The Griffin Report: Meet the Chamber vice-president who is a 'people person'

When self-confessed “people person” MIKE OWENS parted company with the firm he was working for in 2021, he underwent a huge culture shock – he needed to use social media for the first time to find a new job. He was successful and is today managing director of Chamber patrons Schumacher Packaging UK. JON GRIFFIN went to meet the man who will succeed Nasir Awan as president of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce.  

In his own words, genial Ulsterman Mike Owens, the next president of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC), is a “people’s person”.

“I love being around people, that is where I get my buzz,” he says.

But in 2019, after more than 30 years climbing the ladder in the packaging industry and enjoying a variety of executive roles around the UK, Mike found himself at something of a personal crossroads.

By any standards the sports-mad Belfast boy, whose childhood heroes were George Best and Muhammad Ali, had enjoyed a successful career, rising to UK director of operations of American-owned Graphic Packaging International, driving the performance of five UK plants turning over around £250m with a workforce of 1,300.

The man who will eventually succeed Nasir Awan as the GBCC’s next president explains: “I was promoted to director of UK operations, which was five sites dotted around England – it took me out of day-to-day management and direct contact with people. That became quite difficult.

“I started working from home before working from home became a thing, which doesn’t suit me at all. We parted company in February 2021. I hadn’t done a CV for donkeys’ years, didn’t know what I wanted to do. I was convinced I didn’t want to stay in packaging.”

But following advice from a mentor appointed as part of his severance deal Mike decided to stick to the packaging sector he had known for over three decades – and within a few months found himself managing director of Schumacher Packaging UK, based in offices a stone’s throw from the NEC and Birmingham Airport.

“Ironically, I had never been on social media in my life, never had my own mobile phone, never had my own laptop, so I got all of those. It was a culture shock, but I wouldn’t have this job if it wasn’t for LinkedIn. I saw this job on LinkedIn.”

Mike was back among people again, helping Schumacher individuals and teams to grow – and his move to the multi-national German-owned family packaging group would in due course lead to his current role as vice-president of the Midlands premier business organisation.

The rugby and football-loving Ulsterman may never have achieved his boyhood ambition of playing rugby for Ireland but his return to the packaging world after a spell on gardening leave at the height of lockdown in 2021 would eventually present intriguing new horizons.

“Out of this really has come the relationship and interaction with other bodies like the Chamber. It was a necessity as far as I was concerned. You have to get out and make yourself known.

"I walked in here pretty cold and I realised that we needed to get our name out there – and I was advised that the Chamber was a good place to start in terms of networking.”

The man who will in less than two years become the Presidential face of a group representing thousands of organisations, from multi-national giants to one-man bands, admits he is a newcomer to the often-bewildering art of networking.

“I had never done this kind of thing before, I had never done Chambers of Commerce, I had never done serious networking but I decided it was the only way to get Schumacher Packaging out there otherwise we weren’t going to grow if we just sat here expecting customers to just arrive on our doorstep.

“I had never done that in my life before, I put myself spectacularly out of my comfort zone. But I am one of those people who actually throws myself at it regardless of whether I feel nervous or not.”

Mike signed up Schumacher as Chamber patrons and shirt sponsors of Birmingham Moseley Rugby Club – “they reminded me of the way I knew rugby, a very sociable outfit and a good club” – and conquered his fears of walking into rooms full of unknowns by fully embracing the Birmingham business circuit. “Those were two good vehicles for getting the Schumacher name known.

“I just said yes to a lot of stuff, going to events, being asked to sit on panels. I enjoy it, I still get butterflies in the stomach, a bit like playing rugby – the thought of it is worse than the actuality – and it has just mushroomed.”

Mike’s arrival on the Birmingham business beat at the end of 2021 brought him into contact with a string of new corporate acquaintances – and now he is looking forward to the challenge of eventually stepping up to the President’s role of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce.

“I think for a region of this size the Chamber is an incredibly effective medium for business. Like everything else in life, you get out of it what you put in. It gives a voice, it gives you access to bodies, to individuals and groups that you normally wouldn’t get access to.

“I think the Chamber can be very effective in terms of lobbying for Government, around how do you give business the opportunity to improve and to grow by taking away the barriers and the red tape.”

Mike cites the future of the West Midlands transport infrastructure as key to the prosperity of the region and its ability to attract new businesses, in particular smaller firms.

“There is a huge problem around availability of employment for companies of this size who want to invest inwardly and I think the Chamber is really pushing inward investment and tackling the lack of opportunities for smaller companies.

“There needs to be more focus on that – it is all very well having large infrastructure projects but you still need satellites around to complete the supply chain. I am talking about permanent jobs, companies coming into the region because there is an incentive to do so.

“This is a great place to be geographically and is attracting people for the long haul rather than transient big-ticket stuff. The Chamber recognises that and does push it.

“I think the Chamber is one of, if not the, most effective vehicle for making the business voice known.”

This article first appeared in the April 2024 edition of Chamberlink magazine.

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