My Retail Life

Baronsmead's Ian Gray details his Retail Life in this article from Retail Week, July 2009:

What was your first job in retailing?
Packing bags in a supermarket.

Which retail company do you admire most and why?
Tesco, because it understands its customer.

What is the trait you least like in yourself and why?
Impatience: it is all too easy to make a decision, convince yourself that it is right and move onto implementation. It is much more effective to get buy-in and bring others along with you.

Who have you learned most from in your retail career?
I have been lucky to have worked with a number of good people throughout my career to date and so it is difficult to single one out.

What advice would you give someone starting out in retail?
You must be able to spot long-term trends and be ahead of them – for example, the impact of the internet today on bricks-and-mortar retailers will lead to a fundamental change in the way we do retail.

What keeps you awake at night?
Nothing.

What’s the most satisfying part of your job?
Watching the development of others.

What’s your proudest achievement?
Rescuing ERA Group (Beatties and Techno) so that it didn’t have to go into receivership.

What job would you have done if you hadn’t become a retailer?
Naval pilot.

What’s your favourite shop and why?
Louis Vuitton, because of its quality and style.

What was your last purchase?
Teak oil from Robert Dyas.