The demise of the retailer would
be as devastating for the high street as the collapse of Woolworths, given its
reach across the UK
The Telegraph 13 Oct 2012
When Kate Swann joined WH Smith nine years ago, she toured stores across
Britain.
“We went down into one stockroom and a woman came up to me and hugged me,”
Swann says. “I thought it was a bit odd. But she said, 'Thank you. I can finally
throw all this stuff out.’”
Much of that stock was years old and, says Swann, WH Smith would never sell
it.
This discovery had serious consequences. In Swann’s first results
announcement as chief executive on April 22, 2004, WH Smith reported a shocking
£72m pre-tax loss after booking a £45m write-down on its stock value.
It was one of several shocks for her in those opening months. The 2004
results statement included firm words from Swann, who described performance as
“unacceptable”, the group’s cost base as “uncompetitive”, and called stock
management “inadequate”.
She added: “At the strategic level, we face competition from supermarkets, the internet and specialist retailers. The threat of the supermarkets’ move into non-food is clearly real. However, in many of our categories, there are high-street specialists succeeding. The lesson is that success is driven by creating a strong customer offer.”
Speaking now about those tumultuous days, Swann says: “The priority was getting to a base where nothing else horrible would crawl from under a rock.”
The latest annual results from WH Smith reveal a radically different company. Pre-tax profits rose 10pc to a record £102m, with revenues flat at £1.24bn.
Swann has overhauled WH Smith despite fierce competition in the retail sector, global economic upheaval and continuing City doubts about whether there was even a place on the high street for a retailer of newspapers, magazines, books and stationery.
Swann’s turnaround has won many admirers. Now, after announcing last week she will leave WH Smith next summer, the 47 year-old is likely to end up leading an even bigger company.
More at The Telegraph
She added: “At the strategic level, we face competition from supermarkets, the internet and specialist retailers. The threat of the supermarkets’ move into non-food is clearly real. However, in many of our categories, there are high-street specialists succeeding. The lesson is that success is driven by creating a strong customer offer.”
Speaking now about those tumultuous days, Swann says: “The priority was getting to a base where nothing else horrible would crawl from under a rock.”
The latest annual results from WH Smith reveal a radically different company. Pre-tax profits rose 10pc to a record £102m, with revenues flat at £1.24bn.
Swann has overhauled WH Smith despite fierce competition in the retail sector, global economic upheaval and continuing City doubts about whether there was even a place on the high street for a retailer of newspapers, magazines, books and stationery.
Swann’s turnaround has won many admirers. Now, after announcing last week she will leave WH Smith next summer, the 47 year-old is likely to end up leading an even bigger company.
More at The Telegraph
