Howard Kerr
Former CEO of BSI Group
This week we are in conversation with Howard Kerr. Most recently, as CEO, he led the turnaround at the British Standards Institution (BSI), building the leadership team and creating a bold vision for BSI, achieving financial stability and reigniting the relevance and credibility of the organisation.
He has a strong international background, working in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North America. He is now acting as an advisor to private equity firms across business services, specifically in the assurance & compliance, education & training, energy, and logistics sectors.
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Can you tell us about your background and how you got started in the TIC+ sector?
BSI was my first TIC company, although it was not considered TIC as such in those days. I had been a customer of TIC+ all my career on the client side without really thinking about it as TIC.
BSI is first and foremost a Standards development company. On top of these Standards the whole certification industry, including BSI, develops client solutions and grows. I ended up there because I had previously worked with the then Chairman and I was intrigued by the proposition. I did not realise it was such a global organisation. It was being run a bit like a civil service organisation rather than a business. No one there at the time really understood the commercial imperative. Anyway, I saw this great British brand, which was misunderstood and joining BSI was one of the best decisions I ever took in my career.
Tell us a bit about your hometown — what makes it special to you?
I did not have a Hometown as such. My parents were itinerant, my father was seafaring so, initially, we bounced around. However, we settled in Hartlepool and I was there from age 6 – 18. In Hartlepool you’d better not try and stand out and you had to learn to take care of yourself in the playground.
It was not a glamorous town. It was typical of late 60s/70s Britain, shipyards closed, mines and steel works closing. However, I was very happy there, went to a good school and had close friends. When I left Hartlepool to go to university, my parents moved back south again.
Hartlepool gave me an appreciation of the real world and life. I know that the world is not all like the leafy suburb where I now live and the experiences there made me more grounded. I learned to not judge a person by where they came from but rather by their attitude and ability. This has been a huge impact on who I am, I was the first in my family to go to Uni - some people in that situation then try to be someone else, but you can’t pretend to be someone you are not.
Can you share with us a specific project or accomplishment that you are particularly proud of and why?
For background, my career has been in four. One period in my 20’s “figuring it out”, one in Shipping, one in Energy and one in TIC.
BSI required a turnaround. There was a significant pension deficit, finances were declining and it had lost its way commercially. With a new strong management team we built a strong global business winning in key markets. We did 15 acquisitions, mostly successful. It was a shame that a bit of momentum was lost during COVID just as I was stepping down. The goal was to create a £1 billion enterprise, with success more importantly gauged by BSI’s purpose, relevance and impact.
It needed to be commercial to survive, needed to earn its own living so there were funds to reinvest back into the business. I was proud of it, what was achieved, I learned a lot as a first time CEO. It’s a bit of a cliché, but you achieve things through hiring people who are better than you, more knowledgeable, or who bring something different. I feel like I created a great team, and a resilient organisation. My job was to make it all tick, everyone one onboard, everything aligned and culture embedded.
I still read BSI’s annual report and see that it continues to do well. It was the job at the end of my executive career and it was a great note to leave on.
you achieve things through hiring people who are better than you, more knowledgeable, or who bring something different.
What role do you think business leaders should play in shaping a better future for society?
Bolstering people and helping enable your people to be better than they thought they could be, creating an environment where everyone thrives. PE companies focus on shareholder value, and that can dominate, but I have also worked in PLCs and Private companies and seen the different operating models There is more than shareholder value, it needs to be stakeholder value – it is important to deliver for all of them.
Profit is a powerful measure of market relevance if delivered responsibly and efficiently, but companies need to be aware of their wider stakeholder environment. TIC+ is a B2B and indirectly B2C sector. Its role is to give confidence and support safety, sustainability and security through the application of best practice Standards by which to run lives and businesses in a resilient way. Who wouldn’t want that?
What do you hope your legacy at BSI is?
BSI is now a “for purpose” company that has become a “go to” organisation to help people solve problems and create opportunities. It has almost 130 years of history, and I have re-established it as a brand people trust.
Trust is in short supply in our world so having an organisation like BSI is so important. And its just as relevant now as when it was founded. I hope I have also made it a company people want to work for - a lighthouse company with an excellent reputation.
Can you speak to the biggest challenges you have faced in your career and how you overcame them?
I have had a series of macro challenges which have made my career interesting. For example, I was living in the Middle East for 4 years during the Iran-Iraq war. It was tense at times and business was tough. I was in Thailand in the middle of the Baht currency crisis, when our JV partner went bust, so we acquired the whole company. My children were born during this same period!
There were multiple challenges at BSI, initially it was almost overwhelming as I did not have the right team in place at the time.
It’s a common theme, the biggest challenge has been People – problem people, poor attitudes, lack of integrity, non-collaborative, people in the wrong role. Once you have good people on board and aligned it’s amazing the difference. I love to see people blossom and grow, and teams performing. It’s so satisfying.
If you could speak to your 20-year-old self, what would you say?
Be brave and be demanding of yourself. In my 20s I did not know what I wanted to do, so I did some teaching, did some grad work, I travelled around for a couple of years. At many of my big life crossroads, opportunities fortunately came along, so I would tell myself to manage my career more proactively and don’t wait for your career to happen. Make it happen yourself. Also, don’t tolerate bad bosses!
When I talk to young adults who are wondering what to do, and most don’t know what they want, I say do what you enjoy and are good at. Simple really.
What do you think is the biggest factor affecting the TIC+ industry at the moment?
The industry is doing well but a lot of people do not see TIC+ as strategic, it’s often seen as a grudge purchase, which is an image issue for us. It’s not just about certificates. The big issue is that a certificate is backward looking, a rear-view assurance mirror on an organisation or product. However, a company needs something more, something which gives insight into the business i.e. a projection of future risk and opportunity that management can proactively act upon. So without being a consultant, how can TIC+ create more meaningful business partnerships? TIC+ needs to be more data driven, we need to operate in a more digitally enabled way.
Secondly, TIC+ is still fragmented, the ongoing M&A will allow data consolidation and greater economies of scale. There are some great companies doing some great things, but most are focused on the same areas (mainly high risk regulated areas). We are all targeting the same things, some are more commercial, some do the tech better, but they are much of a muchness. There is, for example, no Google or Amazon in the TIC+ industry that stands out. Thought leadership is weak in our sector.
Finally, we should not call our Industry “TIC” which many people do not understand. TIC is what we do but it does not talk to the benefits and outcomes for clients.
When you think about the world your grandchildren will inherit, what do you hope we get right?
I hope they can live in a Peaceful and Sustainable world …yes that cliché!
I hope they can realise their own individual potential, be happy, productive, feel valued, but not at the expense of other people.
For the world, I wish for People to work together on common goals, working in harmony in an environment where they can thrive and be part of something much bigger. A culture where all views are valued, regardless of gender, religion, sexual orientation etc.
TIC+ is a B2B and indirectly B2C sector. Its role is to give confidence and support safety, sustainability and security through the application of best practice Standards by which to run lives and businesses in a resilient way.
