As the man tasked with running a winter wonderland at Trafford Park, David Burns needs determination, something he has by the snow plough-load. Michael Taylor takes to the piste.
David Burns likes being in charge. As the newly appointed chief executive of Chill Factore, that most impressive indoor ski slope next to the Trafford Centre, he believes he can make his mark by creating a leisure destination with class. The model for this is Disney.
"When you see Disney and how easy it is to make people spend money, it's hugely impressive," he says. "I've worked across leisure businesses for a large part of my working life. At Airtours I had responsibility for cruise ships and self-catering hotels and resorts. What you are about is pleasing the customers and getting them to spend money with you. Chill Factore is a visitor attraction in its own right."
We're grabbing a quick lunch in one of the restaurants and it's clear there are plenty of people who haven't come to ski. There are at least half-a-dozen fashion and sportswear outlets within the complex and some very well-appointed restaurants. It's as far away from a municipal ski slope as you can get. If anything, it's got a bit of a Center Parcs feeling about it, but without the woodland lodges. Already the reviews on various ski and snowboard websites acknowledge the quality with a mild grumbling that it's expensive.
As Burns says: "People have this perception that because it's skiing it's for young people. Yes, the skiing is. But the eating, drinking and shopping we provide is something for all ages. Just look around."
Burns isn't one of the founders. He's come into this venture to get it off to the best possible start.
Chill Factore was set up by: managing director David Sterland, the man behind Castlefield's Xscape; chairman Peter Moore, former tourism tsar for Blackpool and a senior figure at Center Parcs and Alton Towers; and operations director Andrew Lockerbie, chairman of the British Association of Ski Instructors.
Backed by Bridges Community Ventures, the Trafford Park site is just the first. Burns comes into the job with a solid reputation and, most importantly, a track record of delivering value for a private equity-backed venture. He most recently built up and turned around travel agency business Page & Moy, which was sold by management and 3i to Travelsphere in 2004 for £345m and then passed on to Electra Partners in May 2006 for £3144m. He clearly enjoyed the experience.
"These guys are not benevolent or benign," he says. "They are active investors. They want to see returns, but they're also consumers themselves. Every board meeting I went to they had their own opinions and ideas."
Though don't for a moment think this is one of those shiny profiles of a high-flying exec at the top of his game who has bounced from one cushy number to the next. Sure, Burns oozes positivity and a can-do attitude. He's also learnt well having worked for two of the great titans of the leisure industry in this country. He worked his way up at Airtours, working with David Crossland and rising to senior positions before things went so terribly wrong. And in 2002 he joined Trevor Hemmings' sprawling organisation, which includes racecourses, holiday camps and Blackpool Tower.
But the role that probably gave him the highest public profile was his relatively short tenure from 2000 to 2002 as chief executive of the Football League. It was an amazing rollercoaster ride. For a start he'd inherited a television deal with ITV Digital that promised boundless riches. Clubs hocked themselves to the hilt and, when Carlton and Granada's ambitious digital TV flight of fancy fell on its face, Burns, a lawyer by trade, and his chairman, Keith Harris, were expected to exact revenge and compensation, they weren't able to. And with 72 bosses - each of the football clubs' chairmen - all used to getting their own way, life became uncomfortable.
"I remember bumping into my old friend from Airtours, Tim Byrne, at Heathrow airport," he says. "We were both in the Daily Mail that day described as "beleaguered.'"
So out of all those experiences, what's he bringing to this new job? "My last job was the best in many ways (Page & Moy)," he says. "I had a team around me. We were focused. We all became true friends.
"You have to get the people right. Create a team. Facilitate communication between them. Get all the key people together once a week to talk about all the things that are going on in the business. Be prepared to take ideas off anyone. The beauty of this place is we're all consumers.
"I also have to focus on making the shareholders happy. If this place is being run well, David Sterland can concentrate on searching for new sites. This is not just one ski slope but, from the point of the view of the staff here, their prospects are assisted by the fact that this is something that is going to go national."
So what are his priorities as chief executive? "The systems are poor; we've been let down," he says. "I have a very logical mind and I know how to make technology work. But we're a 21st century business which isn't using 21st century technology. There's no bookable website, but there should be and there will be. There's also going to be a slick way to book your slot, specify where you want to eat, organise the rental of your equipment. We can definitely shorten the time it takes to get customers started."
But take a pause. Sit back and doff your cap to David Burns for the bravest challenge he's overcome. In May 2006, with the ink drying on the sale of Page & Moy to Electra and just three months short of his 50th birthday, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. A keen runner - "fit as a butcher's dog, me" - and fiercely driven by targets and goals, he beat it.
"Once the operation was done, I set myself targets and it felt just like work," he says. "I was absolutely focused on being out for the 19 July, my 50th birthday. Mentally, my attitude had a huge effect on my ability to recover."
Here's another salutary tale that the big bad barbarians of private equity wouldn't like to get around too much - that is if you believe all their bad press. Once the Page & Moy deal was done, Electra was well within its rights to wave goodbye as Burns had indicated he didn't intend to stay on but would have been around to help. His diagnosis meant he wasn't even around to do that.
"The guys at Electra were brilliant," he says. "They told me to get sorted and honoured every one of their commitments to me. They were astonishingly decent."
Since then, in the last 18 months this particular football fanatic has fed his football bug by joining the board at Altrincham Football Club. He's also helped out a few people who've helped him: Clearwater Corporate Finance; Chris Bird with Sports Tours International, a business he runs for bookmaker Fred Done. He's also helped out a couple of intriguing sports and travel start-ups.
"I was under no particular pressure to get a job, but I was going a bit stir crazy," he says. "I should also have charged some of those people; perhaps then they might have taken some of my advice."
Which brings things back full circle to being in charge. If everybody has a discussion - even a confrontation about what to do - if you are in charge, you can always just insist on doing it your own way.