Meet the woman who has spearheaded the opening of Carlisle's Lake District Airport

The south Cumbrian executive, who has spearheaded the opening of Carlisle’s Lake District Airport, due on Monday, has only one qualification - she is a trained actress.

Her appointment as head of projects with Stobart Group, which has driven the reopening and defied decades of ditherers and naysayers, was an inspired choice.

Kate’s lack of convention, refusal to accept defeat and bouncing self confidence are traits which have helped to overcome the endless obstacles which have littered the proposed runways over the years.

She says: “My CV certainly looks unconventional but an actress is trained to be creative, communicative, problem solve, think differently and get people on board.” All skills that have been necessary in Project Airport.

In fact, the story of Kate’s career should cheer any youngster who feels constrained by educational orthodoxy. She walked out of her Hertfordshire grammar school for good a couple of months before she was due to sit her A levels.

“I always hated being told what to do and I struggled with some value judgements when I was at school, but the defining moment came in a lifestyle class run by the domestic science teacher.

“She told the class that there were two ways to go. They could either be diligent and successful or be like Kate Willard.

“I ran to the loo feeling humiliated. I wanted to punch her but realised that wouldn’t be smart so I walked out and never went back. Looking back, that woman did me a huge favour,” laughs Kate.

Instead of going to university, Kate worked in bars. She dropped out of drama school after just one year again finding it too constraining. She preferred to serve a three-year theatre apprenticeship which might mean occasionally sweeping floors but felt more relevant.

Her career as an actress ended up taking her all over Eastern Europe before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

She was smuggled across borders in a Trabant car bribing guards with cigarettes and enjoying a theatrical life of adventure before moving into the funding and business side of the arts world - a progression she sees as seamless.

It was this move that began her preparation for the fusion of public and private cooperation and funding.

Despite her move into more traditional working environments, Kate held true to her belief in making appointments on gut instinct rather than box ticking.

“I remember deciding to interview a young man for an internship because I thought it was interesting that he’d spent time working as a DJ in France and he was the perfect edgy choice for the role,” she says.

The 1990s found Kate working for the European Commission on a project about the economic impact of the arts. She was based variously in London, Liverpool, Brussels and Lille before moving to her home near Kendal as CEO of Rural Regeneration Cumbria, which she led at the time of the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001.

The good news for Kate was that the job allowed her to create the rules rather than follow them.

She says: “We were the first rural regeneration body and there was no textbook on how to operate so we were able to respond to needs as we saw them.”

It was around this time that Kate first met Andrew Tinkler, the unconventional and dynamic head of Stobart Group; a kindred free-thinking spirit who was already well into the long battle to operate the airport in Carlisle and who clearly saw Kate’s potential in helping him to achieve that aim.

For Kate, the airport has been a 16-year battle with planners and officialdom. Raising £4.95 million from Cumbria LEP last June was a pivotal move forward.

“The dream was always kept alive by Andrew’s tenacity and love of Cumbria. He held on to the fight with both hands,” says Kate.

Now, with the countdown ticking hard to June 4, Kate describes herself as “a woman possessed”.

So will she be on that first inaugural flight to London?

“No, I will be running around the airport like a mad woman that day. But I know I will watch the first flight take off with a small tear in my eye. It will be a day of celebration and the first flight from London will be a party of journalists who will help to put the destination on the map.

“After all, the point is to boost our local economy as well as to convenience local people,” says Kate.

Nor will she be able to take her foot much off the pedal after June 4. While Kate and Andrew Tinkler refuse to run before they can walk, they will inevitably have one eye on growth and expansion.

Certainly, Kate will be a key customer herself. At the end of last year, she was also appointed as chair of Arts Council North which means a seat on the National Council with regular meetings in London.

And, with luck, we are about to have an airport which will also welcome easy access to the area by lots of creatives.

“Well, we certainly want to see Cumbria thrive in every way,” says Kate.

BLOB This article first appeared in the May issue of Cumbria Life.

Eight flights a day from Monday

l Monday, June 4, passengers can fly from Carlisle to London Southend, Dublin and Belfast.

l Loganair will operate eight flights per day across the working week and a total of 12 at weekends.

l Tickets are now on sale via www.loganair.co.uk. Prices start at £44.99 each way including all taxes and charges. They also include a 20kg baggage allowance and in flight refreshments.

l Loganair is based in Glasgow and is the UK’s oldest airline still trading under its original name. It has a fleet of 29 aircraft. Services to and from Carlisle Lake District Airport will be operated by 34-seat Saab 340B aircraft. They will be flown by two pilots with one cabin crew member.

l London Southend, selected as the terminus for the new flights to London, was voted London’s best airport by readers of Which? in 2017.

l The last commercial flight from Carlisle was in 1993.