Bulldozer boss rolls out his big plans

IT was never going to be a quiet arrival when the new boss of Nestl Rowntree took up his post. The electric guitar plugged in next to his desk at the York chocolate factory put paid to that idea. His fiercely aggressive approach to business has already ruffled feathers, but tough New Zealander Chris White wouldn't have it any other way.

You don't get to his level of seniority at the age of 42 without playing hard ball. Or rugby in his case, which is one of his high-octane passions along with fast cars and rock music.

White's corporate philosophy, honed at some of the biggest brand names in the world, including Coca Cola, was laid bare on his arrival in December in a rallying memo to senior managers.

Adapted from a phrase by marketing author Sergio Zyman, the memo called on managers to sell more chocolate at higher prices to make more money.

Employees not "excited" by this prospect were warned that they "should be working somewhere else".

Some shop-floor workers who saw the statement were angry at its "insensitivity" in the light of the recent announcement to axe 150 process jobs on the Kit Kat, Aero and assortment lines at the Wigginton Road plant, on top of 220 technical posts.

White says no one could fail to understand the strategy, but is at pains to point out that making more money does not mean losing more jobs - quite the opposite. "The way that some people like to categorise making more money is that bosses can become fatter and screw the workers, which is just not the case," he said.

"It's not what we're about and I wouldn't do it if it was. I've got better things to do with my life. It's making more money so we can create more jobs and keep people in stable employment."

White, who moved from Nestl Australia to take up his new post, is under no illusions about the tough tasks ahead.

Nestl Rowntree lost half of one per cent in market share last year, putting it marginally behind rival Mars for the first time in years. He is adamant that the only way forward is continued growth and the need to push sales past the elusive £1 billion mark.

A key factor in this is the need to shift more Kit Kats and staff being "more entrepreneurial and more aggressive at seizing opportunities".

"I've never downsized a business in my life," said White.

"It's about growing a business because any idiot can downsize it. Kit Kat is a favourite iconic brand in the market place.

"But what we've forgotten to do is turn that love and passion for Kit Kat that exists for the consumer into them going and buying it. Our common enemy is Cadbury, Mars and Wrigley - not each other.

"If we focus on winning in the market place they the workforce shouldn't have to worry about their jobs."

White's first goal is to regain second place from Mars by the end of the year and is adamant that failure to do so "doesn't exist" as an option.

Such fighting talk has earned the father-of-two, who has set up home in Harrogate, the nickname of "The Bulldozer" from certain sections of his workforce. But is this fair?

"It's probably true," he said.

"I'm very passionate about what I'm doing. I get very frustrated by people who are slow to understand that we can move from point A to point B. I do sort of roll over people who get in the way or slow us down."

But this is a bulldozer who has vowed that he won't squash other people's ideas. White is passionate that all his staff come up with suggestions - from the chocolate packers to senior executives.

He recounts a recent conversation with an Aero worker on the shopfloor as a case in point.

"He said to me 'this is what you should be doing' and he was right," White said. "It was exactly the strategy we are now adopting for Aero. Here is a guy that if you were an elitist snob, you would say 'What does he know - he didn't go to university' and yet he had a better view of the brand than we did.

"You discount what you hear on the shop-floor at your peril."

The boss eats breakfast in the staff canteen every morning and is planning to move his office closer to the rank and file to be more "visible and accessible".

White wants to encourage his employees to have more fun at work, as this, he believes, will lead to better productivity. He has already taken his senior management team out for beers and a curry in Micklegate and is planning a huge Christmas party to unite all staff from both the factory and commercial sectors.

"You can't be on the same team if you don't celebrate together," he says.

"Confectionery is fun, it's not like buying Preparation H. If you're not enjoying what you're doing, you probably won't be doing it as well as you can. Life's too short."

He revels in letting his hair down, particularly when it comes to his beloved rock music.

White is a huge fan of outrageous rock gods The Darkness and owns eight guitars, one of which is permanently based in his office. He can often be heard jamming away to relieve the stresses and strains of the day.

He is hoping to form a rock group similar to the work band he had in Australia called the Nestl Originals - perhaps in time for the seasonal bash.

He owns several sports cars and collects Chinese antiques, but rugby union is his greatest passion. He stopped playing only recently and was so devastated by the All Blacks defeat at the hands of the Aussies in the Rugby World Cup that he gave his cup final ticket away.

"I was too depressed," he says. "I'm here to undermine England rugby!"

Many Nestl workers may join in the fun when they receive an assurance that the factory has a long-term future in the city. But can White give it?

"There is no such thing as a sure-fire certainty," he says.

"Obviously we need to deliver in terms of the shareholders. It closure is certainly not the plan - the strategy is to grow the business so that we can offer people security.

"We've got billions of pounds worth of kit sitting in York, how can you just close that down? That would be nuts and just doesn't make any possible sense."

Updated: 09:37 Friday, February 06, 2004