Up next in 10
A business should be more like a family in order to attract employees with the right moral and cultural judgements, the boss of B&Q has said.
Graham Bell added that the DIY giant's approach to company culture gives it "credibility" and that business and family can't be separated.
The comments from the boss of Kingfisher-owned B&Q were made in the latest episode of City AM's on-camera interview series, Boardroom Uncovered.
As well as insisting that B&Q's family-like culture was not the red flag some might consider it to be, Bell also opened up about his ambitions to reach the top job and what he expects from new employees.
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0:00
my wife would say to you that I was always overly ambitious and I was going to be you know super from early days you
0:08
even when I was a store manager she you regional manager for me I think getting a main board director for me kind of
0:15
felt like a pinnacle step in the career but um I always describe it to people as climbing stairs when you look at stairs
0:22
you think oh that's a long way up when you're halfway up it doesn't look so bad and the next level seems a bit more achievable and if I applies for a job Q
0:30
I was first day in the office or first day in one of the stores I was been handed my orange apron what would your
0:37
advice to me be I always say depending the role mean it's either 3 months or 6 months and say I'm not
0:44
expecting you to contribute I want you to learn it first learn the job before you think we're not looking for you
0:49
contribute and the other thing if you are going to say that it's like a cricketing thing don't swing for a six
0:56
if you're not 100% sure you're going to hit it and what I mean by that is don't make a comment on something that's
1:02
controversial unless you're 100% sure on your own basis it's all about the person
1:08
their culture are they going to fit in are they going to be part of the team they going to be a team player and I
1:13
always put in a a football analogy we don't have to have a team of superstars we have a team that plays for the team
1:20
and you know culturally fits as well
1:32
hello and welcome to the latest episode of Borum uncovered powered by City my name is John Robinson Cam's UK editor my
1:40
guest for this Edition is the CEO of B andq Gran bell bell has been in his role
1:46
since October 2018 having previously LED Screwfix which is also owned by 4100
1:51
giant king fisher he's been a member of kingfish's leadership team for more than 20 years and has also held senior roles
1:59
but the like of Wix and Asda so what's it like to be at the Helm of the UK's
2:04
largest DIY retailer and what are the CEO's plans of the future without any
2:09
further delay let's dive in so Graeme let's start with the big question how
2:15
good DIY are you actually um I can tell you how good I
2:21
think I am um I love doing DIY I mean i' I've fitted three previous kitchens in our
2:28
houses and taken holiday day off and take can get pride and joy and there's a great sense of achievement but at
2:35
weekends I mean yeah you know my wife calls me the make believe trainman because I've got one of these belts that
2:40
I get on and get hammers and drills and I I I love doing the sense of
2:46
satisfaction there's a real in me even if I wasn't in this type of Industry I would be a keen DIY I mean I have my
2:54
limitations my wife's the one who do the detailed and I'm not a great painter and the wallpaper and but get anything
2:59
physical building a fence or doing anything like that even helping out friends I love it so and I've got lots
3:06
of tools as you can imagine some I haven't even used yet did you teach yourself or did you get yeah my father
3:11
was a very keen handson type of person kind of got it from him and uh yeah just
3:17
kind of got the bug and I think you I've never had anything taught to me just learn as you go along don't touch
3:23
electrical obviously a lot or a lot of the plumbing but anything else I'd be up for giving it a go sounds like fitting
3:30
three kitchens is is quite the project yeah you learn a lot you learn a lot about your own business as well when
3:36
you're especially when you're buying the product and you get into the intricate details of how they go together and all
3:42
that so yeah I mean it's one of those things I've always wanted to do uh and and and the first one's obviously a bit
3:48
scary and you need a bit of help but I think as it's going on I've learned a lot and become quite adventurous with it do you have a dream project that you
3:54
still want to achieve um I I think one of the things that I would really haven't gotten into a lot more is kind
4:00
of like some of the things like building a bigger structure you know like an outside bigger structure rather than
4:07
just doing DIY get into more building something substantial maybe it's a
4:12
retirement job yeah build your own house maybe or is that a bit too that's a bit probably I haven't looked that far yet
4:17
but I think these things they grow with you cuz I did a bathroom and a utility room and then that gave me the
4:23
confidence to then go and do a kitchen so I think if you build a Str you might get the confidence to do something bigger but wait and see it sounds like
4:30
you've had a lot of success and learned a lot but there must have been a few odd mistakes oh way yeah yeah yeah I think
4:36
um well look for me mistakes is you know nobody's perfect but I think the biggest thing is if you can learn from them and
4:42
even whether it's doing a DIY project or career or or your life I think uh if you
4:48
can take the learnings from them they're valuable to you you must have rinsed the staff discount though uh I don't think I
4:54
mean we do record it now I do spend a lot but I don't think I'm one of the highest Spenders there's people who have
5:00
done kind of rebuild projects that been employed and you think God that's a lot of money but you think it's like redoing
5:05
a whole house it's a lot of money yeah absolutely so you've been with BQ obviously for a few years now but it's
5:12
it's a hell of a journey from where you started out tell me about your first job
5:17
so I started out with h azda in the days that it was known as Associated daries it was uh it was classed as a bit of a
5:25
Discounter stock it high and sell it cheap and in those days it was great
5:30
grounding into retail uh tough environment you know very authoritarian didn't really suit my
5:37
style but stuck it out learned a lot and gives you great grounding building up a bit of resilience moved on a company
5:43
called Texas Home Care which was a kind of DIY company was number two at the time kind of sold up and bought out and
5:48
then went to Wix and then joined king fisher as it was or B Q um in the operational side and you
5:55
know done my side I've done my jobs from store manager all the way at runon
6:01
stores runman division area uh then went to Screwfix obviously chance to do
6:06
something totally different and loved that became CEO and came back to being q
6:12
and over that career Journey up to date what's the biggest thing that you've
6:17
learned um I think the biggest thing I have learned there probably not one there's
6:24
two or three things one is you got to know your own strengths and weaknesses and throughout the years I think when
6:30
you're younger and progressing your career you're a bit full hearty and thinking you can do everything and then
6:36
I think the the more mature you get you understand you're good at some things but you've got weaknesses and you need to know your
6:42
weaknesses or you're not going to be good at delivering everything uh I think you've also learn what type of person
6:49
you are and what you're willing to do and what not willing to do culturally um and I think for me
6:57
specifically in the CEO role you you've got to learn to listen uh doesn't sound difficult but
7:04
sometimes even when you know where things is going you got to learn to listen and sit back and and then also
7:09
that thing and listening is creating an environment that people can't give their opinions and feel because sometimes you
7:15
get some absolute gems that you would never have thought of yourself and you've gone from the HR department to
7:22
the top job how did you make that lead yeah it wasn't so much HR me I did start out in operations in property and
7:30
um I think when I was doing that in being Q I was Keen to progress my career and at the time uh the co and the HR
7:36
Director said well why don't you do something different and move down south uh I was always classed as a people
7:42
person at that time being Q didn't really have a lot of training and I was tsed with it was twofold training the
7:49
staff and service and skills and that but also doing a bit of development in team bonding with his senior team uh the
7:56
staff training was great the team bonding with your peers what it's never been done before was an absolute nightmare for me because H obviously I
8:03
was working with the people that i' were my peers and trying to educate them and develop them H it was quite a challenge
8:09
but um yeah I loved it and it really hit home cuz I think that's my strengths is
8:17
working with people understanding people and getting the best out of them and really did hone a lot of my strengths
8:23
for me and was reaching the top job always the aim did you set out on your career thinking that that's a realistic
8:29
aim for you yeah my wife would say to you that I was always overly ambitious
8:35
and I was going to be you know super from early days you even when I was a store manager she you regional manager
8:43
for me I think getting a main board director for me kind of felt like a pinnacle step in the career but um I
8:50
always describe it to people as climbing stairs when you look at stairs you think oh that's a long way up when you're
8:55
halfway up it doesn't look so bad and the next level seems a bit more achievable even when you turn the corner
9:00
in the land in where you would never have been before you think I could do that so I think for me becoming a
9:06
CEO it's absolutely fantastic getting the role and uh you know there a great pride and uh you feel really privileged
9:14
because um it it does feel like it's the next step and comes with a lot of
9:20
responsibility as well how do you manage that responsibility well I think for me my
9:26
responsibility you know I'm obviously got a responsibility I I always see it it's threefold you've you've got
9:31
responsibility to shareholders to do a job in it and then for me I always swing next and once you've done that bet and
9:37
you done you've got a responsibility to your staff and the people that's employed in your business and throughout
9:44
my career and even more so now I always said look part of my job is to run this business responsibly CU you go out into
9:51
stores or read in an office that you realize that you're not just responsible for careers money it's that whole family
9:57
sometimes depends on that job so a lot of people dependent on you and I think you feel that pressure sometimes that
10:04
you know you got to run their SP it's not just about the business but it's people's livelihoods their well-being
10:10
and you know with people that have been in this business 50 years it's like big part of their life and then the other
10:17
thing is um I always think if you can do that and look after your people it's
10:22
great if you can put something back into your community and you know we do a lot of fundraising for that as well for our
10:28
local communities but being part of the community you're represented in as well feels for me it's like a business that's
10:34
got longevity as well because it's a lot to put on one person's shoulders isn't it that responsibility you got thousands
10:40
of Staff you got people as you said with being Q for decades yeah and you got to
10:45
look after them but you got to make those difficult decisions as well where you got to let people go sometimes there's a lot to take on try not to let
10:53
people go and it's a big thing for me because you get people who are committed to the job we always think how can we I
11:00
think our first answer is how can we make this P successful and play to the strengths it might not always be the job
11:06
we've come into but even in our stores and our offices got such a varied amount of jobs you can see a lot of potential
11:12
in people so we always have a thing and think everybody's got skills and strengths and if we can get them to fit
11:17
in our business that'll be our first protocol but yeah there is a bit of responsibility but I think uh I take
11:24
soless from the fact and you know I've always approached all of my jobs is about
11:29
getting my team right so like my immediate director and director of uh
11:36
it's about getting that diversity the male female different ethnic backgrounds
11:41
but getting a team that can work together really helps you deliver and and I've always been a person that's
11:47
looked at people much to the annoyance of our recruitment team of 25% is on
11:53
their technical skills of their it it's it and 25 in management capability can
11:58
you manage can you time I you delegate but the biggest part of me I assume someone's done that job for me before
12:03
they come to me it's all about the person their culture are they going to fit in are they going to be part of the
12:09
team they going to be a team player and I always put in a a football an allergy we don't have to have a team of
12:15
superstars we have a team that plays for the team and you know culturally fits as
12:20
well so if you're sitting across somebody and they've come for an interview with you you're the last stage what are you looking in that person
12:27
that's going to tip them over the line yeah for me it's it's getting that rapport with a person and the first
12:33
thing I always do and they're always primed and I realize it's a bit nervous sometime is you know if it was you John
12:38
and say well John tell me about John at the weekends and social things and hobbies and all that and family life or
12:45
you know what's life at home and all that and I think normally if you can get people to talk about their Hobbies or their interests so that really relax
12:51
because it's it's not it's something they they know a lot about they're passionate about and you get them to
12:57
relax a bit for me and that's part was really getting to know the real person cuz a lot of people come primed with
13:02
I've done this I've done that done I just want to really know who they are and what what makes them tick well let's talk about growing at the weekend then
13:09
all right what do you do I'm mad on Sports my wife has a saying that she
13:14
said I would watch two flies crawling up a wall in the name of sport but I I I
13:20
kind of I I played a lot of football in my day badminton golf did a little bit of rugby um we do lots of things and you
13:28
know Olympics drives my wife mad I can come home and just be in the middle of anything and
13:33
sit and watch the Olympics or Sky Sports gets really annoyed if I'm walk watching
13:38
one of the old FA Cup finals or something H so I sport for me is a big
13:44
thing and I'd go and watch that sport keen and doing some sport myself got got four daughters and three grandchildren
13:49
so there's a lot of activity with families socializing with friends bit of diying and things like
13:57
that so uh it's it's never never a time where I think I don't have something to do it's always choices and
14:03
what you do so H and for me a very social person as well so that must help you wind down them because I imagine
14:10
your job is is is quite all-encompassing you know it's got all consuming yeah um
14:15
Monday to Friday or even over the weekend as well and and and I think for me I see it
14:21
as one of my strengths might even be clust as a weakness by some others that I can come home by the time I'm home I
14:27
get so engrossed and even if someone's watching a film or something me I don't come home thinking about work a lot I
14:33
can get engrossed in that especially if it's a sport I can't switch off but then quickly switch on because if something
14:40
urgent does come up you get a call you can switch into it quick quite quickly and I think one you've you've not got to
14:46
take it too seriously um because I think it is work and life you can never really
14:53
when you get this position that they're very much and I see it's all my team you can't separate the two you know if
14:59
someone comes into work and they've had something disastrous happen at home you're better sort of that you're not best at doing your work that day when
15:06
you're thinking about other things so for me that work life balance is really important do you think you've got it
15:11
right yeah I do I do yeah my wife might think different but you know I do I
15:16
think I've got it in over the years I think um in my early days it was you know not
15:23
in common to work seven days a week and all the around otherway now is I think you know Society has got it a lot better
15:29
and that work life balance is probably more of a thing in society now than ever was before you mentioned earlier about
15:35
having pride in your job yes but what does the title of CEO mean to
15:41
you for me um there's a lot of pride in it because um I feel very lucky and
15:50
honored that I've got the role because I think for me being Q early dur now always see it as a top 10 UK brand and
15:58
become the SE of such a big company you know sometimes you pinch yourself and say pretty hell I've got it but um that
16:06
Pride but then that responsibility is the big thing but also there's a huge excitement and variety of
16:13
being able to shape something uh and you know we are shaping being Q of being a
16:18
DIY shed traditional bricks but moving it Forward into business that's going to
16:24
have longevity going to be around for the next 30 40 50 years part of my job job is a legacy of putting the
16:31
foundations in it that business can change and be something that's relevant now but also for the future as well do
16:38
you see yourself as a custodian of the legacy of being cute yeah I mean I I
16:44
think for me and every Co has a tenure or whatever they see a bit of that but I
16:49
am very passionate and it'd be a wish of mine that people would talk fondly of
16:55
this team at this era and being Q with were fundamental and doing a good job uh
17:03
proud of what they did worked hard did it in the right way and and did a good job of building and making a lot of the
17:09
right decisions for the future do you care about your particular Legacy you
17:14
personally or are you more focused on the company as a whole I you know it'd
17:19
be um disingenous for me say that I didn't care how people S I do want
17:25
people to see me as someone who worked hard did a good job job and did it in the right way but I'd rather have it as
17:32
a kind of halo effect of that time that BQ was regarded as as a team of people
17:38
at that time that run a good business did well and and and led from the front
17:43
and did all the right things and changing the business and really looked after their people and did a good job so
17:49
I think that Hal effect but of course I'd like a little bit to Club off would be and obviously you're doing your dream
17:55
job right now but if you weren't doing this what would be your dream job I'd
18:00
probably want to do something in sport okay and I see sport I always see that
18:06
sport of you you see sporting people but you see the management of the coaches I think my strength is managing people and
18:13
motivating them doing it and I see that is very transferable into some of the sports today and because I'd be very
18:19
passionate in sport I think that's what I'd want to be any particular job in sports uh you know this probably rugby I
18:28
I I play a lot of football my days but I've gotten into it and I like that kind of motivational side in rugby and
18:34
haven't been to British Lions games and seen some of those videos of the speeches by the team captains and all
18:41
that before um I think I'd enjoy that yeah you see yourself as a player or more of a coach coach now my Tender
18:47
Years yeah definitely a coach and how would you describe your
18:54
leadership style is it something that's evolved over your career yeah I mean
18:59
I think it's definitely evolved because I think um as you progress your career
19:05
you you can develop your own career a lot more whereas if you're reporting into a reporting line they kind of
19:11
dictate the culture so for me I see myself as a as a very collaborative person I know I don't know have the
19:18
answers for everything so I know that I've got to be collaborative and play to the strengths of other people that could
19:23
really help me make the right decisions but I know that even in myself
19:29
now everybody gets to the point where your reference points are not are outdated and you know my reference
19:34
points are when when I was younger and what Happ there but I see it through someone who's a lot older and you can
19:41
talk to someone now who's a lot younger and their reference points feel a bit dramatic sometimes but you say well
19:46
that's the reality and I don't see it so I think you need to be very collaborative uh and I think you need to
19:52
create an environment that allows people the space the energy and the safety to to challenge you and so you
20:00
get the right decision because I think if you get tunnel visioned in your own view you can miss a lot some people can
20:07
can do a lot of the right but I don't think you can do it all the time and for me it gives me Comfort but also I think
20:12
it helps me make better decisions like in sport in business there are a few egos at the top of the tree yeah how do
20:19
you manage that yeah I I think you will always get e Egos and people want to do
20:25
things I think for me it is really high liting to that person that that's their
20:30
biggest trait and I think if they've got a big ego it's normally driven by
20:36
recognition or career enhancement and I think if you can convince them that the best way to can enhance your career is
20:41
to dump and down in that and do these other things uh if it's just about recognition you can give them a bit of
20:47
recognition but you can also tailor it to saying uh you're going to see this as a weakness in your yourself if you want
20:54
too much cuz their own ego takes over then and says oh I'm not good at that I need temper it down yeah what motivates
21:01
you day to-day what gets you out of bed and keeps you doing this job yeah
21:06
um I I I suppose there is a bit of my own ego that says we're doing the right things we're
21:14
growing in development so you get a lot of satisfaction of whether it's winning or gaining or growing the business or
21:21
having success I definitely get a kick out of that I definitely get a kick out of um seeing people develop getting them
21:28
promoted and and you know it's a it's probably the most satisfying part of the job I've seen someone I've had I've had
21:35
a young gentleman that I took on board and uh you know we develop and he's now a CEO of one of the businesses in
21:42
Kingfisher and you know made me feel great as he he enjoyed it but secretly I felt really good about it and there's
21:48
people in various businesses that I've been in before and I've taken a risk on them and develop you know one of the the
21:55
people at at risking Screwfix is now the operations director when they were in logistics previously so things like that
22:02
but you have that opportunity to make those decisions and take those risks so that that's exciting I think the job's
22:08
got lots of variety as well you know you know I'm mean it Logistics you're
22:13
talking about physical stores you're talking about Marketplace you're talking about Society you're talking about your
22:19
people so every day you get VAR I get up in the morning and there's always something I end up doing that I probably
22:25
didn't know about when I woke up that morning and and I'm very fortunate I get to see all aspects of the business and
22:32
things outside as well so it's very fulfilling and it's very satisfying of
22:37
course it's hard work but I enjoy it yeah looking back over your career is
22:42
there a particular success that leaps out to you that sticks in the mind yeah I I I think for
22:50
me and and it it's during the pandemic and it says it kind of seems weird sometimes me saying that because it was
22:56
a really tough time for people and it was a harrowing thing and that pic wasn't pleasant but for me the success
23:03
that came out of that is how we conducted ourselves and how we came out of that in the pandemic and it's
23:09
probably the one time where I've WR because I always used to say people look it's business people's lives at not risk
23:15
but they were at that time and you know what if the pressure was 1 out of 10 it
23:20
became 10 out of 10 and and we actually we were classed as an essential Trader so we got we were allowed to stay open
23:27
which we were very fortunate you chin it off but we took a decision to close our stores and that was really based on
23:35
feedback from our customers feedback from our potentially the biggest thing was talking to our staff and getting
23:41
close to them and they felt unsafe and so for me it was a big risk you know it
23:47
could have been putting my job at risk but I I saw it as the people come first and then we regrouped and we rebuilt and
23:54
for me I feel essentially proud myself but it wasn't just me it was a whole team making that decision and coming out
24:01
of that you know it's like a bit of a phoenix type thing how we came out of that and accelerate out of that on
24:07
things like that click and collect the home deliveries from our Hub stores that do home deliveries in the areas things
24:15
that we' planed for three years we did them in months and and a team that really I think we we did the right thing
24:22
took the hard decisions and I think everybody was supportive and I'd probably say it's one of those times where you could say you never get a team
24:29
going 100% in the same direction 100% but I think at that time we we really achieved it and I don't think you could
24:35
re recreate it because a lot of it was forced on you but we try and get elements of that you know the speed the
24:42
efficiency you want some of them again so for me I really proud in how we conducted ourselves throughout all those
24:49
stages how we communicated with the staff how we treated our customers and for me I think you know I was really
24:54
proud that we were held up as a beacon of retail and sets some of the standards so yeah great mly proud with that to and
25:01
on the flip side not every career is is a straight uh straight line upwards
25:07
there must have be a few mistakes that you've made during your career as well yeah I think in those early days um and
25:13
our it wasn't the culture for me and it was hard and I probably stayed there too long because I think in the 80s it was
25:20
round about you had a job you had a mortgage the mortgage rate was I tell my kids it was nearly 14% they look at me
25:26
as saying 14% but and I think in those times more necessities and I think I
25:31
stayed there too long and it wasn't the right thing for me it wasn't progressing my career um and and I think throughout
25:37
things you sometimes make mistakes and um I think so long as you learn from
25:43
them and I think you're never not going to make mistakes and you make career moves and sometimes when I think when
25:48
you're younger you you're very ambitious and you you impose things on your family whereas you you got to balance it as you
25:55
get later in life with your family your work life balance so for me I haven't really got any R Great regrets CU I
26:02
always believe you make the decision that's right for you at the time and you always think it's a big mistake CU When
26:08
you look back from where you are now but yeah that was the only real big career mistake that I think I made I think I've
26:13
made been fortunate uh I mean a lot of people would say you're fortunate in your career but I think you let you make your
26:20
own career and is there something in particular that you still want to achieve in your career yeah I mean I
26:28
have achieved a lot I think for me is you can run a business and you can do a
26:33
lot of things inside that business and I think for me it's about doing something
26:39
I mean i' I've been involved you know we've had the issues of of crime escalation and Retail and I was very
26:45
supportive of the British retail Consortium lobbying the government we were successful in getting that change
26:51
and I think now I've probably got the credibility I would do something want to in the future do something it was
26:57
probably for the whole of retail or for the whole of that thing uh you know
27:03
rather than just the business looking back um over your career again is there a particular bit
27:10
of advice that you've been given that has stuck with you yeah I I think
27:16
there's two two big pieces of advice i' say is one was earli in my career was
27:22
that about listening and but then it's become even more apartment parent as I as go on and
27:29
then the second thing was I was having a career discussion uh with my boss at the
27:35
time and then with HR and and I think the reality was it it kind of hit home for me if you've not got your own career
27:43
and your own development on your agenda I kind of felt like well you know what are you going to do how you going
27:48
to Pro how you going to get on and it really hit me home and they said well we a minute this is your
27:53
career it's 99% important to you it's 10% important to us at this time cuz
27:59
we've got a lot of other people we're looking at and it really hit home to me is um don't be a victim don't look back
28:06
and say oh my God they got promoted before me I think I'm just as good or all that I think if you get into that
28:12
realm you've got to really push your own career but in the right way but be accountable for it and not hold other
28:17
people accountable so I think that was one of my biggest learnings is that don't look for others to do it if you're
28:23
not willing to really push it and get on there you got to do a lot of it yourself you got to have your own accountability for it I think as I've said before you
28:30
know no one can force you to be happy no one can force you to be sad you're in control of that you feel motivated then
28:37
you're in control of that you know the things that motivate you so you work hard to get into the environments that
28:43
motivating you can really do that's up to you don't sit back and say waiting for someone else to do it and if you go
28:50
back in time and talk to your younger self the day before you started your
28:55
first job yeah what would you say um there's definitely something about me
29:02
that would say the socializing uh you know the friends the sports and all that
29:08
I think in my early days I would have said um you can never turn about the clock
29:14
but I think you need to take things a bit more seriously and I think you got to work out the balance in that cuz I
29:20
think in my early years it's that as every youngster does they want to enjoy life and I think that's a big priority
29:26
where your career is in and I think if you could get more of a balance I would have said to myself gram if you even
29:32
toned it down by 10% you would not have you'd have been further or you'd be
29:37
happier in life now cuz I think you can get into this Realms
29:43
of you're you're young and you're free but you just want to live life but you don't really have a plan for things you
29:50
just take every day you know I used to take every week as it came never looked much further than that and I think if I
29:55
could say to myself I'd go back and on bit about you're not good at everything
30:01
learn that you need help and you need development you don't arrive in a business as the super duper manager that
30:07
knows everything and if I applied for a job being Q I was first day in the
30:13
office or first day in one of the stores I was been handed my orange apron what
30:18
would your advice to me be yeah my advice and I do give this advice to everyone um I say come into this
30:26
business you're new be humble and tell people you're being humble because you need to learn the job
30:33
you need to learn from them you need to understand that and I always say depending the role mean it's either
30:41
3 months or 6 months and say I'm not expecting you to contribute I want you to learn it first learn the job before
30:47
you think we're not looking for you to contribute and the other thing if you are going to say that it's like a
30:53
cricketing thing don't swing for a six if you're not 100% sure you're going to hit it and what I mean by that is don't
31:00
make a comment on something that's controversial unless you're 100% sure on your own basis and I think whether
31:06
you're new into a business or coming from another business it's always the biggest thing that sometimes people form
31:11
their own business own opinions and businesses from where they've come I've done it myself but until you've stood in
31:17
the shoes and experienced the environment you think oh it was easy to do in that business it's maybe not so
31:22
easy to do uh in this business and if I'm 20 21 22 starting on the shop floor
31:28
at a B andq Store is there a genuine path within the organization to get to your role yeah absolutely and and I
31:36
think one of the things I think retail is fantastic for this and I'm in retail you'd expect me to say it but you can
31:42
come into retail and you know I've said to youngsters whether it's accounting
31:47
marketing Tech logistic we cover all bases nearly you know
31:53
PR uh you know everything and and I think there an element you can come in here and find your strength so you can
32:01
play to them and it's an environment where it's not length of time exam of
32:06
course you need to get skills and all that and uh I think it's an environment allows you to play to your strengths and
32:11
find the right job for you but also we can help you we have apprenticeships now go all the way up and get you to you
32:17
know a degree level uh but also we've got people in our business that worked in stores and worked up to director of
32:24
level and there is a path all the way to the top and you know we would encourage
32:29
it and talk to me about the culture at being Q has that changed since you took on current role I would say when I first
32:37
joined being Q it was one of those characteristics of being q that they kind of grab hold of you and it grows
32:44
into you without you knowing it's that family Spirit uh and one of the things that I was involved in as a project when
32:50
I got into that train was that c do Spirit was our kind of strap line of you can do it which was really encouraging
32:57
and our customers to DIY but it really became that inhouse as well that we can do it and we can do it and I think that
33:05
family Spirit of that's why we've got people working 40 50 years for us is you do become a family and we get a lot of
33:13
people who really dedicated to this business and um you know there always a story that really humbles me and during
33:19
the pandemic when we announced we're going to open the store I met a lady in a Nottingham store uh who was speaking
33:24
to me and she just wanted to talk to me and say her husband had uh a bit of an
33:30
illness which made him quite vulnerable to the which she said you know but I still want to work cuz I feel as if I
33:38
want to be part of the table and my loyalty and all that and then she did end up working not that we forced her we
33:43
were quite happy to follow her but she just told me the story it was such a strong bond that she felt equally I'm
33:49
not saying everyone's like this but it was really humbling for her to said I want to work I want to be part of it even though she knew she was taking a
33:55
slight risk her husband and it really did humble me and say God her dedication and concentrating that bnq family Spirit
34:03
was greater than mine at that time and we've got a lot of people that got so I think it's a culture and we try and you
34:10
know everyone's welcome in being Q you know gender you know ethnic background
34:16
doesn't matter everyone's welcome in being cute everyone's got a place and if we can make you fit in but it's a culture where you can be yourself
34:23
because there's all that different types of people and they they're all different and it's a culture where you come in and
34:28
you're part of a family we take you in we try and make the best of you if you want to if you just want a job then
34:34
that's fine as well to earn money that's fine as well but it's a culture that does become a bit of a family and a
34:40
belonging uh culture and we try and as hard as we can to make it that open
34:45
culture where people can be who they are talk about what they are we encourage them you're all part of the the
34:51
Solutions in this business uh and we want it a place where you come to work but you want to come to works it's an
34:58
enjoyable place to work and you feel you can contribute and be proud in what you do so uh not everybody wants to come to
35:04
work every day if we would didn't need money we wouldn't do it but what's better if you can come and enjoy yourself you it's interesting that you
35:10
use the word family yes because a lot of people would see that as a red flag for a company because they would consider a
35:18
business is a business we're here to further our careers but our family is our family at home it's not at work but
35:24
you said that with all sincerity that you really believe that that fundal to being's culture yeah I think I
35:31
said earlier you can't separate the two you know I'm putting words in your mouth but maybe even more fact if something
35:37
drastic happens at hold by that and I come into work I've got it on my mind and all I don't think you can separate
35:43
the two and then what I think is people work well when their family's happy their well-being is Happy mental health
35:49
and all that so I think that whole family thing supports that and I think it gives us credibility because we are a
35:57
business business but you know people are in this world to live and enjoy life and family is such a big part of it I
36:05
think if you try and disconnect the few the two you lead people that probably
36:10
I'm not saying everyone but they don't have the same moral and cultural judgments as they do if they see it as I
36:15
want to be treated how my family would be treated or I want you to respect my family my beliefs I think that gives you
36:21
people far more representation in a business that will understand what it's
36:27
local Community is and represent the environment that it's trading in so for me and I just see it's such an important
36:33
thing we get a lot of benefit from it is there such thing in your job as a typical
36:40
day um probably not but I think a typ when a Monday is always a busy day where
36:47
you're in the LA we get all the reports for the previous week we have our board meeting we have sales meting we're
36:53
making decisions on short some short-term decisions on things we might promotions or stock issues or something
37:00
that's happened uh and then you've got kind of longer term strategy bit so on Mondays are kind of busy day in the
37:07
office meeting Monday Tuesday pretty similar days like that and then you know there's no there's no day that's exactly
37:13
the same because there's always something in there that might be a bit different H but that's kind of like a typical day but I'd like to have that a
37:19
typical week would be half in the office half me then time out in stores meeting
37:24
and or external things whether it's suppliers or looking at new sites for a
37:29
store or something like that and looking at your sales figures obviously you know the finances have been improving this
37:36
year um but is there a particular product section that has been
37:42
particularly well performing this year yeah it is I mean it's quite
37:48
difficult to to put it in I mean all our PR people that probably hate me saying this but go on please I
37:55
know cuz being Q could be seen like a big department store and because the demise of the department store but we we
38:01
we're not trading in one aspect we we do gardening so we're in garden centers we do the trades we're up against the trade
38:08
we're we're paint we're kitchens and bathrooms we're electrical we've got so we're in a lot
38:14
of these big categories which are kind of Standalone businesses so there's elements of our business that you know
38:20
you you could say what's the garden products so in season it's plants or it's Garden power it's Kitchen season
38:25
it's kitchens and bathrooms so I think for me there's lots of products but you know we're generally we we we we do a
38:33
lot of building trade materials plaster board Timber and all that we do a lot of paint we're huge in paint uh and and I
38:41
think for this there's kind of pockets of categories where I'd say we're Market leading and we're number one there
38:46
others we're not but so there's lots of products we sell a lot of and I think one of the things we've we've done
38:51
recently is you know with the introduction of our Marketplace has allowed us to diversify into a lot of other categories
38:58
um and kind of my vision for the business is that for being Q to be relevant in the future we want people to
39:04
regard being Q is the thing that's going to help them live their life as a family
39:10
so therefore anything that you do or decisions you make in the home we want to be the number one thought and if we
39:15
want to do that we've got to provide services products that en Visage all of
39:22
those discussions so that may be we saw a lot of kids furniture now online small
39:27
apply es we're looking at going into you know products for the garden and really allowing us to extend that range so I
39:33
think for me that product Vitality of new but also if you can think first I'd
39:40
like to think in the future click if I'm doing anything in the home I think BQ or diy.com and we'd be able to service that
39:47
is really a vision that we have at the moment yeah and you said that BQ obviously in in several different sectors yeah but is there one particular
39:54
sector that you're forecasting to do really well next year is paint the next big thing for
40:00
for I think for me it would probably be that it's not one big sector it's more a
40:06
channel and I think we see the trade side and the e-commerce side being the
40:12
two channels as we call them where we take the money in and they're the big areas we're putting a lot of energy
40:18
behind along with kitchens and bathrooms we spent a lot of money in redoing their whole range in bathrooms as Styles
40:25
been I don't know if you've read recently but there's a lot of noise about younger people bringing back
40:30
avocado and Peach colors you know for me it was something that was there in the ' 80s for me and I used to sell it um but
40:37
you know these are the sort of things where I think you you got to change and you know change is there all the time so
40:43
for me trade will be a big channel for us Kitchen and Bar be big and also that
40:48
kind of online growth of how people want to shop and how they want the products delivered to them I'm wondering if B QC
40:55
is a spike in its sales whenever the new new season of grand designs s um you see that in your figures not so
41:03
much a prr a program like Grand designs cuz it's normally from ground up we do
41:09
see in a lot of these DIY shows particular things and if if I can just give you two or three there's a lot of
41:15
programs on the um changing your walls and putting the decking or the studing on the wall or
41:22
the um there's a big craze now where it's very popular on on YouTube and
41:28
Instagram with the um acoustic paneling with know the strips and all that so we
41:33
do see huge surges in that and we we sometimes see surges on when you see people doing a bit of gardening projects
41:40
and they put it online I think customers follow pave in lighting so you can see these Trends um and but they're normally
41:47
the peripheral things I think the base Core Business is pretty stoic because um
41:52
it's out there but you do see spikes how does being Q State comp competitive on price because critics
41:59
would say that the products aren't high enough quality and the prices are too high what would you say to those critics
42:06
I'd say they're wrong you would expect to but look I'd expect that I think quality but I mean we've always got a
42:12
variation of good better best uh in our stores you know someone might want to come and just say I need to be the
42:18
cheapest I I I'm using this you know this drill once we even have Tradesmen
42:24
and saying I'm using this product once I don't care if it does the job I'm going to throw away after it or they might want a product that spend a lot of money
42:30
and use it use it for a lifetime so you could have that good B best care for all the needs we always Pride ourself in
42:38
giving value for money so even if that product is a good it'll be good value for money in the market We compare our
42:45
prices on thousands of prices with all our competitors and online now mean that gives you the ability you know in my
42:52
youth when I worked for Asda you used to spend nearly half a day going down writing down the prices of your comp and going back to the office with them
42:59
whereas now you can do it from online and check it so it's very easy to stay
43:04
competitive and for us I mean we've during the pandemic and then
43:10
coming into the economic crisis we've had a real focus and that we've got offer value for money and you know if we
43:16
get price increases because the oil goes up we we try with our suppliers to mitigate and not pass anything on their
43:21
customers cuz the customers want to see you being competitive Tradesmen want to see and they they're the first to tell
43:28
you and they tell you where their feet so they're not buy it but also you've got to have a level of quality you can't
43:34
kid the customers because you build up a reputation in quality price safety value
43:40
you you take years to build it you could lose it very easily so for me we always have different levels of quality but we
43:46
always strive to have that good bit our best and our best is up there with everyone and our good would be we'd like
43:51
to think better than everyone else's and we want to be competitive as comp in the
43:57
economic climate we we launched a thing called prices are nailed and we've kept thousands of prices down uh and not put
44:03
them up and worked hard with us suppliers not to pass on price increases and done things so that uh we can keep
44:10
our prices as low as possible and be competitive and obviously BQ like so
44:16
many other retail businesses have been facing a lot of challenges over the last year 18 months Rising energy costs
44:23
inflation supply chain issues what are the major issues that being he's facing at the moment we used to talk as a team
44:30
and the pandemic oh once that's over it'll be so much easier won't have these supply issues and then it was the
44:36
Ukraine Russia war and oh my God that was you know lots more supply chain then it was the SE Canal issues with the Red
44:42
Sea and all that I it's kind of like the new Norm where and I think what it's
44:49
made us do is it it's kind of secured our business and we've Diversified and and rather than have one or two
44:54
suppliers that supply all our paint that we may got three or four so if one supplier becomes a problem you you've
45:00
not got a problem um and I think so Supply we just I don't know if it's
45:07
going to get easier or if it's going to get worse but it's just something you need to concentrate on and be up there
45:12
and be aware of all the time so for me we've not got any major problems with it
45:17
don't get me wrong we get problems every week but we find ways around them or we've got alternative products or alternative supplies so it's a way of
45:24
life now for everything and I think that I'm not aair with all sectors of the
45:29
retail Market but I think everyone's in the same boat and and they've developed ways of managing that as the new Norm I
45:36
think on the economic climate and energy I mean we've got a huge opportunity in
45:42
our sector of the business because the home is what we represent and what we've
45:47
really focused on is that as people may say I want to do
45:52
something for the environment I think what we have seen is people spend money or reducing their utility bills cost
45:59
when it's electricity gas heating water and primarily they're looking to save
46:04
money but you know subsequent uh side issue of that is you
46:10
get environmental benefits it's an unintended consequence so and we you know we've worked hard to keep prices of
46:17
Loft insulation double glazing and you know the the threshold bars see around
46:22
your windows we've done deals with solar par and Energy Partners and solar heat
46:28
pumps and all that really to help customers and we developed a thing called the energy survey home energy
46:35
survey and we did that through the um the the government body that looks
46:40
after housing there and you can come enter a store book a survey and they have the the data to what your postcode
46:48
they'll tell you what your house is you fill in a question and it'll give you a shopping list how you can make your house more
46:53
efficient ideally we'd want you to come and spend that money with us but it's no incumbent and you got sh of how much it
46:58
should cost and what the benefit is so allows people that list done in a
47:04
trustworthy way we feel because the Brand's got trust this in it and and we help that we're trying to help customers
47:10
in that as well but we see a huge opportunity that there's going to be a lot of money spent in energy saving and
47:16
it's a market we spend a lot on ideally uh I would like the government
47:21
as they do with this thing is and the biggest thing is as they' tried to do it in previous Games The Bureau has always
47:27
meant it's never really gotten to the households or they've never spent as much as they'd want to and I think for
47:33
me just trying to make that simpler and easier for customers to get on board doing these things make will make a huge
47:39
difference in the future and lastly what's the future of being Q look like
47:45
very worried now this is going to go in a in a video someone and for me this is
47:50
kind of like we've said we've got a strategy and a a Future Vision I I I've
47:55
kind of got this vision and it is a vision and you know some people may pick up with the future or
48:01
you never did this that but it is a vision it's a North star I've got a vision the future I said we'd like to
48:06
have like a portal that you have for your house so you you've got your house and it's 91 such and such Road you have
48:14
on there you have if you imagine you had the store plans of the house all the electrical wiring plans the plumet if
48:21
anyone's doing a job you've got it the structure you've got mood Boards of things you want to do with Kitchen in
48:27
the future you've got garden projects you've got you've got the serial numbers and the warranties of all your
48:32
appliances on it's kind of like a passport or a a kind of it's like a manual for your house but
48:41
also a manual allows you to manage and run that property but also to the fact that you can go on there and in the
48:48
future you know you can buy all the products for your house and you know I've said every week people spend money
48:54
and make decisions about the house I want being que to be part of that decision whether it's house insurance
49:00
services you know older people maybe W maybe not just older people younger people W um you know subscription
49:07
services that I get my gut and that cleaned every year you want house insurance you may even somay want to do
49:13
mortgages I think we've got great trust in the brand and it allows people to convey with that and whether you want
49:19
fitted services for anything that you do or will you just want to buy the produ right so for me anything you do in the
49:24
house is fair game for us in the future and that's why we started with the marketplace and some of the
49:30
services uh that's my vision for the future that you know if you're running your home the easiest way is to do it
49:37
with a B&Q portal password whatever you want to do or just online and use bnq to help
49:43
you you know people some people say I I say it flippantly I don't but not just manage your home but live your life
49:49
because I think living your life at home is so important you get that well-being and satisfaction and if you can get all
49:55
that working as best it can and I think it will be help you live your life more satisfactory brilliant Grant B thank you
50:02
very much for coming on Bard un covered thank you thank you very much
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