 Mr Clasper says he likes to keep an eye on the environment |
BAA's Mike Clasper began his career at British Rail as a graduate trainee in 1974. After four years with the rail network he moved to consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble, where he worked his way up from brands manager to the post of president of global homecare in 1999.
Mr Clasper then moved to the airport operator in 2001 as deputy chief executive, finally taking the post of chief executive in 2002.
What was your first car?
My first car was an Austin Maxi which I bought from my dad. It was pretty reliable and good fun, as a first car will always be.
I have always found the Morgan very attractive. I like the retro image and its road handling must be tremendous.
What was your first job and how much were you paid?
Like most hard working boys desperate for independent financial status, I did a paper round as a youngster.
Goodness knows what I was paid, but I can guarantee it wasn't much!
My first full job, though, was as a sales assistant in Burtons. I was particularly good at selling shirts and ties when men came in to collect their suits.
The commission was certainly a good incentive.
What type of house did you first own?
It was a little semi detached house in Leeds and cost �7,600. I'm sure it would have made a good investment property had I kept it.
I was proud to own my own property, but not so impressed, of course, with the costs of property ownership.
It was the first step and I had a number of very enjoyable years in Leeds.
Who is your biggest inspiration?
This is a really tough one to answer.
My family have been great encouragement from university through to today.
I had some inspiring bosses throughout my career in Procter & Gamble and Mike Hodgkinson, my predecessor here at BAA was a great mentor when I joined.
However, my choice would be my father. He ran a small building firm and taught me the importance of appreciating and motivating staff in the front line of the business.
What's the best bit of business advice you've had?
I spent many years in Procter & Gamble, and as I climbed the ladder I learnt the importance of motivating people.
A company has a wealth of assets in its staff and the key is to ensure that they meet their full potential.
The first step is to provide a clarity of purpose. The second is a combination of skills, training and generating self confidence in your staff.
What was the proudest moment of your career?
Whilst I am a businessman and have a background in the fast moving consumer sector, I have always been aware of the impact of business on the environment and I have always pursued solutions to manage the negative impacts.
I did so at Procter & Gamble where we were part of a industry initiative to launch the first domestic waste recycling bins for homes in the UK.
And now at BAA we are working towards including aviation in an emissions trading scheme.
Along the way I was fortunate enough to be awarded the CBE and undoubtedly my proudest moment was collecting it at the Palace.
BAA is the world's leading airport company with seven airports across the UK and 12 international airport contracts. The company serves almost 200m passengers worldwide, with a total of 11,861 employees.
In 1987 the firm was successfully floated on the Stock Market with a capitalisation of �1.225bn - it is now worth around �54.7bn.
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