Alex Mackey is making changes. In the past six weeks he’s married,
moved house and switched jobs. While honeymooning in Thailand he
accepted a job offer from Debenhams to head its communications effort as
it demerges from the Burton Group.
The demerger is set for mid-January, with the prospectus going out next
Monday. All the signs from analysts and City journalists look good.
Debenhams is viewed as the ’crown jewels’ of the Burton Group. Of
Burton’s pounds 187 million profit in 1996, it contributed pounds 121
million.
Mackey is charged with developing strong lines of communication with the
City and building an enlarged in-house team. He says he will use the
team already in place on the retail and fashion side, but is on the hunt
for good City operators to join them. He believes his consultancy
experience will help him get the best from Debenhams’ two agencies
Phyllis Walters and the Maitland Consultancy. No review is expected
immediately.
Mackey has been handed a wide ranging brief by chief executive Terry
Green, which is just as well, because Mackey is more spirited than the
average City PR man. Brought up as an only child in the West Country, he
turned down a place to read law at Cambridge for officer training at
Sandhurst.
During his time in the forces the then Lieutenant Mackey spent time in
the parachute regiment. He left the army after four years: ’There was a
certain sameness about army life which got to me. It also became more
politicised and I’d got all the enjoyment out of it that I could,’ he
says.
After quitting the army in 1989 at the age of 23, Mackey entered the
world of financial PR at Square Mile. John Coyle, a founder of Square
Mile, says: ’Alex was dynamic and bright. He’s good fun and a good
operator.’
Mackey freely admits that he is not a workaholic. He is a sports fanatic
and has played top class rugby for Richmond and London Irish, spends at
least an hour a day in the gym and plays for the same cricket team as
Coyle.
He left Square Mile after a year to join McAvoy Wreford Bayley, which
was subsequently bought by the Grey Group and merged into GCI
London.
Mackey was impressed with Grey’s attitude. ’It’s the only time I’ve seen
an effort put into a relationship with a PR consultancy by the senior
group partner.’
Then came moves to Grandfield, and subsequently Ludgate, via its former
Leeds agency Ludgate Barchard. By late 1995 Mackey was back in London as
a director of Ludgate Communications.
A testimony to Mackey’s engaging personality is that most of his client
base stayed loyal throughout the 1990s. Rentokil followed him from
Grandfield to Ludgate and he kept his northern clients, including
Yorkshire Electricity and retailer JJB Sports, when he moved back to
London.
While at Ludgate Mackey pursued his passion for travel. His restless
spirit took him to 18 countries last year. But one ex-colleague at
Ludgate says: ’He used to be a man about town but in the last year he’s
settled down in a big way. He’s conducted a whole rethink of his
life.’
It seems that the break with Ludgate is part of this rethink. Mackey’s
only comment on his departure from Ludgate is that he ’hated the
politics there’. However, he now has a firm direction: ’The management
atDebenhams is communications oriented and there’s excitement ahead. I
suppose I am well set,’ he admits.
Mackey particularly relishes the increased managerial responsibility he
will gain at Debenhams: ’I’m looking forward to getting the most out of
a talented group of people. I’ll be more of a manager in outlook, but
will still have my understanding of the City and my old contacts.’
It strikes you that Mackey relishes the idea of adding a bit of colour
to the world of City PR. Not content with doing a solid job, he talks of
’bringing some flair’ to Debenhams. Let’s just hope it’s ready for
him.
HIGHLIGHTS
1984
Trainee officer, Sandhurst
1989
Account executive, Square Mile
1993
Assistant director, Grandfield
1994
Managing director, Ludgate Barchard
1997
Director of corporate communications, Debenhams
