:00:05. > :00:15.Savile is now a criminal inquiry. That is the latest news. Now time
:00:15. > :00:37.
:00:37. > :00:44.for leading questions. Here is These generators are rented out to
:00:44. > :00:46.major sports events, music festivals but also printed in large
:00:46. > :00:55.numbers to inter countries where recent economic growth has not been
:00:55. > :00:59.matched by increased capacity to generate electricity. In Japan, it
:00:59. > :01:04.was the first on the scene to help plug the power gap. That means that
:01:04. > :01:13.even through the downturn years, this is one company that has been
:01:13. > :01:23.doing very well. Last year, they had revenue of �1.4 bn. Pre-tax
:01:23. > :01:29.profits above �300 million. Look at how big its operations are, bases
:01:29. > :01:33.in 34 countries. Nearly enough to meet a 10th of Britain's
:01:33. > :01:40.electricity needs. The man who has led its rapid expansion over the
:01:40. > :01:43.last nine years is this man. I met him at the Glasgow headquarters to
:01:43. > :01:47.hear about the business and about his concerns that neither Britain
:01:47. > :01:53.nor the world are preparing adequately for some big power
:01:53. > :01:58.shortages ahead. It's go back a few weeks to the London Olympics, the
:01:58. > :02:05.opening ceremony which impressed a lot of people. You were there
:02:05. > :02:14.biting your fingernails? I had no fingernails left! Once it was a
:02:14. > :02:23.huge success and it was a fantastic moment for Britain but for us in
:02:24. > :02:29.particular, it has been a triumph, what we did for the Olympics. It
:02:30. > :02:35.was the biggest contract we had for a major event. The opening and
:02:35. > :02:38.closing ceremonies and ran 100% on our power. We did it faultlessly
:02:38. > :02:44.but when you are sitting there, just waiting for that moment when
:02:44. > :02:50.half the lights go out and you thank, it might be us. It is nerve-
:02:50. > :02:55.racking. You pard the Beijing Olympics, the London Olympics,
:02:55. > :02:58.Glastonbury Festival, the World Cup - a lot of pressure clearly bills
:02:58. > :03:05.of around the big events? Yes and I think it is because we are paranoid
:03:05. > :03:15.about that and be cared desperately about our reputation. We could lose
:03:15. > :03:15.
:03:15. > :03:21.a reputation in a flash, literally. But we have been doing it for a
:03:21. > :03:24.long time and we have been doing the Olympics for over 20 years. We
:03:24. > :03:28.have a team of very experienced people doing it other thing that we
:03:28. > :03:32.are the world leaders in doing this sort of thing but if you are not
:03:32. > :03:38.paranoid about the fact that you are always worried about things
:03:38. > :03:42.going wrong, you can become complacent. The reputation of the
:03:42. > :03:47.company is built on these massive public events but that is a
:03:47. > :03:52.relatively small part of the business? He is less than seven or
:03:52. > :03:59.8% of our Business but it is a very high profile apart. Our business
:03:59. > :04:03.splits into two parts. We have half of it involved in providing
:04:03. > :04:10.temporary partitions to emerging and developing countries where they
:04:10. > :04:18.have not been able to have enough capacity to cope with very high
:04:18. > :04:22.levels of demand for electricity. The other half is based in America,
:04:22. > :04:26.Europe, Australia and the Middle East, which is much more
:04:26. > :04:30.transactional, where we're doing small contracts for industrial
:04:30. > :04:35.companies. Something breaks down in their factory and the need extra
:04:35. > :04:44.power. Maybe it is a hot summer and they want extra cooling. You are
:04:44. > :04:53.filling a gap for what is happening in the local -- global economy. You
:04:53. > :05:00.are the people who come in and fill the gap? The racial increase for
:05:01. > :05:06.power is astonishing. Last year there were more mobile phones
:05:06. > :05:12.subscribers in sub Saharan Africa than in the whole of the EU. 340
:05:12. > :05:18.million people there had a mobile phones, all of which needed to be
:05:18. > :05:26.charged and is reflecting the growth of these economies. We are
:05:26. > :05:36.bumping along at 0.1 rates of growth. Look at countries like
:05:36. > :05:40.Kenya, Vietnam, Brazil, crowing at six, 8, 9% but they demand for
:05:40. > :05:46.electricity will grow faster than that so many of our customers are
:05:46. > :05:53.growing their demand for electricity by eight or 10% a year.
:05:53. > :05:57.Their economies cannot keep up with the rate of investment required in
:05:57. > :06:02.terms of bringing on new power generation to be able to cope with
:06:02. > :06:08.that demand. The last year when the tsunami hit Japan and its nuclear
:06:09. > :06:13.power capacity very badly. The company was quickly in their at the
:06:13. > :06:19.same time that others were pulling out. Giddiness is to be operating
:06:19. > :06:26.at the time. Disaster does look like a big opportunity for you.
:06:26. > :06:30.wouldn't say we thrive on disaster. Helping people cope with the
:06:30. > :06:36.aftershocks of major natural or other disasters is part of our
:06:36. > :06:46.business, the relatively small part, I have to say. Many more parts of
:06:46. > :06:55.
:06:55. > :07:01.her business... We also had the Christchurch earthquake in New
:07:01. > :07:06.Zealand which we responded to and we had floods in Brisbane and when
:07:06. > :07:09.people are in distress, one of the things they need to get back
:07:09. > :07:15.quickly his power because you have a very basic functions like getting
:07:15. > :07:20.water supply, very often that is what they need us to get power to
:07:20. > :07:26.hospitals and water supply and the pumps going again. I wouldn't say
:07:26. > :07:32.we thrive but responding to emergencies is part of our job and
:07:32. > :07:37.that is part of the school we have to have. A went askew about
:07:37. > :07:43.yourself, people can avoid this fact, you are the grandson of
:07:43. > :07:48.Winston Churchill. A lot of your family has made a big name in terms
:07:48. > :07:52.of politics, journalism, finance and public affairs - how big a
:07:52. > :07:58.burden is it to be the grandson of Winston Churchill? I wouldn't say
:07:58. > :08:07.it is a burden. I a lot of bird and -- privilege goes with it.
:08:07. > :08:11.great thing is not to wear it lightly. I am the person I am and
:08:11. > :08:14.it has been a part of my life because it has given me an interest
:08:14. > :08:22.and a connection with history which I love. I have always been
:08:22. > :08:28.interested in history and politics and so there is an inspiration
:08:28. > :08:31.there and learning there and it is not only my grandfather but more
:08:31. > :08:38.immediately my mother who was his daughter he is a very successful
:08:38. > :08:45.writer and she knew him very well. My father was a politician as well
:08:45. > :08:51.but at the end of the day, in life no amount of distinguished
:08:51. > :08:55.forebears makes up for weather you are able to meet your own way.
:08:55. > :09:00.is why I ask about the burden of expectation because this is a
:09:00. > :09:05.family that achieves? My brothers and sisters have all in their own
:09:05. > :09:10.areas been high achievers and done incredibly well and I am tagging
:09:10. > :09:16.along behind. I wonder about the extent to which you were a rebel
:09:16. > :09:21.because you did Eton and Oxford and many became a DJ in a nightclub. It
:09:21. > :09:26.was that rebellion or a good business opportunity? I think I
:09:27. > :09:36.have always had a desire to do things in a slightly unconventional
:09:37. > :09:37.
:09:37. > :09:42.way. Whether it has been being the youngest. A was probably a mistake
:09:42. > :09:46.and many people reckon that. Certainly my parents had four
:09:46. > :09:54.children very close together and then I turned up. But I have always
:09:54. > :10:00.had the desire for the unconventional. He it is absolutely
:10:00. > :10:07.true that when I went to university, partly because I wanted to make
:10:07. > :10:12.money and I was interested in business. A hard decision for me
:10:12. > :10:16.was come the end of university and all my friends went off to become
:10:16. > :10:20.bankers, it was the early Eighties and the beginning of the Big Bang
:10:20. > :10:25.and that was where the big salaries wear and where the bigger
:10:25. > :10:30.opportunities where. Nobody was much interested in industry. I just
:10:30. > :10:38.wanted to make things, I was really interested in electronics and
:10:38. > :10:42.merging and computing. Which is quite eccentric or rebellious?
:10:42. > :10:49.was what interested me and I get incredibly enthusiastic about
:10:49. > :10:52.things and I don't regret it for a second, albeit it meant for many
:10:52. > :10:59.years I've learned a lot less than my contemporaries. They were going
:10:59. > :11:07.around driving fast cars and I was still working on the shop floor or
:11:07. > :11:13.managing a sales force and working for a company but I don't regret a
:11:13. > :11:18.moment of that. I have had so much fun doing it and so much
:11:18. > :11:21.opportunity working in the industrial side rather than in the
:11:21. > :11:25.financial services but it was regarded by many friends and
:11:25. > :11:32.contemporaries, but never by my family. My family were completely
:11:32. > :11:42.supportive. They did not regarded as eccentric at all. He went into
:11:42. > :11:43.
:11:43. > :11:51.the company, them and were picked up people like you. How important
:11:51. > :11:56.was it to be mentored and what did you learn from that? He remains to
:11:56. > :12:03.this day, I have a photograph of him on my table. He was a
:12:03. > :12:09.completely inspiring figure. I was hugely lucky that he would
:12:09. > :12:17.occasionally bring me up and beat me up down the telephone for my
:12:17. > :12:24.sins and mentoring is not quite the word, Mourne string would be more
:12:24. > :12:31.like it! He was tough on his people. Very often tough on me. But I
:12:31. > :12:35.learnt an enormous amount and what he gave me was an opportunity at a
:12:35. > :12:40.very young age to run the business. I ran my first business as a
:12:40. > :12:45.managing director aged 26 and that was a business with 600 people and
:12:45. > :12:50.that doesn't seem to happen any more. I was incredibly fortunate
:12:50. > :12:57.that I fell in with him and that for some unknown reason, he took a
:12:57. > :13:02.shine to me and was prepared to promote me. After he left, you were
:13:02. > :13:10.sacked and then 10 years ago you were sacked from the software
:13:10. > :13:19.company. A I regularly get sacked, I think I have been sacked 2.5
:13:19. > :13:25.times. You describe this process as character-building? I think it is
:13:25. > :13:32.character-building. First of all, it is humbling will stop secondly,
:13:32. > :13:39.it makes you value the jobs that you have. Thirdly, I thinking if
:13:39. > :13:47.you have been, as I walls, which was out of work for a year, and
:13:47. > :13:56.getting increasingly desperate about it, I hope it makes you more
:13:56. > :14:01.empathetic with people who are or who have been in the same position.
:14:01. > :14:07.I think it is part of life's rich experience. It is a matter of ups
:14:07. > :14:12.and downs. I am a permanent optimist so I didn't admit it get
:14:12. > :14:19.me down to much but inwardly at night, and was really worried.
:14:19. > :14:25.it comes to the euphemism is, letting people go. As a result of
:14:25. > :14:33.what you have been through, do you treat them differently? I hope so.
:14:33. > :14:40.I hope, it doesn't happen very often because we are a fast-growing
:14:40. > :14:48.company and we have gone from employing 1500 people to over 6000
:14:48. > :14:53.people but when it does happen, I don't know whether it makes a
:14:53. > :14:59.difference to them or not. Probably when it does happen, me saying to
:14:59. > :15:09.them, by the way it happened to me and it could produce great
:15:09. > :15:19.
:15:19. > :15:25.opportunities. I suspect they had Let us look at energy markets in
:15:25. > :15:29.general. You have been quite outspoken about some gaps in
:15:29. > :15:36.capacity that are coming Roberson. Where do you think the most
:15:36. > :15:44.significant gaps are emerging? think the UK has a particular
:15:44. > :15:52.difficulty coming down the road because there was a political
:15:52. > :15:58.fashion a few years ago to signing up willy-nilly for carbon reduction
:15:58. > :16:03.targets on a very short timescale. I have no problem at all with
:16:03. > :16:08.carbon reduction targets. I have no problem with them being legally
:16:08. > :16:13.binding. I do have a problem when people put in place carbon
:16:13. > :16:22.reduction targets which because they are so short term mean that
:16:22. > :16:26.the British economy is going to have to go, and the infrastructure,
:16:26. > :16:30.is going to have to be turned over at a dramatic rate to meet those
:16:30. > :16:40.targets. It will cost the consumers of electricity a great deal of
:16:40. > :16:45.
:16:45. > :16:49.money. I think it is unnecessary. We have retired to a lot of
:16:50. > :16:54.stations, we have gone for renewables and it will cost
:16:54. > :17:03.consumers and businesses extra money they did not need to spend.
:17:03. > :17:09.It is reckoned it more cost �200 billion to the Orient take UK
:17:09. > :17:14.electricity. Will it happen? It is a big question. It has to be paid
:17:14. > :17:24.for by the international capital markets and a pink one of the
:17:24. > :17:29.
:17:29. > :17:37.dangers of policy makers in the UK is if we think it can happen, it
:17:37. > :17:41.probably will. It is not only asked those who have to spend that amount
:17:41. > :17:49.of money. It is the Germans, the Americans, the Italians, the
:17:50. > :17:57.Indians, the French. A massive amount of money will have to go
:17:57. > :18:02.into new power infrastructure. the big worry is the money?
:18:02. > :18:12.money and the pricing. I think that investors will save, or we could
:18:12. > :18:16.
:18:16. > :18:26.put our money into France for the UK or America. There will be a lot
:18:26. > :18:29.
:18:29. > :18:35.of people competing for that money. I am concerned. I am not been
:18:35. > :18:40.alarmist -- being alarmist, but we will have a higher energy bills in
:18:40. > :18:46.years to come. Do you think the targets had been too ambitious? You
:18:46. > :18:51.can see there is a need for climate change to be addressed. Other
:18:51. > :19:01.targets on renewable energy to ambitious? Should they be
:19:01. > :19:03.
:19:04. > :19:12.revisited? You have said that we need to to move on -- need to move
:19:12. > :19:18.on. I have no problem would be targets for carbon reduction. The
:19:18. > :19:25.problem I do have is people setting those targets. They have nothing to
:19:25. > :19:35.do with the implementation of them. It is easy language, it's easy
:19:35. > :19:36.
:19:36. > :19:46.votes. It makes politicians feel got to talk about massive green
:19:46. > :19:48.
:19:48. > :19:51.projects, but at the end of the day, these things raise billions of
:19:51. > :19:57.Pounds -- cost of billions of pounds and ultimately, it will be
:19:57. > :20:03.the consumer that pays for it. People have underestimated how
:20:03. > :20:13.difficult it will be to get the level of investment in the
:20:13. > :20:22.
:20:22. > :20:32.timescale that has been recommended. There is a large gap and you have
:20:32. > :20:33.
:20:33. > :20:38.said that only 20 % of what needs to be spent his been spent.
:20:38. > :20:46.Electricity brings good things to people's lives. It brings them
:20:46. > :20:51.light so that they can read at night and study. Their hours of
:20:51. > :20:57.study in school are not just dependent on light. It brings them
:20:57. > :21:03.hospitals, transport, knowledge, the ability to trade with each
:21:03. > :21:10.other and to create income and create wealth. If the electricity
:21:10. > :21:13.is not there, they cannot increase their standard of living.
:21:13. > :21:18.expectation is in development for emerging economies that they will
:21:18. > :21:23.have to meet the same sort of renewable targets as developed
:21:23. > :21:30.nations are meeting. Is that achievable using Hydro and solar
:21:30. > :21:35.power? Well, this is the point where I find it difficult to remain
:21:35. > :21:44.quiet. I think the hypocrisy of the rich countries in a lot of their
:21:44. > :21:52.dealings with developing countries is very damaging and it upsets me a
:21:52. > :22:01.lot to see countries who have massively higher CO2 emissions
:22:01. > :22:08.turning round to poor countries who have a large amount of electricity
:22:08. > :22:14.coming from renewables and telling them what choices they can have. To
:22:14. > :22:24.bring electricity to the 1.3 billion people who currently do not
:22:24. > :22:27.
:22:27. > :22:32.have access to it will add A1 percentage point to global CO2
:22:32. > :22:39.emissions. And yet we are turning round to these countries and saint,
:22:39. > :22:44.you cannot use the Col you have in your country. You must build more
:22:44. > :22:49.expensive energy. Listening to your concerns about the gaps opening up
:22:49. > :22:55.in developing economies, and the gaps opening up in developed
:22:55. > :23:01.economies, it must be fantastic news for Aggreko because you are
:23:01. > :23:11.ideally placed to plug the gaps and make a lot of money. I have never
:23:11. > :23:14.
:23:14. > :23:24.had a moment's doubt that Aggreko future -- Aggreko's feature is set
:23:24. > :23:31.
:23:31. > :23:36.fair. There are countries who need power were quickly and for the time
:23:36. > :23:44.that they don't have it, there are children dying, people not been
:23:44. > :23:49.educated properly, their economies is not been developed. I don't
:23:49. > :23:59.think that that argument is inconsistent with Aggreko been part
:23:59. > :24:09.of that solution. -- being part. You have been chief executive of
:24:09. > :24:16.Aggreko for nine years, which is a relatively long time for a chief
:24:16. > :24:26.executive at a FTSE company. How long do you think you will continue
:24:26. > :24:35.
:24:35. > :24:42.their? I love this company. I've always liked the companys I've
:24:42. > :24:46.worked for, but there will come a point when I have and fired again.
:24:46. > :24:52.You set aside your political aspirations in your twenties. We
:24:52. > :24:56.pick them up again? In terms have been an elected politician, I think
:24:56. > :25:02.this has now become a young man's game. You have to make a decision
:25:02. > :25:11.to do that when you are very young. I would love at some stage in my