Please Let It Stop (13 page)

Klesch had set himself up as a ‘distressed debt’ specialist, rescuing companies in trouble but since he’d acquired Knickerbox he hadn’t really done anything with it. I bought Knickerbox two weeks later and it was very cheap. I did a deal where I cherry-picked the best stores out of the fifty they had. We incorporated them into our existing infrastructure, which made it much more economical to run. I also put Knickerbox concessions into Ann Summers stores. This was a strategic move designed to introduce Knickerbox customers to Ann Summers, on their terms. These were people who would have liked to go into an Ann Summers store but still felt a little unsure of being in there. By putting a Knickerbox into the store, it meant they could go in and identify items with which they felt comfortable. Of course, they would then relax enough to do what they really wanted to do, which was look at the Ann Summers range. Because of this, footfall (the number of people
coming into the shop) increased and our sales at Ann Summers increased by a considerable 15 per cent on top of the new sales generated from Knickerbox purchases.

With 145 stores and £145 million sales turnover, we’re now mainstream; in effect we’re a high-street brand. That means that we’re exposed to the ups and down of the economic cycle, although not as much as other stores. One reason for this is that sex will always sell and even in a recessionary economy, sex toys and lingerie will still be doing brisk business as couples find themselves spending more time at home and decide they need to spice things up. We have consistently gone against retail trends and done well when the rest of the high street is struggling.

However, like other retailers, we are at the mercy of high rents and that can really impact on our bottom line. Fundamentally, the choice we have to make regarding sites is whether to be a destination store – a specialised and unique store where customers know our location and are willing to make a special visit. Destination stores will often be away from the main high street or shopping centre. The other alternative is to base ourselves in an ‘A’ location like a major shopping centre where you benefit from having loads of traffic already and are therefore in a position to capitalise on impulse buyers.

Quite often it is more profitable to be out of the way rather than in an expensive ‘A’ location. Once you offset
your revenue against the rent it often works out better. In shopping centres such as Lakeside we are naturally affected by footfall, or lack of it, just like everyone else. It means that if people stay away from Lakeside then we lose out as well.

While most landlords welcome Ann Summers, there are some who still feel that we are not appropriate for their hallowed space. As I write, Bluewater are making it a bit difficult for us. The irony is that Bluewater did a survey and Ann Summers was the most requested store.

Party plan is very good for us and is even less susceptible to movements in the economy. During the miners’ strike in 1984–85 party plan did very well. There were two reasons for this. One was that because men were out of work, women needed to supplement the family income, so they joined us as party organisers to earn a bit of extra money. The other reason we did well is that people were attending parties – having come with no intention of buying – and finding they only had to spend a little to return home with an item that would amuse them and their husbands!

I like to think that we have been responsible in some way for changing the attitudes of women – and men – towards sex. But you can’t force products on to consumers if they don’t want them in the first place. So our customers are also pushing their own boundaries. Women now are much more in the driver’s seat with regard to exploring their
sexuality and I think that putting shops in the high street has helped this to happen. Instead of sex being seen as something hidden and taboo (unfortunately, that attitude does still persist) it is now seen as fun and something to enjoy, celebrate and explore. Our shops are warm, well lit and welcoming. Customers can browse the shop on their own but if they have any questions they will be answered by informed sales assistants who know their products and will make them feel comfortable. Despite our enviable sales figures we don’t allow ourselves to become complacent. From the beginning I have always relied on my customers and staff for feedback, and listening to them has been a fundamental part of the success of the business.

There are still people, some of them women, who argue that the idea of women dressing up in sexy lingerie is not empowering at all because it is being done purely for men. The gist of their argument is that it is a step backwards. I find this faintly ridiculous since it presupposes that women do not enjoy feeling sexy and exploring their sexuality, and only do so for the pleasure of their men. It’s a notion that completely ignores a woman’s desire for pleasure and her ability to orchestrate it. As with many areas of their lives, this is about women taking the initiative, and that can only be a good thing.

At the same time it means that men are learning to understand that women can and will make their own decisions and demands with regard to sex. Years ago men weren’t bothered
whether women were enjoying themselves. Now men make an effort and want to please their partners and they like women to be confident – well, of course, there are still those that feel inadequate and struggle with the concept of a woman enjoying her sexuality but, in the main, men are more receptive, especially the younger generation, who understand that sex is not something you do to someone: it’s something you do together. It’s interesting to note that problems with attitude towards Ann Summers shops and products are often found among the older generation of men: I have come across difficult landlords of premises, or senior people in JobCentres where we have tried to recruit staff. I can only conclude that the existence of Ann Summers constitutes some kind of threat to them and makes them feel inferior or insecure.

Still, there are some places where you may not want to confront your sexuality. A few years ago Boots the chemists were considering adding sex toys to their shops. I like Boots but I wouldn’t want to buy my sex toys from there. As I’ve often said to people, ‘I buy my meat from the butchers, my shoes from a shoe shop and my sex toys from a shop that doesn’t sell haemorrhoid cream.’ At one point Tesco were also said to be thinking of it. Now I have nothing but admiration for Tesco; I think it is a brilliant brand. However, the thought conjured up this image of me pushing my trolley around the supermarket, loading it up with eggs, bacon, baguettes … and a Rampant Rabbit.
Then I would get to the checkout, the bar code wouldn’t work and there would be red faces all round. Are people ready for this? I don’t think so.

CHAPTER TEN

It is frequently assumed that my father was very influential in getting me involved in the Gold Group. The truth is that it was my own choice and, until I decided to present my party plan idea back in 1982, I don’t think he ever expected that I would become an integral part of the family business. Having produced two daughters but no sons, his expectation was that there would be nobody to succeed him. Now that person will be me. I accept it as a responsibility and see it as a natural extension of what I already do. It’s a challenge I will take on with no difficulty since these are businesses I am involved in anyway and the same business philosophy and skills will apply. At the same time I don’t want the day to come when he retires and I take over. Today he is Chairman of the Gold Group, I am its Chief Executive, and we are true business partners. At seventy he is extremely young for his age and very active, so hopefully we will continue working together for a long time to come.

*

The circumstances of my parents’ divorce put a lot of distance between my father and myself and there is no question that our personal relationship started very late, probably about fifteen years ago. Despite his lack of direct influence over me when I was young, you can’t discount the effects of genetics and I believe I take after him in so many ways. I love working with him and I especially enjoy the banter between us when we are discussing business issues. We went from having a very strained relationship, or very distant relationship, to becoming very close because all of a sudden we had something in common: passion for the business. In some ways that shared passion helped us get closer personally, and today he and I – and my sister – have more than made up for lost time. As well as business the three of us regularly share dinners, watch football and go on holiday.

Over the years his advice has been invaluable, not just because he is a clever man but also because I found there were limited networking opportunities open to me. One of the reasons for this is that Ann Summers was – and still is – regarded as a controversial business and other business-people just didn’t want to be associated with us. At one point I joined the Direct Selling Association (DSA). Their conferences were very inspiring, with people from successful companies like Avon sharing their experiences. I once gave a speech there to a curious audience who were
completely stunned when I told them what our turnover figures were. They had underestimated the professionalism and success of our operation. There were many questions afterwards. Did we really rely on customer feedback? Was our team made up of only women? Actually, the person who asked me the latter question was a man who ran a cosmetics business, Jaffra Cosmetics. It turned out he did not have one woman on his executive team, which I think is a huge mistake if you’re in the beauty industry. His business went under not long after. In the end I felt the DSA was happy to have us as members, but, unlike their attitude towards other successful businesses, they continually failed to recognise our achievements. They refused to see that it didn’t matter what product was being sold; I still had the same business and marketing issues as everyone else. They were more concerned about how their other members would react if we were recognised over others. When I said I was leaving the association, they pleaded with me to stay but I was already far too annoyed with the way I had been treated. Once my mind is made up, I rarely change it.

As a person my father is charming, articulate and a gentleman with a talent for storytelling. From his origins in the East End of London, he has taken the time to better himself, acquiring and enhancing his social skills. Dad is very much an opportunist. And as a businessman he knows his markets very well. Today the range of businesses owned
by the Gold Group includes the
Sunday Sport
and Birmingham City Football Club, which he and Ralph own with David Sullivan. There is also a printing business, a property company with an expanding portfolio and shares in several other businesses. Until 2006, the Gold Group owned Gold Air International – the largest private jet company in the UK. We also had a publishing and distribution business involving several top-shelf magazine titles – I was quite influential in the sale of this business in 2006. Over the years the business of sex has changed in all sorts of ways: for one, the Internet has now overtaken the printed word. Maintaining a stable of top-shelf magazines in such a climate meant that resources were being used on a business which was no longer contributing as much to the Group as it once did.

My father’s skill and passion is very much in logistics so at the beginning with Ann Summers he was heavily involved in stock control at the warehouse and would often be seen driving around on the forklift truck even on a Sunday afternoon, reorganising everything and improving systems. He has as high a regard for the work I am doing, as I do for him and, like any partners, we bring different things to the table. When I’m looking at the business I’m focused and won’t let emotion stand in my way. I deal with issues very diplomatically and tactfully. However, my father prefers to sidestep any conflict involving disciplining or firing staff if he can. He doesn’t like it at all and I find it
quite endearing that this successful businessman, who has built an amazing business empire to become one of the UK’s richest men, still worries about people’s livelihoods. He finds it so difficult firing people that if he had his way we’d probably have five thousand employees instead of two thousand! Sometimes you have no choice but to part company with people in business. People have to be right for the job and good enough to do it.

My father’s aversion to this type of conflict extends to his personal life as well. I recall an occasion two years earlier when Dad started dating Lorraine, who was my best friend at the time. It all started off casually enough but then Lorraine started to get a bit too serious and Dad couldn’t cope. A few months later he decided it had to end and confided in me that he didn’t know what to do. So I sat down and wrote him out a few lines so he had some ideas of what to say. I then sat with him in his office while he called her. Looking back, it was quite funny because Dad was clearly not coping and I ended up mouthing the words he had to say to her. Later on I spoke to Lorraine and she wasn’t desperately upset – I suppose she expected it. However, she did comment that when he was speaking to her he sounded exactly like me!

Of course, we disagree but I think that’s because we really respect each other and value what the other one has to say. I have learnt an enormous amount from my father’s wealth of experience and unconventional style. In turn I
believe he has learnt much more about the importance of communicating and structure from me. In many ways we are so similar and where we are not we seem to have a balance of qualities and skills that complement each other. I have tested his patience outside the boardroom, namely at the football. I did not attend my first football game until the autumn of 1998. He is passionate about the game and about Birmingham City, of which he is Chairman. One day he suggested I come with him. We were sitting in the Directors’ box and Dad, as usual, was focused on the game, though this was being made slightly difficult by the barrage of questions I was asking. ‘Why is he kicking it back the other way?’ ‘What has the umpire blown the whistle for?’ I was desperate to know what I was watching and I think Dad was desperate for me to be quiet, but he patiently answered all my questions. I am an insatiably curious person and will always ask as many questions as I require in order to understand something. However – and I’m not bragging here – I did not need to have the offside rule explained more than twice before I understood. These days I really enjoy football, not just because it’s in the family, and I would happily go to watch any other club play if invited.