Kosovamont Factory in Pristina

Whilst still in the Army, Ian commanded a company of 120 soldiers deployed to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). Their role was the in-depth repair of Army equipment. When NATO occupied Kosovo Ian had to move his troops within days to a long-term site in Pristina. It was a factory just outside the town which was the primary maintenance site for Kosovo's power stations and coal mines. NATO had taken over the state-run organisations and Ian's brief was simple: acting as chairman find two directors for the factory, one Serbian, one Albanian, then get the organisation working.

Ian kept the Serb director and quickly found, by chance, the Albanian who had been in charge 10 years previously. Most refugees had not returned to the province at that stage; there was no fuel; no financial system; no working telephone system. Ian sat down with his new colleagues and an interpreter, and drew up a plan. He had to understand what they had, what they did not have, who was who, and above all what issues existed between the civilian staff that remained. There was a dreadful tension between the Serbians who remained and the returning Albanians, many of whom sought only violent revenge.

The key task was to focus the team on the collective task of getting the factory back into use for the greater good of Kosovo. Handouts of aid money were sought from the Department for International Development (DfID) and the European Union whilst Ian arbitrated on disputes between the ethnic groups. This cash, tens of thousands of pounds of it, was used to pay workers and to buy essential items from FYROM and Greece. After 3 months, there were 450 civilians back in work helping to keep the power stations and coalmines of Kosovo working at a critical time in the rebuilding of Kosovo.