Past Featured Chairmen

How many people can say they have been the first person to introduce a computer into a country? Not many. Well Simon Orme can. And not just any country either, but the South Pacific paradise country of Fiji.

Having started his career in the merchant navy, Orme was around to see the death of one industry and has helped the birth of another.

When Orme joined the merchant navy the British fleet was at its peak and he made an exciting, if tough life, as a navigating officer in cargo ships carrying sugar and other products around trade routes of the Caribbean and south America. But containerisation put paid to that life and in 1965 he 'came ashore'.

'I joined what was then ICT - International Computers and Tabulators - which became ICL as what was called 'a mature entrant'.

He rattled through the training programme and within no time found himself heading out to Sydney. It was but a short hop from there to Suva, the Fijian capital, when ICL was contracted to install the country's first computer system.

As the consultant in charge, Orme was headhunted by the UK government, Fiji was still then a UK dependency, to run the system.

He spent three very happy years.

Coming back from the subtropical climes of Suva to the UK was something of a shock for Orme and his young family, but he was welcomed back into ICL. He didn't stay long.

A meeting with John Hosykns, of the eponymous consultants, saw him headhunted once again, this time to head up their finance sector practice. But he wasn't there long before, once again, the headhunters paid a call and he was whisked off.

'I became MD of Lonsdale Systems with the brief to create the market leading provider for the insurance world. And that was exactly what we did.'

'Lonsdale became very profitable indeed but the Canadian owners would not let me do a buy out.'

Once again Orme caught the eye of the headhunters and when BIS wanted someone to run their insurance operations, his name was at the top of the list.

Becoming something of a habit, Orme's old companies just couldn't seem to let him go, and shortly Orme was back at Hoskyns once again, this time as divisional Managing Director for financial systems. With excellent timing, Orme was part of the team that took the Hoskyns group public, he became the group marketing director, 'but my real job was helping with the acquisition strategy'. The company was bought firstly by Plessey, and they in turn were bought by GEC Siemens. Seeking a more relevant owner we had a 'dirty weekend' in Paris with CapGemini and found it was a marriage made in heaven. Our strengths fitted their weaknesses, our weaknesses their strengths.'

Once again Orme was on the move, this time to Paris to work on the global marketing strategy.

Fast forward a few years to 1992. Orme, by now 50, realises that the portfolio of options he had built up through the acquisitions had all vested. 'I was in the very enviable position at the age of 50 of being able to retire. So I did.'
'I thought, 'now what'. I realised that the time I had been happiest, the time I had found the most stimulating was when I was growing small companies, such as my time at BIS or Lonsdale. That was what I wanted to do, so I set up Simon Orme and Associates as a specialist management consultancy company.'

Currently working with a number of companies, Orme is chairman of two; Skillsedge - a talent management company, and Goss Interactive - a leading content management provider. He is also a strategic consultant to a number of other companies.

'I was a non-exec as well but have given that up as the demands made on non-execs these days are too much and if you are only being paid the nominal amount that many non-execs get that is not sufficient compensation for the time and responsibilities that they now have.'

Orme sees his role as chairman as helping the company grow in a controlled and structured way. 'There comes a point in a company, about the £3-5m mark, when it cannot continue to grow in the same way. If it is to continue to expand then changes have to be made.

'One of the most important is proper forecast systems and financial management. How much visibility do you have? Do you know where your next penny is coming from?'

'You cannot grow the company just on the back of who you know - you need a proper sales and marketing strategy as well.'

Orme's approach is to develop a three year strategy - 'anything more than that and you don't have enough visibility' - and it becomes the role of the CEO to run the short term plans, while the board and in particular the chairman, concern themselves with the longer, 2-3 year strategic aims.

He has seen enough boards to spot some of the mistakes. 'The worst thing that can happen is when a CEO brings in his mates as non-execs, especially if they are from big companies.'What you need to do is to look at the non-execs as a resource, as bringing particular skills and expertise to the company. Use the skills they have, and then when you need different skills, get different directors.' He suggests that non-execs should be on three- year contracts. That gives the right balance of commitment, and flexibility.

In a CEO 'the key thing is passion', he says. 'By and large good CEOs are not the most socially accomplished people. They tend to be very demanding people, of themselves and of their staff. But they burn with the passion. Workaholics almost always - I used to work 18 hour days, six days a week - they are driven to succeed.'

Already a published author - Orme wrote a software book while in Fiji - he is a co-author of a volume on talent management, and is working on a third, a light-hearted guide to business called 'Business development and all that stuff'. As with everything else in his life, Orme takes the job of being light-hearted seriously. 'I write a thousand words a day, long-hand on yellow legal pads and then type it into the computer in the evening.'

One can't help but think that Orme was right not to have stayed longer in Fiji all those years ago, the charm and care-free life would have rubbed off on him a bit too much and instead of the successful entrepreneur he might well still be living in a tin-roof house on the other side of the world. And after all, he can still have that life now if he wants it.

Talent Assessment - A New Strategy for Talent Management, of which Orme is a contributing writer, comes out this month, £55, Gower Publishing Ltd.

Ben Rooney is a freelance business journalist. Ben can be contacted at ben@benrooney.com