Life at MAN - Louise Tolan, Head of Stakeholder Communications

By Danny Higgins

Did you know Manchester Airport is home to a vibrant community of 20,000 people? At the heart of it is the Stakeholder Communications team, which connects everyone from airlines and ground handlers, to retailers, hotels and emergency services.

Head of Stakeholder Communications, Louise Tolan plays a crucial role in keeping everyone informed and engaged. From community and operational updates to celebrating major milestones on the Manchester Airport Transformation Programme, her work touches many aspects of airport life. Louise shares insights into the variety of skills needed for the role and the unique challenges of communicating with such a diverse audience - all while helping to create a positive, connected community.

How long have you been working at Manchester Airport?

Ten years in various different communications roles.

What first attracted you to work at Manchester Airport?

I initially joined MAG as a comms contractor to work on a project to introduce new technology and I hoped this would lead to other opportunities - I never thought I’d be here ten years later with so many amazing experiences under my belt!

What does your job involve on a typical day?

I look after communications for the 20,000+ people that work for various companies across the Manchester Airport community – for example all of our airlines, ground handlers, retailers, cleaning contractors, hotels and emergency services. I also lead the communications for the Manchester Airport Transformation Programme (MAN-TP) which is our £1.3bn investment programme to transform the passenger and colleague experience in T2.

In a typical day, I might be out on the MAN-TP site filming for a video to showcase the programmes’ latest milestone, creating content for our internal or external communications channels such as ‘Connect’ (our stakeholder newsletter), or coordinating engagement events like the monthly airline operators committee (AOC) where we discuss key operational issues with airlines based at MAN.

What skills and training are needed for your role?

Definitely good people-skills, you work with so many different people across MAG and the airport community and you need to be able to build good relationships.

You need to be able to communicate clearly and creatively - be that through writing or digital content, often taking quite complex information and turning it into something simple, concise and user-friendly, tailored for each audience.

We coordinate lots of events so being good at organising is key. In the summer we coordinated the opening of T2 Departures East where we held several ribbon cuttings (we love the big scissors!) and in-terminal celebrations with passengers and colleagues to mark the major milestone for MAN-TP. This was on the same weekend as the Manchester Day Live ’25 parade where we coordinated 60+ volunteers and their families in a procession through the city centre!

How do you adapt your messages for different audiences?

The key is to find out what’s in it for them and focus the communications around that, i.e. how is this new product/ route/ tool going to impact them and make their lives better? For example we’ve opened lots of new facilities as part of MAN-TP – new T2 Check-in zones, Security East and Sydney Avenue – and for customers, the communications would focus mainly on how it’ll improve their journey through the airport, whereas a colleague or member of the airport community would want to know how will this change things for them in their working day. Then it’s a case of turning the message into creative content using the most appropriate channel - does it need a face to face briefing, video, email, Viva Engage post, update on the Airport Community App, digital screen or all of the above for maximum reach? These are all things we have to consider.

What do you enjoy the most about working at the airport?

It’s such a unique environment, I love that there are so many people from all different organisations and passengers from all over the world crossing paths every day – it’s like a mini town! It’s a really energetic and special place to work.

What is the most challenging part of your job?

Making sure that communications are sequenced in the most effective way. There’s so much great stuff happening across our airport and people always want to shout about it. It’s my job to try to make sure information is shared in a timely and effective way to ensure stakeholders are briefed as appropriate and we get the maximum engagement from it!

What one piece of advice would you give to someone considering a career at the airport?

Get involved with as many things as you can, whether that’s through volunteering, work shadowing or finding a mentor – the more experiences you have, the more you learn about yourself and what you like, and of course the more people you’ll meet - you never know what doors it’ll open!

What do you like to do when you're not at work?

I’ve recently competed a coaching apprenticeship so that’s kept me busy outside of work but mostly spending time with family and friends. I'm a big music fan and love going to gigs, as well as the cinema and yoga for relaxing!

Which destination that we fly to from Manchester do you most want to visit?

I’ve just been to Skiathos so I’d happily go back to Greece for some island hopping! I’ve also never been to Italy so that has to be on the list!