Cobus Loots, CEO of Pan African Resources, on delivering sector-leading returns for shareholders. Watch the video here.
For sure, the basics of retailing were slipping at Superdry stores (Regent St has been discussed in this respect). Yes, some fairly low hanging fruit here. But, let's not overlook some of the issues here. There is a vacuum of leadership at the highest levels of sdry following the exit of the Global Retail director and also the COO to name two. There is obviously a limit to what JD can affect at the coal face, so to speak, under these circumstances. Furthermore, simple as they maybe, they do need communicating (leadership) and executing (manpower). In these difficult times, the available hours for improving the layout, merchandising, general store standards and service, are pressured. JD can't just click his fingers and it happen.
Regarding the '17% sales increase', I wouldn't get carried away. There's not much context.
He didn’t get the Debenhams job. It went to a ‘company doctor ‘ who is a ‘recovery specialist ‘ (Stefaan Vansteenkiste) .
Whilst I appreciate the complex position Debenhams finds itself in, I remain convinced that one of the keys to retailers succeeding in these tough times, is to have pure talented retailers at the helm, not corporate types that don’t necessarily understand the customer and their habits (like Sutherland).
Anyway, good luck to him.
WW. I don’t knowing any particular reason for the slump. Retail is in a dark place generally. Even if you fully expect JD to deliver, he’s said it will take time. I guess people take their money elsewhere to work harder. There are reports of big rows between JD and new chair Williams. That doesn’t sound positive.
Does it matter? I don’t know. Morally wrong or against his own interests? You tell me.
I just wonder what the dynamic is in the relationship with JD and JH over this. It’s not like Jack1t doesn’t immediately resemble SDRY, even down to the circled ‘R’ regd trademark symbol.
And of course Holder was instrumental in JD regaining control, and SDRY was formed from a partnership of JD and Holder. It was certainly made clear that JD saw Holder as a major factor moving forward. However, I didn’t really see much of Holder’s intentions beyond a consultancy. Not sure he would be prevented from launching his own brand regardless of his relationship with SDRY.
If it is part of SDRY as a sub brand (an expensive one) then great. But I am surprised there’s no announcement of such, bearing in mind a Vogue campaign. Is this pushing the price down?
Anyone got any observations on this? https://jack1t.com/
Big ad in Vogue. It’s James Holder. It looks like Superdry. I don’t know whether it is Superdry or something just of Holder’s. It throws up some questions.
I see Aston Martin have crashed to a £79 million loss. I hope they don’t go bust before mine arrives...
Seriously though, there is a link here. Who is the chairman of AM? Only one Penny Hughes, formerly Non Exec at SDRY. Seems she’s getting good at this...
Glad you had an uplifting trip to Regent St. Here's the bad news. Just to shoot down JD's 'no sales from now on,' comments from recent times....big sale signs up in Regent St store now (and others around the country), I guess he's gotta clear stock, and it obviously wasn't going at full price, so sale it is. That didn't take long. Worse than he thought?
I had said a while ago that Regent St store was a disgrace. Good to hear it was markedly better, WW. Couple of thoughts spring to mind. I guess JD, all invigorated and victorious, shot down to the flagship store, did his nut, and it got some work done. Perhaps, like when a PL team gets a new manager, everyone suddenly ups their game (for a while at least(yes Man U)). The store was diabolical when I went. Clearly the manager was not pulling his/her weight. Why? Bunch of possible reasons, but some obvious ones are lack of an able line of management standard that would that not permit it, and/or a loss of faith in the business as a whole. Someone proud of their store does not let it slide to the point it was when I saw it. That it could be like that says major things are wrong in the whole line of management, and that is a worry. The honeymoon period where people put the extra effort in won't last without inspirational leadership, and JD cannot be everywhere at once.
The Retail Director has gone and they are looking for a new one. Not entirely sure who they are relying on for guidance in that area, as I don't see JD as a retailer in the same way that he's a product and brand guy. Six or seven years ago when JD was CEO, the place was a mess, a great big mess. Some retailers came in, sorted it, and promptly left when Sutherland arrived. I hope it doesn't end up the same as it was before.
I’m sure JD is well aware of where SDRY has got to in the UK in terms if it’s ‘coolness’, or present lack thereof. I am guessing he probably didn’t want to open a shop in a crappy mall in Ipswich, but there you go, some bright spark did.
SDRY can probably replicate its former glory, as you say, in new markets. USA for example, has had very little, well planned, exposure to SDRY, so if done the right way, there is huge potential there.
I do find myself agreeing with some, and I stress, some, of the coverage these last couple of days. Nils Pratley in the Guardian puts it well. JD was never a good CEO. No doubt the previous management were doing a poor job for the brand, but JD does present problems as a founder. He has to move with the times, and he has to have room in his ego to take advice. As the Guardian article queries, will he be looking to override every single decision he doesn’t like? Even new chairman Williams has publicly stated (in the Qand A before the EGM) that JD isn’t always right. And that’s obviously fair comment. We’re already alerted to possible disagreements between the two of them, let’s hope there can be sensible recalibration of the brand and it’s offering, in addition to some improved execution based on understanding of the markets.
By ‘resigned’, I am sure we are talking about people that were given the option to ‘resign or...’
Nick Tatum, Retail Director, formerly of Tesco’s bakery, has gone. Quite right too. The evidence that he was out of his depth is clear on a global scale. The CIO has gone too. COO Paula Kerrigan, the woman that Euan Sutherland drags around wherever he goes is expected to depart soon. She was at Coop, and Kingfisher before that. Note that she was made COO in January in the middle of the boardroom battle. Coincidence? I wonder if her salary got bumped up to make it even more expensive to pay her off? I wonder.
These seem to be people JD doesn’t want. However, there’s a danger of there being a personnel vacuum at this rate. The workload isn’t shrinking, but the staff is.
The Sunday Times article was lengthy. More people have ‘resigned’. I think there’s quite a mess there, and fewer people to sort it. I’d be astonished if they announced a new CEO at this point. If they are any good, they’ll be hard to attract, and also on stiff notice periods. Also, if you were joining, wouldn’t you wait a little while until this Annual Report is old news?
Interesting article in Sunday Times business. Seems as though there are different opinions on the way forward between JD and new chairman Peter Williams.
So now the new CEO has got to sit between the two of them, and they both have to agree on the candidate. Joy! To quote Liam Neeson negotiating with the baddies in ‘Taken’, ...’and for that the price went up 10%’. Lol
I think it’s right to keep in mind the current trading conditions that SDRY and others find themselves in. JD said a while back that he expected the turn time for SDRY to be in a couple to three years. Times are tough, ask Jack Wills et al, and like some other retailers, a lot of the damage was self inflicted at SDRY. It will take time to clear the debris of the old management and its failed strategy. After that is done, let’s see if/how it can move forward.
I seriously wonder how SDRY can recover its place in UK brand hierarchy. Maybe the damage is nigh on unrecoverable. Could be a few years of different offering and presentation to get over where it is now.
It makes me think about what can be done shorter term. I feel in Europe the business has not killed its brand, rather just been mismanaged from a number of stores/locations perspective. That can be addressed by someone who properly understands the markets, and the pure retailing skills needed. Same goes for the USA, fir example. SDRY have a relatively low number of stores, and some of those are in rubbish locations, some in malls dying a slow miserable death. There must be opportunities in USA because the brand is relatively unknown. But you clearly can’t just march in and guess where will do well, or be convinced by a mall manager that their mall is the place to be. It looks to me like the Tesco’s guy running retail for SDRY had no clue whatsoever about USA (why would he with that background?). Perhaps JD will bring in an American CEO. There’s probably more to choose from if you consider the type of brand that SDRY is. Look at American Eagle for example. Massive in USA, so there’s a good deal of knowledge there about the market. That’s what is needed, expert knowledge of markets so they can be exploited efficiently, not willy nilly guessing.
That is basically what I suggested JD will be looking for. No doubt it grates on him that he still is paying Sutherland for being a CE0 that took the company down. Surely JD must have had a good idea of who he wanted even before he won control back?
With regard to ‘fat cats’, make no mistake, the new CEO is going to be expensive. They are going to pick up a business that has been mismanaged I to difficulties. Everything was hunky dory when Sutherland joined... I posted years ago about the rapid expansion. I said they’d opened too many stores, too quickly, in the wrong places/malls. I said that they would surely move into a phase of shutting them in time. Here we are. The salary needed to attract someone into a recovery business, based out in Cheltenham, is going to cost. Personally, I don’t mind if that person gets rewarded for doing the right things. JD is wiser now, and lucky to get control back. At 29% shareholding, every £1 increase in sp is worth a fortune to him. I’m sure he’s going to do the right thing for him and, by default, all of us.