From the sample room to the enterprise account

Mandate

Choose and execute a coherent set of retail, property and supplier commitments

Outcomes

• Directed the approved ₹18.6 crore refurbishment of eight existing shops
• Narrowed the corporate gifting programme to thirty-one configurations
• Brought connected-property terms and supplier settlement into explicit executive and board decisions

Decisions in context

The CEO appointment brought enterprise profit and loss responsibility together with a statutory executive directorship. I report to the board rather than to one ownership group, although the founder family holds 52% and my own 2.2% sits within management's 16%. Nine executives connect the functions that previously reached me mainly through operations. The refurbishment decision required me to defend a less visible form of growth; gifting required a limit on the commercial offer; the property review required disclosure of relationships and my own incentive. Supplier settlement then exposed where my supposedly complete account still missed somebody else's cash burden. These are different decisions, but each asks me to explain the commitment the whole company is making. Material capital approval remains with the board, and my executive role does not make me independent of Qeraveli.

Reason for the move

Current appointment; considering one first external non-executive role

Concurrent appointment

CEO and executive director are concurrent responsibilities within the same company, beginning March 2019; counted as one current directorship.

Mandate

Connect buying, store operations and fulfilment across a larger estate

Outcomes

• Made assortment and store-space decisions part of the same operating review
• Brought trading disruption into the assessment of property work
• Connected seasonal operating demands with the executive cash discussion

Decisions in context

As COO I could no longer regard buying and shop operations as neighbouring departments with separate explanations. A range decision occupied space, changed handling work and affected how much stock the business needed to finance. Six operating leaders worked within a ₹37 crore annual controllable expense remit, while major capital and property decisions remained separately authorised. The nineteen-shop estate gave us enough variation to see why one shop's useful arrangement could be awkward elsewhere. I spent more time asking managers to explain the consequences of their recommendations for colleagues outside their own function. That did not remove disagreements; it made them available for an operating decision before they became excuses after execution. The role prepared me for enterprise responsibility by showing where a collection of locally sensible choices could still form an incoherent company commitment.

Reason for the move

Appointed CEO and executive director

Mandate

Choose a recognisable customer range within a finite stock commitment

Outcomes

• Connected range variety with its purchasing and storage implications
• Made supplier-side experience useful in retail assortment decisions
• Developed buying reviews that included slower-selling variations

Decisions in context

Moving from a supplier into retail buying changed which part of the negotiation I could influence. Thirty-one colleagues worked through four managers within a ₹46 crore annual merchandise-purchase envelope. We needed an offer customers would recognise and enjoy, but every additional variation made a claim on stock and attention. My earlier account experience helped me ask what happened before a finished product reached the shop and what happened when a buyer changed the intended mix. I also had to learn the retailer's legitimate constraints rather than assume the supplier's view was complete. An attractive display could hide slow-moving goods elsewhere in the account, and a narrow range could miss a reason customers visited us. The buying role taught me to make those trade-offs explicit instead of treating variety itself as evidence of a better commercial proposition.

Reason for the move

Promoted to chief operating officer

Mandate

Make buyer commitments workable across quantities, delivery and settlement

Outcomes

• Connected buyer variations with their production and packing consequences
• Developed account reviews that distinguished sales from collection timing
• Completed part-time management study while continuing in the role

Decisions in context

The account-manager appointment made me responsible for commitments that had previously appeared as individual merchandising questions. Nineteen colleagues and three managers supported an ₹18 crore annual account book, but I did not control the supplier's treasury. A revised colour mix could be commercially reasonable and still require a change in work already committed. A sale could be recorded while the cash needed for the next production decision remained elsewhere. I learned to discuss those consequences with buyers without turning every request into an accusation. Part-time MBA study, completed in November 2005, gave me a broader way to understand the enterprise choices behind the account. The eventual move into retail buying came from wanting to influence the earlier decisions that shaped these negotiations, while keeping respect for the supplier's practical constraints.

Reason for the move

Joined a retail customer-facing business as head of buying

Mandate

Translate sample discussions into a clearer account of the proposed order

Outcomes

• Learned how colour and quantity choices affected the order behind a sample
• Tracked the distinction between buyer interest and an accepted commitment
• Built the account knowledge needed for commercial management

Decisions in context

I joined after completing my commerce degree in May 1992. In a seven-person merchandising group I had no direct reports and no authority to commit spending. My work involved following samples, buyer comments and proposed quantities until an order became sufficiently clear for colleagues to act. That taught me that enthusiasm and commitment were different stages. A buyer might admire a presentation without having settled its quantity, timing or commercial terms. I had to learn which uncertainty mattered to the next person doing the work and how to ask for clarification without pretending I had authority I did not possess. The eight years in this first role gave me a grounded view of textile trading. Later titles widened my responsibility, but the basic question remained recognisable: what has the customer actually agreed, and what are we now prepared to carry on that basis?

Reason for the move

Promoted to commercial accounts manager