Please Let It Stop (21 page)

I think you have to recognise your own milestones. Things that matter to you and have given you the most satisfaction may not always be big and glitzy. One such milestone was the victory over the JobCentres, which meant a great deal as it showed that the law, the media and the public had understood our business. Perhaps nothing surprised or flattered me more than my invitation to speak at the Oxford Union in 2006. The Oxford Union is regarded as the world’s most prestigious debating society. The Union has been established for over a hundred and eighty years and aims to promote discussion on an amazingly broad range of topics, not just within Oxford University but all over the world. The people who have been invited to speak there are very diverse and represent all walks of society. What’s great about it is that even though Oxford is a symbol of the establishment, the Union regularly invites its fair share of non-conformists and highly outspoken people, as well as an impressive quota of presidents and prime ministers. I was going to be following in the footsteps of people such as Winston Churchill, the Dalai
Lama, Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon and Mother Teresa! The Union has played host to many people in show business, including Clint Eastwood, Jerry Springer, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Barry White, Warren Beatty and even the US porn star, Jenna Jameson. It is a forum for free speech and as a result people will often say things that aren’t heard elsewhere. In 1996 O. J. Simpson made his only public speech in Britain after the ‘not guilty’ verdict in his criminal trial. This is one place that had seen more controversy than the Gold Group would go through in a lifetime!

When I received their invitation I was stunned. To be asked to speak at one of the world’s most influential universities in such a distinguished forum was extraordinary. I remember telling my sister and father first and then my friends. I was hugely excited but I didn’t actually appreciate the impact it would have on me until after I had made my presentation.

Upon arrival I was first of all entertained by some of the students at dinner. They were excellent company. Walking into the debating chamber of the Union was both humbling and magical. With its dark wooden floors and benches, its deep red walls and the shafts of light coming through the stained glass windows, I was immediately reminded of Hogwarts and wondered if Harry Potter was about to mate-rialise. The audience was waiting and you could feel this strong sense of anticipation. They were almost all women, with a sprinkling of men, and they’d queued up in the rain
since it was held on a first-come, first-served basis. The room could only hold three hundred people, which makes for a very intimate and slightly intimidating environment. There was no microphone but, as I discovered, the auditorium carries your voice. I spoke for about forty minutes. Then it was the audience’s turn. I am accustomed to answering challenging questions but these were in a different league altogether and came from perspectives that I had previously not encountered. The audience was intelligent, inquisitive and hungry for knowledge. Their questions included: ‘Are you a feminist or are you just another retailer exploiting women?’ ‘Are you really satisfying women’s needs or just pandering to men’s sexual desires?’ And one cheeky student asked, ‘Will you sponsor our hockey team?’ To be with them was a truly energising experience. It wasn’t easy – but I don’t want things to be easy. It’s far more stimulating when people make me think and that’s what they did.

It had gone well. Afterwards we held an Ann Summers party for some of the young women in the audience in a separate room, which I also attended. It was a fabulous night and I left about midnight to drive back to Kent. The party was a huge success, with sales of £1,400 including seven more party bookings and several orders for the infamous Rampant Rabbit.

It was and is a huge compliment to be recognised at this level; however, perhaps the ultimate indicator of what I’ve
achieved – and what the business has achieved – is the way in which Ann Summers has made a real difference to the lives of many women. We regularly receive letters from women whose lives have been positively changed by being part of our organisation. Much is written today about the responsibility of a business to do more than just make money, but that is a view I have always had and one that is reflected in our working environment, which we have endeavoured to make as female friendly as possible. Of course, the bottom line is important to me but equally so is the knowledge that Ann Summers has enabled many women to take charge of their lives and regain self-esteem. Some of them have had to haul themselves up a long way.

Zena Gavey is an extraordinary success story. She is one of our star Unit Organisers and what makes her story special is that she is registered blind and works with the aid of her guide dog. Along with her team of party organisers, she consistently manages to achieve top results. This is a woman who had been knocked back by many other companies. As she told us in 2004:

Joining Ann Summers really has been a huge turning point in my life. I have spent so much time trying to get retraining to go back to work, without any luck. Being told you are too old to retrain at thirty-two does knock your confidence. Ann Summers has given me back my self-respect.

It is no exaggeration to say that there are many women working for us who’ve made 360-degree turns in their lives. We regularly share these stories among our party organ-isers, who find them inspiring and motivating. The story of Lisa is one that I find very moving. Lisa had suffered with depression most of her life, a consequence of having been bullied as a child. At eighteen she got herself into huge debt with credit cards, which sent her into further depression and meant she destroyed any chance of completing her A-levels. Lisa joined us just before her nineteenth birthday in 2001 and says she never imagined she’d stick at it. Initially she wanted to get away from her fiancé who she described as ‘very controlling’. Very soon she realised that she was good at party plan and could sell, which gave her a lot of confidence. She also found a new sense of belonging with the other girls in her unit. Lisa was able to gradually reduce her debt and increase her confidence to such an extent that her fiancé began to see her not as someone to control but as an equal. In 2002 she became the top party organiser in her area. By now her depression had all but disappeared and she was looking ahead for the first time in her life. She had, in her own words, ‘
gone from the girl who couldn’t be bothered, and relied on others, to the confident, determined, independent woman with drive who can’t sit still for a minute’.

Like Zena, Lisa credits Ann Summers with turning her life around. But it was Lisa who turned her life around. All that any of us need in this life is an opportunity and the
right support, and that’s what we give to women like Lisa. When they join us they find a friendly, informative and supportive atmosphere where everything possible is done to help them to succeed. That is what we do. The rest, the ladies do themselves and I am so proud of them.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Invitations to speak at conferences and appear on television make me very aware that whether I like it or not, I am a role model for a lot of women. I recognise that many women operate in an environment where some men still refuse to acknowledge how much they have to offer. I know of many businesswomen and executives – clever, accomplished women – who are not given adequate airtime by their male colleagues. This state of affairs often means that women are so intimidated by the male environment, they compromise by becoming a token man. By that I mean they go to great lengths to not be feminine and adopt an aggressive stance in the workplace in a bid to be accepted as one of the boys. If you are one of the boys and you enjoy it then fine, but don’t pretend if you’re not. We make life even tougher for ourselves when we try to be something different: it’s a burden you don’t need in an already competitive workplace.

I remember being invited to be on a judging panel once. When I arrived there was one other woman. She was very good at what she did but I felt that she was trying too hard to play the men at their own game instead of realising she had absolutely everything in her power to compete as a woman. I really do think a lot of women try far too hard to be something they’re clearly not instead of just being themselves. You don’t need to put on an overly aggressive facade or bang your fist on the table. In fact, that sort of behaviour is likely to put people off. Being a hard-nosed bitch or showing people how ruthless you can be is not going to help you succeed. It might get you noticed but it will do so for all the wrong reasons. You don’t need to treat people badly to claim your ground. As a woman you have a lot to offer – it’s just a case of being clever about how you do it.

These days I’m known for my love of feminine clothes but it wasn’t always so. Growing up, I had no role models to look up to and that, together with my lack of social interaction, meant it took me quite a long time to find out who I was and, more importantly, what image I wanted to portray. I would compromise the way I looked in trying to emulate men and be how I thought people expected me to be. Indeed many years ago I remember going on GMTV – severe suit with shoulder pads and hair tightly pulled back like an old-fashioned librarian – only to watch myself later with horror. When someone said I looked like a
politician, I realised I needed to dress to please myself. I’ve always liked fashion but it’s actually only in the past few years that I’ve become really fashion aware and knowledgeable about what works. While I see it as an integral part of my image and of the Ann Summers brand, I love clothes and looking good. The fact that I love to dress in a feminine way and wear high heels does not in any way compromise my business skills. Talent and business acumen are important for sure, but we live in a world where people are looking for more; they want the whole package. That applies whether you’re hiring a senior executive or a young graduate. The bottom line is that dressing well and presenting yourself in the most attractive, and appropriate, way are desirable qualities in the workplace – for men as well as for women.

When I’m hiring for Ann Summers I look for people who can bring things to the company that we don’t have. Yes, they must share our brand values and vision, but beyond that I don’t want people who’ve been cut out from the same mould. Unlike many people, I’m not overly concerned about whether someone has been to business school or not. I’m more concerned with what they have done in the real world. If they have an MBA and they have shown great entrepreneurial flair and individuality, then fine, but I don’t just want somebody who spouts theory to me. The main qualities that will impress me are:

• commercial approach

• entrepreneurial flair

• ability to think outside the box

• passion for the Ann Summers brand

• not a ‘yes’ person

This last point is a key one. To a degree, business success, particularly in an entrepreneurial sense, is not worrying about what others think. For some women that is a tough task. It is, I believe, ingrained in many women from the time they are young girls that they shouldn’t rock the boat. On the whole conformity is sold to women as more desirable than standing out from the crowd. Now I’m not suggesting you jump on the boardroom table and deliver a rant. Far from it. However, if you have a point of view that you are passionate about and you believe the business needs to hear it, then for goodness sake, don’t change it just to fit in. All that will happen then is you will just melt into the background. Sure, people might say, ‘Oh, she’s a nice girl,’ and go out for drinks with you, but will they respect you? Whether I agree with someone or not, I respect them far more if they have the courage of their convictions.

I am incredibly resolute in the boardroom. I will always give plenty of space to others to speak. When you are negotiating you need to take into account what the other person wants: that’s a very important negotiating tool. Secondly, I never give the game away. I just listen and keep my
deliberations to myself so nobody has any idea which way I’m leaning. It also gives me time to reflect on my decisions. Thirdly, I don’t waste my energy on fighting the small battles. I keep my mind on the big picture, on what I’m ultimately trying to achieve and think of the different ways in which I can get there. Remember, if you want to win the war, you need to think strategically. If somebody upsets me I don’t always retaliate immediately. Sometimes I will wait for the right time and act accordingly. I should add that I don’t set out to make enemies but, as many of you will have discovered, that doesn’t stop people making enemies out of you! Unfortunately, that is just a fact of life.

These days, along with my senior team, I’m busy concentrating on taking our business into the future. Today Ann Summers is a true multi-channel retailer. Many companies, including major high-street names, have failed to recognise the importance of this and therefore they’re not set up to do it, but I believe it’s absolutely key. If you want to survive as a business in this fast-growing retail environment where customers now have a whole host of ways to shop, then you have to expand the ways in which they can access your product and ensure you have a ‘One Customer, One Service’ infrastructure to support it.

Although people still give us the simplistic ‘sex shop’ tag, we are, in fact, a sophisticated retail business which has evolved over twenty-five years. We’ve pushed boundaries
to the point where councils now seek our advice when benchmarking and licensing. Our 141 stores represent about 61 per cent of the business. Party plan is around 32 per cent. Our Internet business is the smallest component, with around 7 per cent but it is also the fastest-growing channel with a growth of 30 per cent in 2005–6. This year, 2006–7, we are 40 per cent per week up on the previous year. One of the consequences of this growth is that we’ve outgrown the functionality and capacity that our current systems and software can provide, so we’re working on building that up. If you want to succeed in a major way on the Internet you have to aspire to be as good as Tesco or Amazon, and that means investing a lot of time, money and brainpower into your website. In the future we’ll be looking to do a lot more than just sell sex toys and lingerie online. The potential for the Ann Summers brand is enormous, and extensions into online gaming and dating, and sex advice, are all credible fits with our brand values.