I retire!”
Jonathan’s ultimate boss is the man himself - Sir Richard Branson and Jonathan recalls his time spent on Necker Island with Richard and the Virgin management team as one of his career highlights. “It’s a great business with great people who also know how to have fun,” he says.
“Richard is pursuing more philanthropic activities with his time these days, so he is less involved with the day to day activities of our company than is was a few years back,” Jonathan says. “He is still very much a spiritual leader specifically when it comes to company culture and customer experiences. He may not be involved in the day to day, but he is passionate about the brand, what it stands for, and the value we promise to deliver to our customers. He will often call out of the blue with some ideas, or suggestions - sometimes even complaints.”
Alumni
If you're a Newcastle Business School alumni and want to get in touch, please visit our Alumni page here