Foyles: end of an era
28.03.08 Graeme Neill writing in The Bookseller last Friday

The choice of venue for Foyles’ most recent major event seems ironic in hindsight, given the raft of departures announced at the world-famous independent over the past few weeks. In retrospect the official opening of the new St Pancras store seems to have been the last stop for many of those responsible for turning the independent from its chaotic past into a dynamic, expansionist business.

The industry was shocked when Vivienne Wordley, the store’s vivacious commercial director, was made redundant two weeks ago. And then today it was further announced that both Christopher Foyle and Bill Samuel, the cousins who were chairman and vice chairman respectively, are to take a back seat in running the company. Foyle will continue as chairman but in a non-executive capacity. Samuel will sit on the board as a non-executive director.
That move in itself was not a major surprise - they had been saying for months that they were taking more of a “hands off” approach to the business since Sam Husein was appointed as c.e.o. last May.
However, considering Foyles’ position as a quintessentially London family business and a bookshop brand with worldwide fame, the departure of the last two members of the founding family from the top operational level of management is the end of an era.
Husain, former m.d. of entertainment production company Ascent Media, stressed that Foyle would continue to be involved in the business.
“This has been going on for quite some time,” he said. “Christopher has taken a back seat and has delegated responsibility to me as c.e.o. He still remains close to the business and will continue to be involved. But on a day to day basis the intention is for the business to be run by a c.e.o." Husain said that as the business’ major shareholder, Foyle will have an important say in its future. “He will very much be involved in any future strategic direction, as will the rest of the board.”

Foyle, Samuel and Wordley deserve much credit for putting the business back on the right track. Foyle took control of the then chaotic bookstore in 1999, six days before his aunt Christina’s death. Christina Foyle was the driving force of the bookstore and responsible for its many idiosyncracies including old, decrepit bookshelves and a baffling ticket-led queuing system. The business was ailing, losing 20% of sales annually and with a turnover of under £10m.

However, new buying systems, increased levels of technology instore and a multimillion pound revamp of the flagship store brought in by the new team turned Foyles around. The 2005 London bombings affected sales, but the business is targeting a £22m turnover this year and hopes to break even.

Coupled with this has been a canny growth policy. The first move, putting a store in the Royal Festival Hall in 2005, set the benchmark for Foyles’ expansion which has targeted areas which fit easily alongside the independent’s identity. Its role as a very English bookseller dovetails nicely with the tourist arrival point at St Pancras. And the forthcoming White City branch, due to open in December, will have the yummy mummy enclaves of Holland Park and Chiswick on its doorstep.

Following the heightened activity of recent weeks, Husain said that there are no further plans to reshuffle the management team. “It’s a young team with considerable experience and knowledge,” he said. “They are part of the strategy - we want to bring them further up into the business.” One indication of this has been Wordley’s former duties as commerical director which now being shared between marketing manager Julia Kingsford and product director Kate Gunning.
“It’s been quite an eye opener [since I joined] to see how competent the team is,” said Husain. “I have a weekly meeting on Tuesday with the management and they have much greater responsibility for their businesses now, including profit and loss. That’s where we are going. I feel the knowledge exists at a management level.”