Mentor
John McGuigan
Overview
John McGuigan has over 35 years of leadership experience across financial services, healthcare and TMT. He has operated at Executive Committee level for global corporations, FTSE 100 organisations and in the public sector, and is recognised for developing and delivering market-leading customer experience in partnership with brands such as Apple, Google and Tata Group.
John began his career in the UK Civil Service, including policy work in Whitehall, before moving into management consultancy, helping organisations evolve strategy and culture. He subsequently became CEO of NHS24 in Scotland, leading a national digital health service. In 2007 he joined Telefónica as part of the team that launched the iPhone in the UK, later becoming CEO of Telefónica Slovakia and then Managing Director of Sales and Operations at Telefónica Germany.
In 2014, he returned to the UK as Customer Director at Standard Life, where he headed businesses in Germany and Ireland alongside his UK customer remit. He was a key member of the deal team that sold Standard Life Assurance to Phoenix Group, leading due diligence on customer data, property and operations. On completion of the deal he joined Phoenix Group’s ExCo as Group Customer Director, where he led the transfer of 3.4 million customers from heritage systems onto a new platform with TCS.
John is currently Chair of both Scottish Rugby Union Ltd and Scottish Friendly Assurance Society, an adviser to fintech companies, and a Mentor at Merryck. He was previously Chair of Scottish Financial Enterprise Ltd.
John brings deep cross-sector expertise in:
• Financial services, insurance & pensions – leading major UK and European businesses, and overseeing complex integrations and migrations in regulated markets.
• Customer experience & digital transformation – designing and delivering omni-channel journeys, large-scale platform transitions and partnerships with leading global technology brands.
• TMT & public sector leadership – running telecoms businesses in multiple countries and leading national digital health services in politically visible environments.
• Board leadership, governance & stakeholder management – chairing financial and sporting institutions and working with diverse stakeholders across business, government and civil society.
John assumes that people come to work with good intent and a desire to improve the areas they lead. He sees leadership as helping individuals perform at their best within the context of the organisation’s purpose and values. Having valued mentoring support himself, he believes that having someone “in your corner” with the sole aim of helping you become a better leader is critical. In his work with senior executives, he focuses on helping them to know themselves better, providing thoughtful challenge and alternative perspectives. His aim is to support better leadership and followership, while enhancing quality of life outside work as well as performance inside it.
PDF Profile
Download PDFMajor Career Roles
Scottish Rugby Union Ltd
Chair
Scottish Friendly Assurance Society
Chair
Other Career Highlights
British & Irish Lions DAC
Non-Executive Director
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