Kate Bostock, M&S's executive director of general merchandise, discusses leadership wrangles and new directions at middle England's favourite retailer with The Sunday Telegraph.
By James Hall, Retail Editor
Sir Stuart Rose was a monster when he ran Marks & Spencer, according to Kate Bostock, one of his key lieutenants at the chain.
A pink monster, in fact.
In a bid to motivate her staff, Bostock used to arrange prize-giving ceremonies for people responsible for so-called "monster sales lines" in M&S's clothing department. The prize would be given out by a secret member of staff dressed head-to-toe in a fluffy monster suit. At one such ceremony, Sir Stuart did the honours.
"He wore a big furry monster outfit. It was so funny because the team was so shocked. They loved it," says M&S's executive director of general merchandise.
Knights of the realm used to slay dragons rather than dress up as them. However, it speaks volumes about Bostock's managerial style that she persuaded the chief executive of M&S – a company where seniority of staff was once denoted by the depth of executives' carpets and the colour of their crockery – to play ball.
Even the suggestion of such japes a little over a decade ago under Sir Richard Greenbury would have resulted in the guilty executive being banished to the darkest recesses of a Hebridean store's stockroom for ever more.
Bostock joined M&S in 2004 from Asda, the Wal-Mart-owned retailer where she ran the George clothing line and no doubt picked up some of her American style touchy-feeliness. The supermarket is notorious for its team-building, "high-five" culture.
She is now in charge of "everything that you can't eat" at M&S – its clothing, homewares and furniture. M&S is still the UK's biggest seller of clothes by value and volume, with sales of £3.6bn and a market share of over 11pc. As the person who dresses Britain's middle classes, Bostock arguably has the most important job in UK fashion.
M&S is now at the start of a new phase. Sir Stuart was replaced as chief executive last year by Marc Bolland, the Dutchman who formerly ran Wm Morrison supermarkets. On Tuesday, M&S is expected to report full-year pre-tax profits of £710m, up 12pc on last year, after a good year's trading. "We kept it confident," Bostock says.
Since Bolland joined he has been stamping his authority on the chain and implementing a new strategy that majors on international expansion, online growth and simplifying M&S's product ranges.
I meet Bostock – blue eyed, early 50s, Staffordshire-born, ebullient – at the launch of M&S' new autumn-winter ranges at its flagship Marble Arch store on London's Oxford Street. She rarely gives interviews. However, she says that the new fashion ranges, which are the first to have been conceived under the control of Bolland rather than Sir Stuart, provide the ideal opportunity for a chat.
Due to the "stopped clock" theory of fashion – that everything becomes trendy again eventually – many of the ranges on show look exactly like the contents of an old M&S shopper's wardrobe circa 1955. Stiff overcoats, fur trims, tweed and leather gloves are strongly in evidence. These ranges – labelled "Historical Romance" by M&S – sit next to 1960s pop frocks embellished with plastic discs, sheer black lace dresses and an extraordinary red shaggy jacket (imagine if Bagpuss was skinned and turned into a coat).
There are the new chest-enhancing "Flatter Me" bras, Belstaff-style mens' coats, and "lots of fur and skin". Bostock clearly loves the ranges and is herself sporting an orange £49.50 M&S Autograph dress that she designed.
The clothes certainly fire the imagination. But their very knowingness brings up that perennial M&S question – would the chain's multitude of middle-aged shoppers in the Shires buy them?
Bostock has the answer. "First of all, everything doesn't go into every store. We can't squash everything into a small shop. And remember that you have not seen Classics. That is our core range. We don't show Classics at the press show because it is about showing fashion-forward trends," she says.
But the fashions on display also highlight another of M&S's problems. The themes of the press show - "Historical Romance", "Retro Glow", "Masculine/ Feminine" and the like – are created from bits of different M&S sub-brands. There is a mannequin wearing an Autograph coat with a Limited Collection scarf, or a Per Una skirt with an Autograph blouse, for example. While these might look sublime on a model, these ranges are sold separately in the shops, meaning that a shopper trying to recreate a particular Retro Glow look would have to embark on a garment treasure hunt around a store. It can end up a little bit unsatisfactorily for all concerned.
Both Bostock and Bolland know this is a problem and have been trying to solve it.
"In terms of being able to find the ranges, that has been a big piece of work that we have been very focused on over the last six months. In general merchandise it has probably been the biggest thing that Marc has been driving," says Bostock.
"You might not see much of a step-change today, but we have been starting to get more clarity. We are all behind it because it is the one gripe that we constantly get."
Bostock says that since Bolland joined there is "a lot of energy in the business". In particular, Bolland has bought his own brand of "international energy".
"It is a bit like the football managers – you've got a little tinge to your accent and immediately it feels more international," she says.
But the creation of this all-new re-energised M&S has not been without its stresses.
Before Bolland was picked as the new chief executive, Sir Stuart created a kind of internal market for the top job, pitching his top three executives against each other as possible contenders for the title. It became referred to as an X-Factor-style competition, and Bostock was one of the chosen three.
She plays down the contest, saying that it was "unfortunate" but equally arguing that it was always more a media construct than a reality. She also claims that she did not want the top job anyway.
"I didn't want it. Honestly. Genuinely."
Why ever not?
"Because I love the job I've got and it is a big job and I wouldn't want anybody else to be doing that job. I didn't honestly want to do the chief executive's job. I think that role in M&S is not for me."
Did she ever consider leaving?
"No. No. Definitely not."
Recently, some fashion industry insiders have speculated that Bostock has been unhappy under Bolland and some of the changes he has made. He is a marketer by trade where Bostock is a designer – they are different disciplines. One targets and polishes, the other creates.
There has never been any tension, Bostock says. "I was more than ready for changes and the things that we are driving more than tick my boxes. I have a real ambition for global growth. If anything, it is a shame it didn't happen sooner. And on e-commerce – that is one of our biggest opportunities. We are punching below our weight, but the appointment of Laura Wade-Gery [from Tesco] to run e-commerce is absolutely fantastic. She is brilliant.
"Everything that we are driving in the business sits with my ambitions."
She adds: "To be honest I have always got on with whoever I have worked for and I have worked for different styles of character. Yes... I can't say we don't miss Stuart but..." She peters out. The overall impression is of an ambitious and steely executive who is leader-neutral, so long as she can get on with her job. Seven directors report to Bostock – she has plenty on her plate.
Bostock cut her teeth at various Northern manufacturers before joining Next as buying manager for girlswear in 1995. She went on to become product designer for childrenswear before joining Asda, which she describes as an "awesome" experience.
"It was hard work but you never went home without having enjoyed the day."
Joining M&S after Asda in 2004 was a bit of a shock.
"M&S wasn't in great shape. There was a lot to do. They were very exciting times, I can't deny they weren't. Everything was too slow, we certainly needed to speed things up a lot. The pricing architecture wasn't clear. To be fair the quality wasn't good enough. The style and fashionability needed a lot of work, and newness was really non-existent," she says.
As an example of how things have changed, M&S now pumps out 11 fashion ranges (or "phases") a year. This compares with two main ranges a year in 2004.
Bostock refers to M&S customers as "she", as if they are a living, breathing but intangible person. While there is not a "core" M&S shopper, she says that there is a "loyal" M&S shopper.
Bostock is supremely confident. "I designed this dress and I know it will be a best-seller. It is a bit pompous I know," she says, referring to what she is wearing and laughing.
She says she brought the Asda culture to M&S with her: "Early doors working with Stuart, he trusted me and told me to get on with it. I went in and did what I thought was right.
"The thing that was important was building a great team. People like a bit of fun and people like to be recognised, and it worked. I always look forward. Looking back is not very useful. It sometimes stops you doing things you know are right."
Back to the fun. After a little prompting I even get Bostock, who is a Grade 8 piano player, to admit to occasionally bringing in her keyboard to lead her colleagues in a sing-song ("We have M&S songs. Little poems and ditties").
There is not a lot of time outside of work for Bostock.
"My job is my life really," she says.
Her second husband, Neil, is also in the clothing trade. His company, Scantex, is a supplier to M&S, something that Bostock makes pains to point out was the case "18 or 19 years" before she joined the chain.
"He was a big fan and was very much behind me taking up the role because he is incredibly loyal."
Of course the acid test of Bostock's relationship with Bolland will be whether she will ever convince him to wear the full-sized pink monster suit.
"I think Marc would definitely do it, yes."
Now there's a challenge.
No comments:
Post a Comment