'I was the first person in my family to go to university' - John Allan from DHL UK Foundation speaks to aspire

John Allan has been the Chair of Trustees at the DHL UK Foundation since 2011, having retired as Chief Financial Officer of Deutsche Post in 2009. John has had a long and varied career spanning marketing, finance and general management. The DHL UK Foundation recently made a generous three year grant to IntoUniversity, supporting the Secondary FOCUS programme delivery and the expansion of the charity in the coming years. 

Please could you tell us a bit about your educational background?

My father was in the Navy, he retired when I was about 10 and we moved up to Scotland. This led me to attend a Scottish state school in Kirkcaldy, Fife and from there I went on to the University of Edinburgh. I was the first person in my family to go to university so it was a completely new experience for us all. I think I got there because my parents were very supportive and they wanted me to get the best education possible. It gave me access to a whole series of opportunities that I couldn’t have imagined when I was a few years younger, so it really did open my eyes to the world.

So after university, where did you start your career?

I was lucky enough to be offered a graduate trainee place at Unilever so I went to work for them, specifically working in one of their subsidiary companies called Lever Brothers which was a manufacturer of products like detergents, soaps and washing powder. After a long and varied career I ended up as CEO of Exel, a global logistics company. In 2005, that corporation was acquired by Deutsche Post which was the parent company of DHL. I worked for Deutsche Post for about three and a half years, the last two of which were based in Germany as Chief Financial Officer, until I retired in the middle of 2009.

Could you please tell us a little bit about your involvement with the DHL UK Charitable Foundation?

About a month after I retired I was asked by some former colleagues if I would take on the chairmanship of the DHL UK Foundation, an independent charity with its own endowment but one that works very closely with the DHL companies in the UK to fulfil its mission. This mission is primarily focused on helping young people make the most of themselves, particularly young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. So I’ve been doing that now for about three years. The charity, the DHL Foundation, partly has its own funds which generate an income which we use to support worthwhile causes, but it also receives an annual grant from the DHL companies and occasional other grants from Deutsche Post. This was how we came to be able to fund and support IntoUniversity.

Does the DHL UK Foundation have a wider mission?

The Foundation does three things: first of all, we support a limited number of charities in as substantial a way as we can, which helps us to make a notable difference to each charity that we support. We work with The Outward Bound Trust, The Prince’s Trust and now we’re supporting IntoUniversity. Secondly we support a programme called TACS - Trucks and Child Safety - which is a road safety programme that works to prevent children being involved in accidents on the road. Given that the company we are associated with is intrinsically linked with transportation and trucks, it’s a logical thing for us to do. Thirdly, we support a lot of individuals within DHL who are involved in local charities. We have a matched giving scheme that means when employees raise money for a local charity we will match and support it.  Employee engagement is very important to us because we are able to provide not only funding but also employee volunteering to the charities we support.  This allows employees to get involved and make a difference through their personal commitment.

So what was it about IntoUniversity specifically that appealed to both you and the Foundation?

It started when I heard about the charity from someone and it seemed to me to be operating in the right areas; the charity was really helping young people to achieve their full potential. And then I came along and met IntoUniversity’s Chief Executive Rachel Carr and heard first-hand about what IntoUniversity does; I thought what you were doing was just so incredibly worthwhile that if we possibly could, we ought to try to support it. I think what you do is inspiring because you’re helping young people who’ve got talent and ability but may not know how best to achieve their goals. In a very practical and personal way you are working with them to help them to be the absolute best that they can. In summary, going to university made such a difference to my life that I think doing anything one possibly can to help and encourage other people to get the benefit of what I was lucky enough to experience is really worthwhile and important. That’s why I’m so enthusiastic about what IntoUniversity is doing.

What do you personally see as the most pressing social issue in the UK?

IntoUniversity are doing really terrific work amongst lots of interested and motivated but perhaps otherwise disadvantaged young people. But who is going to address the issue of the young people who didn’t have access to opportunities growing up and are no longer of school age? They are unsure about their prospects and are so obviously a huge part of our society. I don’t think we’ve really found the answer to that social issue.

This article is taken from edition 5 of IntoUniversity newsletter aspire. To read the full edition, including an exclusive interview with BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson, click here.