In Depth
Joining the family
08.05.08 Graeme Neill
Sam Husain was on a golf course in his native Pakistan when he heard that Benazir Bhutto had been assassinated. The Foyles chief executive was in the country for his niece’s wedding, which was nearly cancelled following the rioting and violence sparked by the murder.
Husain says that while such instability has largely been quelled, Pakistan still faces a challenging future. “The biggest shame has been the Islamic extremism. That’s not what the country is about. It’s a small faction driven by people who have a different agenda and it has caused a lot of harm to Pakistan. If you can root out that and root out the corruption, it will stabilise and start delivering.”
The wedding gave Husain the chance to catch up with his family, which includes several high-ranking doctors and engineers (his niece is BBC news presenter Mishal Husain). Eyebrows were raised when a man with no background in bookselling was appointed c.e.o. of the famous London independent last year. But with this family background, it is perhaps unsurprising that he was interested in becoming part of another successful family.
Husain does not feel that a lack of experience in the book industry is an issue. “As far as bookselling is concerned, all the skills and knowledge exists [at Foyles] anyway. So as long as you are prepared to listen at whatever level, you don’t really need to have the same background.”
He is the first person who isn’t a member of the Foyles’ family to take full control of the business in its 105-year history. While the retailer has had external c.e.o.s in the past (including Mike McGinley’s shortlived tenure), Husain has more responsibility following chairman Christopher Foyle and vice-chairman Bill Samuel’s decision to take a back seat.
This lack of historical attachment to Foyles is actually a strength in building the business in the long term, Husain says. “What I bring to the business is, I hope, a high degree of objectivity, analytical skills, experience in management and respect for managers and staff. I come from a perspective where it’s people first.There can be, in my view, an over-obsession with books, and we have to break away from that. It’s people who sell books, people who write books and people who buy books [that are important].”
Numbers man
Husain moved to Manchester from Pakistan when he was 17 to study accountancy. His career has mainly been spent working in financial and management consultancy roles for media technology firms. Looking critically at Foyles, whose business practices were idiosyncratic to say the least before Christopher Foyle took control in 1999, a more ruthless approach may be what is needed for it to thrive in the increasingly cut-throat world of retail.
One of his first strategies was to give younger members of staff more responsibilities. One casualty of this was the redundancy of Vivienne Wordley, Foyles’ popular commercial director, with product director Kate Gunning and marketing manager Julia Kingsford sharing her duties. Floor managers and store managers now operate a profit-and-loss account for their own businesses.
“They don’t just look at sales, they look at margins, staffing, head counts and performance metrics—sales per square foot, for example,” Husain says. “It’s a better utilisation and has helped them develop as managers.”
Yet despite this focus, throughout the interview Husain returns to praise the staff’s love for books. “That’s what I find is unique. That commitment and passion is at the heart of Foyles.”
His management style is less hands-on than McGinley’s. “I don’t think my job is policing or duplicating what managers are supposed to do. Obviously, if I see something where the standard is going a bit below, then I will bring it to their attention, but I deliberately don’t police the floor.”
It’s a giddy time for Foyles, with the new St Pancras store bedding in and a new site at the luxury White City shopping centre, Shepherd’s Bush, due in November. Husain is eyeing franchise opportunities in English-speaking countries across the Middle East, and aiming for the website to generate 10% of total sales within 18 months.
“Its strengths are obviously a very strong, world-renowned brand; the fact that it has been around for 105 years. And there is very strong shareholder support—the Foyles family has always been involved and continues to be so to this day. And we have a range of books that is also unparallelled in this industry.”
The challenge for Husain is turning this range into a viable business. He says that he anticipates the company will break even on £22m sales this financial year. “If it is a loss, it will be negligible. That’s moving from a £500,000 loss the previous year. Next year we’ll make a profit.”
Along with plans to increase revenue, he describes margin as a “big priority”. He is upfront about seeking better terms from publishers: “I hope we will get more recognition as being more than just an independent bookshop—we are more like an independent specialist chain—and therefore be able to benefit from more discounts from publishers.”
There are no plans to “do a Hamleys” and move from the flagship Charing Cross Road site. He describes the building as “iconic”, and that there is potential to add 5,000 sq ft of trading space.
When he does get away from the stores, Husain enjoys a round of golf at Hadley Wood in north London or a game of bridge; he also owns a boat in Rye, East Sussex. His reading tastes are mainly non-fiction, “part research, part interest”. But he is finding less and less time to attack his bedside books backlog. With all the challenges and transformations at Foyles, this is no surprise.
RSS
Subscriber Content