Chubb is on an exciting journey, which has seen a number of leadership and organisational changes over the past five months – notably, Dave Dunnagan who previously led Chubb Systems Ltd has taken up the role of Managing Director for Chubb UK & Ireland. Now firmly settled into his new role, Dave shares his story about how he came to work at Chubb, what drives and inspires him and talks family, travel and pizza making!

Early life

I was born in Munich, Germany in 1976, the youngest of three siblings – a brother and two sisters. There is a big age gap between us; I came along 10 years after my brother, so you could call me the runt. I spent the first eight years of my life living in Germany, as my dad was European Production Manager of British Aerospace – but I don’t remember much of these early years. What I do remember is when we moved to the UK and I went through the school years, I wasn’t the most academic in my early years as I would prioritise sports wherever possible, but eventually learnt I needed to focus on the last couple of years to achieve my grades. My whole family, apart from my brother worked for British Aerospace, so upon leaving school I was encouraged to get an apprenticeship with them. An opportunity then presented to join Chubb Alarms in August 1993. Their apprenticeship was very different; sixteen weeks a year working at college in Burton-on-Trent and then the rest of the year shadowing engineers out in the field. For me this ticked a lot of boxes, it progressed my education but gave me the benefit of out in the field experience. In my apprenticeship, I had the opportunity to learn, Fire, CCTV, Access Control and intruder engineering roles. From engineering, my career progressed to business development and sales. 2010 was a big year for me, as it’s when I took on my first leadership role as Sales Manager, following this I was promoted to Commercial Director in 2013. Over the next nearly six years my role was to drive the fire and security solutions side of our business forward before being appointed to Managing Director of Chubb Systems Limited in 2018. I’ve been with Chubb now 28 years, nearly three decades, so I must be coming up to a long service award!

Family life

I met my wife Joanna when I was 15 years old, and we’ve been together ever since. We have one son Charley, who is 16 and has just finished his GCSEs. We also have a lunatic dog, who is three years old – completely batty and has changed our lifestyle. We used to be out and about all the time at weekends, now we’re always walking the dog. Not that I’d change that, family is massively important to me. Every Saturday night we have a ritual routine of making our own pizzas and having a family night watching films together – we do this religiously. I’m a big family person, I’m particularly close to my mum and brother. Hobbies wise, I like to play golf although I’m not that good – handicap 13. When on the golf course is where I’m relaxed, it’s my breakaway from everything.

Key motivators

If there was one word my family would use to describe me, it would be “driven”. If I set myself a goal, I will keep going until I’ve achieved it. I would like to think my peers would describe me as “engaging”. Some people like to be in the office and like it best when they’re working on their laptop, I’m the opposite. I thrive being out and about meeting people and engaging with what they’re doing. I’m an ex-engineer, so I’m used to being out in the field, helping people solve problems. One of my biggest motivators is to drive change and change mindsets. One of the things that bothers me most is when people say, “That’s what we’ve always done.” When I’m looking to solve a problem, I ask “How can we do things differently?” I’ve seen too often in my work and personal life people being afraid of change. To move forwards in everything we do, we need to change this mindset. We need to challenge those that say, “we don’t do it that way” or “we’ve tried that”. Strong communication is key. As long as we communicate the benefit of what we’re looking to achieve, then we can take people on the journey with us.

Quick fire questions

Favourite movie?

Top Gun, all day long. I love a fighter jet! I secretly wanted to be a pilot, always been tempted to look at having flying lessons. It’s still something I might look at in the future…

Black or Red?

Black, because I’ve always had better luck on it gambling in Vegas. On a roulette wheel, 17, which is my birthday and my lucky number, is black.

Star sign?

Sagittarius, although I’m not into horoscopes.

Mountain or Beach?

The beach, it’s where I can relax and switch off. Mountains I get to see regular where I live in the North West. We have stunning scenery, with the Lake District on our doorstep.

Nando’s or Pizza Express?

Tough one, don’t make me choose. I love a Nando’s but I also love nothing better than making pizza with my family on our movie nights! What keeps me awake at night? Letting people down. I don’t like to let people down. When you’ve invested as many years as I have in a company, you get to know a lot of people – people you become close to and care about. I’d never want to not give anyone the support they need and feel I’ve let them down.

Where would I like to travel to?

Australia, as I have friends there who I’ve not seen for ages. Also, because it’s the other side of the world. I’m fascinated to see another English-speaking country and the culture and mindset of how they operate.

My one happy place?

Orlando, the reason being is that’s when I get real quality time with my son. He’s a ride enthusiast. I was, but not anymore – even to the point that I have to take travel sickness pills every day. We queue sometimes almost an hour to get on rides, but I love that time talking and joking, proper father/son bonding time. We’ve been there nine times in the last 15 years, so it must make me happy!

What inspires me?

My dad inspires me. He’s no longer with us, but he was an orphan at 11 and left school to become part of British Aerospace. The British Aerospace business supported him from this early age, and he spent his whole career with one company. He started off just sweeping the floors at 11 years old but went on to become European Production Manager – that’s why we lived in Germany.  Anyone that can come away from a situation like that and set themselves an ambitious goal, not only set it but achieve it – that is a true inspiration!