“What got me into the business was both an opportunity and was to some extent forced upon me in the sense that in early 1989 I lost what was a very close takeover battle for the Beejam business. We were a frozen food retailer and we were taken over by Iceland. So I was out of a job, put simply.
I had been running what at that stage was quite a big business and said to myself 'Will I be capable of running a small business?'. Interesting challenge. Most people thought I was mad, maybe I was fairly foolhardy but I was brave and we had a small business within Beejam called Wizard Wine which had about a dozen wine shops and to cut a long story short, two months after we were taken over, I was involved, three of us were involved in actually buying that business and away we went with myself as Chief Executive.
When I say 'Away we went', this was a very small business. I had been running a business of several hundred stores and we had, I think it was twelve. And really the three of us running the business meant that we got involved in everything, obviously buying, running the stores, counting the stock, working in the stores, particularly over Christmas. I can recall going to Croydon on a very cold day in December to be told the manager had just resigned and the place was pretty much out of control. Well at that point, what do you do? You have to get stuck in and we did.
But 1990 was very tough and really the springboard for the business of Majestic as we know it now, came up in 1991 when we were able to make the acquisition of the Majestic stores and put the two businesses together. So we ended up with about thirty five stores. So actually, sitting here today, we have got a hundred more stores than we had at that point which has been great progress. And in those days we used to lose money and now we make quite a lot so that is kind of a big difference as well.
The thing I love most about our business are the staff we are able to employ. We are incredibly lucky or perhaps skilful, but nearly all our staff in the stores are graduates. So the key to Majestic's success is the level of customer service we can deliver and that is something that really I fostered and nourished and encouraged through really good training in wine knowledge and management, really ever since I have been involved in the business. And in many ways, the greatest way to generate new ideas, and this is very simple, is not to spend time in the office, it is to spend time in the stores talking to these really knowledgeable staff. They are the people that are close to the customers. They know what the customers want. They have got fantastic knowledge on wine, they positively humble me, but really what my role is about is thinking about the next way to grow the business. So it is not just a question of talking to the staff, it is a question of being close to the customer and in fact, obviously, even talking to the customer which occurs when you are out in the store. So I try and spend at least a day week out of the office and in the stores.
Well I think that the strongest tip is to have a clear view of where you are going. That may be easier said that done, but most importantly to get on with it. You will never know exactly where you are going to end up and you will never know all the answers to all the questions that could confront your business but if you aren't brave enough to start down that route, you will never get to the end goal. And as you go along you can always change your decisions, with hindsight they may all look as if you thought of them in advance but they won't be.
The other very strong piece of advice I would have is for Christ sake make sure that you have got a good grip of the numbers of your business and particularly the cash. Probably the bleakest period during the period of running Majestic was back in early 1993, as a business we were heavily hit when the pound came out of the exchange rate mechanism in late 1992 which was really a business event that I would still say to this day that you can't forecast was going to happen. And we ended up in early 1993 with a letter from the bank trying to reduce the overdraft to a level which actually meant the business was unsustainable.
Now two things: We had a strong grip of the numbers, we had a strong grip of our plans so we were able to present well to the bank and see ourselves through it. The other piece of advice that goes with that is that it really pays to have good advisors. We had some great accountants, we had some great lawyers and in times of difficultly you need them. You might feel some of the time that you are paying a bit too much money but if you have a successful or potentially successful business, you can negotiate hard with advisors - do not overpay.
I think on a different scale, and I think it helped to see us through and I think it helps to run our business, the key thing is to have a good sense of humour as well. Never forget that we are not just in business to earn money, this is where we spend most of our lives and if you don't enjoy it then don't bother.”