The experts

An interview with CEO Ian Cheshire Kingfisher, the market leader in European DIY retailing, ended the recently completed financial year with a substantial profit increase: of around 20 per cent, resulting in profit growth to £ 570 mio. Three years previously this figure amounted to £ 386 mio. During this period Kingfisher’s net debt also moved from £ 1.6 bn to a net cash position. Nevertheless, when it comes to sales figures, the company seems to give the impression of marking time at present. It completed its 2010/2011 financial year (to 29 January 2011) with a sales increase (in constant currency) of 0.5 per cent to £ 10.450 bn. This is revealed as a deficit of 0.5 per cent once exchange fluctuations are taken into consideration, and -0.9 per cent in like-for-like terms. In France the UK group recorded sales of £ 4.204 bn, or 2.9 per cent (constant currency) more than in the previous financial year; there was also an increase of 1.6 per cent in like-for-like terms. In Great Britain and Ireland the company recorded a sales decline of 2.4 per cent to £ 4.333 bn (-3.0 per cent like-for-like). Sales in the other countries experienced an increase of 1.7 per cent to £ 1.913 bn, though this amounted to a decrease of 1.2 per cent like-for-like. It would be a bad mistake to conclude from these figures that the retail giant is failing to make any headway overall. A state of standstill is certainly the last thing that comes to mind when one takes a closer look at the group’s activities. And any such impression vanishes into thin air as soon as one speaks to CEO Ian Cheshire. DIY International had the opportunity to do so, together with other European colleagues. The challenge that Cheshire sets himself, “Let’s get better and better at understanding our customers”, is the key that he intends to use to unlock further growth for the company. The group simply must position itself and its different trading brands as competent to the highest degree. “We think by being the world expert in home improvement we can unlock growth,” says Cheshire. “Our job as retailers is really to be the experts for our customers and to say: ‘I know what you want!’”. Taken at face value, this attempt at combining customer orientation with expertise is not particularly original. However, one crucial aspect is added in the case of Kingfisher: the sheer size of a group that is actively involved with sales channels and participatory interests in eight individual countries, which means it can…