Issue 20, June 2003
PY Gerbeau is energetic, loves to talk and swears like a trooper. But then without this passion and direct style, the man who made his reputation as the trouble shooter who helped fix EuroDisney may not have survived the tumultuous time he had when he stepped in to rescue the Millennium Dome from disaster. He tells GB why he doesn’t have any regrets.
What did your time at the Dome teach about business planning?
I didn’t learn anything at the Dome because there was no proper business plan. What I have learnt in 15 years of corporate rescue it is to be humble with your numbers. Don’t try to make it up if you are not 100% confident. I design a business plan the same for every business, I have three simple scenarios: optimistic, realistic and pessimistic and I trash the first two and immediately look at the worst case scenario.
How do investors take to such a pessimistic approach?
When I raised that money in the city for the Dome we presented a five year plan which broke even after three years with three million visitors. You know what the city said? You’re too conservative, you can do more. I said we probably would but I’m not going to sign up to it, at the end of the day I can deliver three million with my eyes closed so buy into this business plan and you will be always surprised positively. If you have common sense and are completely humble and pessimistic with numbers you will never have any bad surprises.
You put up with a lot of interference at the Dome, how do you deal with people who want to meddle with your business?
I believe in giving people ownership. The more you tell someone to back off, the more interference you will get. The more you include them, the less they will interfere. I’m a big fan of corporate governance whether you are a 300,000 or a 3bn business you must be completely transparent.
To what extent do you have to go out of your way to ensure all the stakeholders are on board with their business strategy?
If you don’t have that you struggle from day one. You must make sure they buy into your vision before getting involved so choose your investors carefully - that is difficult at the moment because money is not easy to find. But I’d rather find no money than people who don’t buy into my business.
Apart from at investor level, how important is communication as a business tool?
It’s crucial. The most important thing in a business is human capital. If you have five or 50 or 5,000 people they are all stakeholders in your business. If they don’t buy into you as their leader, as the person who will make them rich, happy and develop their abilities then you are in trouble.
You have infect your staff and your shareholders and your market with your passion. Passion is contagious, some people will call you an idiot or think you are dumb and wonder why you are positive when everybody is negative. But I’d rather be a clown than be a depressed suit. It’s not about how you are perceived but what you do and what you achieve. If you have a great track record and over and above that you are perceived as a guy who is fun to work with then fantastic. I’m attracting great people to work with me. I have been working with the same management team for the last 13 years.
And how does that work with a cleaner or someone on the lowest level of a business?
It’s the same thing whatever level, you walk the talk. The key thing I have learnt over the past 15 years is that management is to lead by example. Ninety-nine percent of us have been a cleaner or had a summer job but in the UK, Germany and France we are so hooked on status and recognition it is a disaster. It is a killer for any entrepreneur who thinks they need to drive a certain car, have a driver or something else to underline their status. Promotion is not about giving someone a bigger office and a window and a bigger car. It is about giving someone more responsibility, which is reflected by the fact that their market value has just gone up 30%.