ABOUT US

Intent

To use our experience and passion to lead the global stage on operational readiness. We also want to be the UK’s choice for aviation operations and logistics and to develop a strategic partnership in operations with a long term view on Performance, Sustainability, Resilience and Service.

Vision

To create an operational environment in aviation that delivers agility to Airports and Airlines. To use our agile and transparent approach to drive value across all operational environments so that the aviation sector can embrace innovation and growth to deliver ultimate value to passengers.

Leadership

Leadership at ABC is about helping to define what the future should look like and educating, convincing and aligning people with that vision whilst inspiring them to make it a reality despite the obstacles that may appear in front of them. We inspire our teams to lead and they all have the knowledge, capacity and will to rally teams around a common purpose as well as the character that inspires trust.

“When you put together deep knowledge about a subject that intensely matters to you, great things happen. It will give you the courage to share your passion and expertise, and when you do that, people will follow.”

Management Team

Grant Thompson

CEO

Grant set up Aviation Business Continuity (ABC) in 2007 after spending 17 years with Heathrow Airport Limited in various Terminal and Baggage management roles.

He has successfully grown the company over the last 16 years and developed a motivated and passionate team of experts that deliver service excellence in Operations & Logistics, Operational Readiness, Consultancy, Training, Strategy, and Business Change. He is now developing the business outside the UK as other industries realise the depth of knowledge ABC brings as well as the commercial sense it makes to get ABC involved at design stage on both projects and future operational models.

In addition to Grant’s successful growth of Aviation Business Continuity, he also worked to form a joint venture named ABCoast Aviation Services with Coast Industrial Maintenance, a company based at Vancouver International Airport. This partnership has allowed ABC to expand its expertise and services to clients in North America. By combining the strengths of both companies, ABCoast Aviation Services offers a comprehensive range of solutions in airport operations and maintenance, including consultancy, resourcing, training, and business change strategies. ABCoast Aviation Services has quickly established itself as a trusted partner for clients seeking innovative and effective solutions to their aviation business needs.

Iain Bailey

COO

Iain commenced his career by returning to the company he spent his University placement year with to develop a new Control Systems Product for the Oil, Gas, Water and Electricity sectors.

This led Iain to gain experience of several sectors and client business processes through Projects in Russia, UAE, Egypt and Thailand as well installations across Europe. After completing a Project in South Korea with Asiana Airlines, Iain took the opportunity to become the Senior Systems Architect for the Heathrow Terminal 5 Baggage System, leading the full lifecycle of the solution from 2000 to 2008. In 2009 Iain joined forces with Grant to provide Operational Concept Design, Business Change Services and Operational Readiness Leadership on several key business critical and transformational projects. Iain now shares his experience of systems, project processes and baggage operations by supporting the ABC team deployed across all customer sites to ensure smooth operational transitions and realisation of the desired benefits of a project.

Iain has also played a pivotal role in expanding the consultancy and operational readiness side of ABCoast Aviation Services at Vancouver International Airport. With his vast experience in systems, project processes, and baggage operations, he has provided critical support to the ABCoast team. Iain has leveraged his expertise to develop innovative solutions for clients and has led the implementation of operational concepts and business change strategies that have resulted in significant improvements in efficiency and customer satisfaction. Through his contributions, Iain has helped to establish ABCoast Aviation Services as a leader in providing consultancy and operational readiness services in the aviation industry.

Aleck O'Neill

Operations Director

Aleck has over 25 years of experience in the aviation sector having started with BMI in 1993. He has a wealth of experience in Ramp and Baggage operations having been the Baggage Operations Manager for both Aviance and Dnata at Heathrow.

He has run a larger number of projects having worked as the project manager for airline moves at Aviance and has worked on over £2billion worth of projects as the Transition Manager at ABC, most notably bringing Terminal 3 Integrated Baggage system in to live operations. Aleck has managed the business of ABC as its General Manager and is currently the Operations Director overseeing the end to end ABC operations and their support functions. In August 2020, Aleck played a key leadership role in the launch of ABCoast Aviation Services, a joint venture between Aviation Business Continuity and Coast Industrial Maintenance, at Vancouver International Airport in British Columbia, Canada.

Ali Zakaria

Business Development and Resource Planning Manager

Ali started at ABC in 2017 as a General Operative and quickly demonstrated the drive and inventive thinking that has led him to become our Business Development & Resource Planning Manager, proving to be a great example to the entire workforce on the opportunities for growth within ABC

Ali has been Instrumental in designing and launching an automated resource allocation system which has totally transformed how we operate with digitising back-office functions and streamlining processes. This has brought in geo-location accuracy of workforce duties and hours performed that increases our efficiency in resource deployment and commercial quality of service. Ali’s work was a major contributor to ABC winning Heathrow’s “Doing the Right Thing” award in 2019. Ali’s enthusiasm and “can-do” determination is centric to our end-to-end operation, whether it be: collaborating with new clients; coaching the team to ensure we consistently provide exceptional service; supporting our finance department; or to learn from the days operation to continuously improve the next.

Andy Stewart

General Manager

Andy started his career in aviation at London Heathrow Airport with KLM Ground Services in 2003, and soon progressed through numerous operational and management roles with one of the largest ground handlers at Heathrow.

Andy is highly experienced in all aspects of ground handling where he has: led both Ramp Operations and Baggage Operations; been responsible for the safety of the below wing operation; successfully planned and delivered new airline entries and terminal moves; solved complex resourcing challenges; and sourced ground service equipment. Andy joined ABC as General Manager in 2022 and is responsible for the end-to-end ABC operation and to apply his experience and leadership style to invigorate ABC’s growth in offering integrated-service plans at Heathrow, Vancouver as well as to new opportunities as they arise.

Andy started his career in the hospitality industry working in a restaurant, pub and catering business. He worked in all operational roles over 10 years ending up as Head of Operations for the London business.

He transformed a number of new venues over this period, designing the product and the service offering as well as ensuring the project was delivered on time and in budget. Andy has used these transformation skills since then in both public and private sectors, working with Police, Councils and the Home Office on change programmes. He also spent 6 years working for Heathrow in Airport Operations, Terminal Operations and latterly as Head of Operations, Service Delivery & Resilience. Andy now heads up the service team looking at our growth plan and service offering across all departments.

Our ISO accreditations are internationally recognised for systems, processes and environmental management – helping us to be better, stronger and more successful

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