OUR PEOPLE
Grant Thompson
Managing Director
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Grant set up Aviation Business Continuity in 2007 and has been Managing Director for all of that time. He has seen the company grow successfully since then, and has created a family-orientated team that is second to none.
EXPERIENCE
Prior to setting up the business, Grant spent 17 years with HAL (Heathrow Airport Limited) at London Heathrow, working in various operational roles, including baggage and terminal management. He has a high level of operational knowledge, and is also experienced in staff management and contingency planning.
His vast knowledge, gained over 27 years of airport experience, has enabled him to build a very competent and highly skilled team, consisting of more than 400 staff members.
Aleck O’Neill
General Manager
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Aleck is General Manager for Aviation Business Continuity and came on board in 2011 as Transition Manager, before moving to General Manager in 2016. His role involves overseeing the day to day running of the whole company, driving operational performance, managing customer service and ensuring health and safety standards are met.
EXPERIENCE
Aleck started his career at Heathrow with British Midland in 1993, covering ramp and baggage areas. Since then he has carried out various managerial roles at Heathrow Airport over the past 20+ years – covering baggage operations in Terminals 1, 2, 3 and 4. He has also been involved in the implementation of baggage reconciliation systems at Heathrow, Johannesburg, Auckland and Wellington Airports, providing start support and on the job training.
Having worked for British Midland, Aviance, Dnata and Babcock over the years, Aleck has had the opportunity to work with many different airlines – helping to improve their inbound and outbound baggage performance. He also carried out a project management role for both Aviance and Dnata and led on multiple Airline Moves, covering the front and back of house operations in Terminals 1, 3 and 4 at Heathrow.
Heather Mandizvidza
Director of Operation
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Heather joined Aviation Business Continuity in 2010 as Office Manager. Three years after joining, she was promoted to General Manager and a further three years later to her current position as Director of Operations. Heather’s role involves keeping the business ‘glued together’ as well as providing leadership and management to the team around her. She has also completed a postgraduate degree whilst working at ABC.
EXPERIENCE
Heather gained 18 months of aviation experience through a university placement in Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in 2004, where she worked in various roles including check-in, ticketing agent and gate departure supervisor for Aer Lingus and Singapore Airlines. After graduating from university in 2006 with a HND in Business and Finance, Heather worked for the Ministry of Defence for two years overseas in various roles, including Resettlement Clerk, Communications Officer and Garrison Estates Clerk, before returning to the UK.
In May 2008, Heather began working at London Heathrow Airport in a commercial role, on capital projects directly for the airport. Heather was responsible for working with the commercial teams to engage stakeholders, carry out commercial assessments and collate cost reports on capital projects. It was during her last project, involving Terminal 3 Integrated Baggage, where she met Grant and decided to join ABC.
Paolo Caruso
Transition Manager & Airline Moves Manager
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Paolo joined Aviation Business Continuity in 2012 as Airline Moves Manager. His role involves managing the movement of airlines into the Airport, liaising with stakeholders, and chairing countdown meetings to ensure the move is completed promptly and seamlessly to the operation.
EXPERIENCE
Paolo started his aviation industry career in 1995 in the baggage department at Aer Lingus, progressing through ramp, check-in, baggage tracing, aircraft despatch, aircraft safety and engineering. Following this he helped to manage the start-up of SAS Ground Services self-handling at Heathrow, before taking over as Airside Operations Manager.
During that time he also undertook further safety qualifications – taking on responsibility for airside safety, and carrying this role over to Aircraft Service International Group, before moving to ABC. Throughout his career, Paolo has seen the implementation of hundreds of new systems, equipment and processes which have all involved design, implementation and review.
Selena Mills
Transition Manager, Operational Readiness Team
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Selena joined Aviation Business Continuity in 2009, initially as a consultant involved in airline moves from Heathrow Terminals 2 and 4. She then moved from airline/airport operations to baggage projects, and works as a transition manager and training lead.
EXPERIENCE
Selena started out in the industry with British Midland in 1994 as a check-in agent, before moving swiftly into a supervisor’s role. She then became a dispatcher, working with the various suppliers that service aircraft, followed by a customer service training manager role – delivering the airline’s courses for new starters. Her next move took her to Madrid and then Barcelona, where she worked as airport manager of these stations.
In 2002 Selena became Regional Manager of BMI Baby – managing 13 airports and ensuring their operation ran safely and punctually. She then returned to the UK and became manager of Edinburgh airport, before heading south to Heathrow as airport manager of the main hub – managing 350 staff and over 120 daily flights.
Neil Lilley
Transition Manager, Operational Readiness Team
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Neil works as part of the Operational Readiness Team as a Transition Manager, having joined Aviation Business Continuity in 2011. This role involves leadership, stakeholder engagement and project management.
EXPERIENCE
Before joining ABC, Neil worked for a number of airlines, starting with British Midland and then moving to Virgin Atlantic as Head of Customer Service, before spending three years as the station manager for Qatar Airways. In these roles he oversaw several operational projects, including the expansion of the Virgin Atlantic customer service proposition, and the creation of a Premium Lounge for the Qatar Airways premium customers.
The core of Neil’s role within these airlines was to critically observe the operation and to instigate changes which would improve KPIs, whilst also maintaining the customer experience. Outside of project management and internal improvements, these roles required constructive engagement with Heathrow Airport to ensure that airport-wide investment was supported, whilst ensuring the integrity of each airline’s individual operations.