Karen Taylor is Managing Director of Gloucestershire Airport, one of the busiest general aviation airports in the UK.
Karen firmly established her credentials as a capable leader in her earlier role at the airport as Commercial Finance Director where she was instrumental in securing funding to deliver a major capital improvement programme at the airport which will, ultimately, provide the foundation on which it can now fulfil its long-term vision for growth and the ambition to establish itself as a ‘gateway to growth’ for the wider region. Having taken the helm as MD in January 2021, Karen is now steering the airport through this period of significant change and is already starting the see the fruits of her labours pay off.
Recently described by Aviation Business News magazine as “busy and brilliant” while Karen has not always worked in the aviation industry, she has always been driven and focused. A chartered accountant, she started her career as a graduate trainee with the NatWest banking group and moved through the financial services arena, before broadening her experience to work in finance roles for businesses operating across the social housing and healthcare sectors.
On the subject of gender equality in the workplace, particularly at senior management levels, Karen is sanguine. Firm in her belief that women bring a new dynamic to the workplace in that they think differently about a problem and, in a male dominated environment, bring balance, she is resolute in wanting to see both men and women represented in senior leadership roles in any one business.
However, as a woman working in a sector otherwise dominated by men, Karen doesn’t regard herself as unusual. She sees herself rather as being memorable. And rightly so. Since joining the airport in 2018 Karen the airport has sought to restructure its senior leadership team and put plans for significant property development at the top of agenda – decisions which both necessitated the need to hire multiple staff and consultants to see proposals through. Add to this the impact of the Covid pandemic on operations and its fair to say that the route to becoming MD for Gloucestershire Airport has not been without its challenges.
And that’s where Karen believes the one constant in her approach – the desire to succeed – has served her well irrespective of the sector or role she has worked in. Her USP? The ability to bring a challenging but supportive pair of eyes ‘to the table’ with a view to embracing and driving through innovative change.
Driven by a passion to ensure processes and assets are optimized to maximize return, whether that’s through profitability, reduced expenditure, contract management or enhanced customer service, throughout her career Karen has helped to ensure the businesses she’s worked with have a successful and sustainable future.
She has done this by aligning her own aspirations for collaborative working and committed teamwork towards constructively challenging the “status quo” and working towards an inspired, modernized, and agile future.
Looking to the future, Gloucestershire Airport has a long-term vision to deliver value through improved profitability and increased economic value and employment in the local area. With a programme of work now underway to deliver significant improvements at the airport – including refurbishment of two runways and installation of new radar comms as well as the delivery of the new CGX Connect Business Park development – under Karen’s leadership the future of Gloucestershire Airport has never been brighter.
http://www.gloucestershireairport.co.uk/
