Nolan Hough was appointed Managing Director at MAG-O in 2017. With a clear brief for innovation, Manchester Airports Group (MAG) launched its tech and e-commerce business, MAG-O, to respond to technology-driven changes and to move the airport experience into a new digital era. Interview by Marta Dimitrova.
Nolan Hough, Managing Director, MAG-O: “We are on a journey together and aiming to double our revenue in MAG-O within 5 years. Ultimately, I want the teams to push themselves, be customer-centric, create a culture of innovation, not be afraid to fail and, perhaps most importantly, be commercial to the core.”
Airport Business: What have been your initial priorities since taking up the position as Managing Director of MAG-O?
Nolan Hough, Managing Director, MAG-O: We are responding to changes in passenger behaviour and need to move the airport experience into a new digital era. We’re looking to build a start-up ethos and part of that is being physically separate, not constrained by the big company thought processes. I’m lucky that I’ve been given the go ahead to build a fresh culture from the word go – we have new offices, we’re more flexible, and we’re more collegiate.
AB: What inspired the need for such technology and e-commerce business as MAG-O?
Hough: I’m realistic – by today’s standards I think passengers in airports are often disappointed by the standard of the digital experience. People are used to excellent experiences and reasonable is no longer good enough. That’s what we’re addressing with MAG-O. Therefore, we are taking much of our inspiration from outside the airport industry and we have already trialled, tested and introduced dozens of new initiatives across MAG’s digital footprint.
AB: How has your previous experience informed your approach to your new role at MAG-O?
Hough: Before doing this job, I headed up the car parking division at Manchester Airports Group (MAG).
Car parking is one of the most sophisticated online data management businesses in the world. Across MAG’s car parks we have 160,000 car parking prices in the market at any one time – 3,600 algorithms all working at once and I want to get us to a place through MAG-O where we’re managing up to 4,000 price changes per day to give customers the best value we can possibly offer.
AB: In what ways will MAG-O improve the end-to-end experience at the Group’s three airports – Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands?
Hough: It’s all about bringing a higher level of enjoyment to the airport environment, eradicating the pain points that we have all become familiar with and ultimately providing passengers with a much smoother, and stress-free, experience.
AB: MAG-O has already embarked on a programme of trialling and testing new products which will benefit MAG’s passengers, improving the efficiency of its terminal and car parks and offering passengers new online experiences. Can you please provide more details on some of these projects?
Hough: We are still essentially a start-up but already MAG-O has introduced some small changes to the wider MAG operation that have made a seismic difference to passengers, including how they are able to find and book flights, live flight notifications, travel itinerary services and FastTrack Passport Control. Other projects include building VIP products, travel insurance, concierge services, Apps, ChatBots and new distributing deals just to name a few. MAG-O has also undertaken a complete redesign and relaunch of the Group’s airport websites, with each one now delivering significantly faster load speeds and a more intuitive user experience.
AB: In what ways will the new e-commerce shopping experience boost travel retail and generate revenues?
Hough: We are on a journey together and aiming to double our revenue in MAG-O within five years. Ultimately, I want the teams to push themselves, be customer-centric, create a culture of innovation, not be afraid to fail and, perhaps most importantly, be commercial to the core.
AB: Looking ahead, what are your main priorities and plans for development in 2018 and beyond?
Hough: In the future, we are targeting a truly personalised airport experience where as a passenger you will be guided directly to your parking space via mobile web services, have your food ready and waiting for you at the restaurant of your choice and be able to take advantage of personalised discounts in our shops and then finally be guided to the plane at exactly the right time for boarding.
Ultimately, what we’re trying to do is create an excellent digital passenger journey which will make people want to travel from MAG airports.
