Editor's letter: Adrian Mardell proves he is the man to revive JLR

When Adrian Mardell was named CEO of JLR (formerly Jaguar Land Rover) on an interim basis late last year, his was a name somewhat from leftfield. He stepped up from his CFO role to replace Thierry Bolloré and clearly left such a good impression amongst the Tata hierarchy that he was last month given the job on a full-time basis. The automotive industry is a big place but a small one at the same time, where everyone seemingly knows - or knows of - everyone, particularly when the top job is at stake. However, while Mardell’s wasn't a name not widely known externally, internally he's as well connected and respected as they come. That much was obvious when we sat down with him for an hour last week for a full interview you can read in this week’s Autocar magazine. We talked about Jaguar, the House of Brands, the future of Discovery, financial performance, electrification, quality issues, what dealers have told him and of course Mardell himself, as thoroughly a decent leader as you could ever meet and a man with the bit between his teeth to deliver the Reimagine plan. When he tells you this is personal and he cares deeply about the company and its people, he means it. I hope you enjoy reading the interview. It was also fascinating to discover the life of a CEO and what it entails for someone thrust into that role for the first time. Even though he had no expectation of becoming a CEO, when he found himself there, he realised he had the skills to be an effective company leader. Mardell’s 19 roles at JLR in 32 years have mainly been in finance, and that has had him work with all kinds of different teams on all kinds of different people, from new-model programmes to due diligence on acquisitions, to negotiating with governments on new factories. “I’ve spent 29 of the 32 years within different finance roles but importantly working alongside operating teams," he said. "So most of the people that I know in the company work within different disciplines and different chapters. I understand how you make money in this place like no one else and people have consistently leaned on those skills. But that didn’t necessarily mean I needed to be the chief executive; that’s just what I did for the organisation.” When he got the job, Mardell’s phone lit up with more than 1000 messages from well-wishers inside the company, which shows how deep his network is and that level of respect. He replied to every single one over the next four days. He says life has changed in terms of being recognised outside of the Gaydon offices – something he’s still getting used to. On the weekends, he tries to be back home from any trip to Leamington Spa before 9.30am. But inside the company, he’s a visible presence, walking the Gaydon floors and speaking to people about their work, all with the ultimate goal of trying to make their jobs better. If anyone is alarmed at first to have the CEO on their shoulder, Mardell says they’re disarmed by the end, as he’s already well known for not hiding away in his office. Mardell doesn’t spend his life on planes, limiting foreign travel to around one trip per month. When he goes somewhere, he likes to spend proper time there; a visit to the Nitra factory in Slovakia won’t be a day trip and a trip to China will last several days. He doesn’t work from home very often, instead being in the office as much as possible. When it comes to board discussions where decisions ultimately need to be made, Mardell says he tends to skip the first meeting to ensure that people can speak as freely as possible. In terms of the team around him, he speaks in glowing terms about design boss Gerry McGovern; commercial chief Lennard Hoornik for the fresh perspective he has given the company after working with Dyson; and industrial boss Barbara Bergmeier, whose expertise and problem-solving ability has allowed Mardell to focus more on planning for the future than dealing with the everyday. Early on, he was spending two full days a week on the issues of the day. It’s rare to get such insight into how an automotive industry CEO goes about their day job, but then Mardell isn’t the typical automotive industry CEO. He has worked hard, has been a good colleague and is an expert in business and the business. It’s that “I understand how you make money in this place like no one else” quote that stays with me the most: be in no doubt that Mardell has the credentials to run JLR as a successful car company and business rather than simply a maker of good cars.