Ben Gordon

If it’s Monday it might equally mean touchdown in Mumbai or Manchester for Ben Gordon. The Mothercare boss already runs one of the most internationalised of British retailers and there is more to come. Mothercare, which has more than 800 shops overseas, is accelerating the pace further.

Gordon last week reported another leap in international sales growth and said there would be 50 more overseas shops than originally envisaged this year - 150 altogether.

For the first time, overseas retail sales were greater than those in the UK during the first half. It is evidence of how successful Mothercare is internationally that the second quarter advance of 14.2% was seen as a little disappointing by some analysts - ferocious fires in Russia, sparking advice to pregnant women to remain indoors, was one of the one-off factors that affected performance.

But foreign expansion remains at the heart of Mothercare’s strategy. Gordon, parachuted into the retailer in 2002 to lead a turnaround, saw the potential from day one to build on the 100 international stores open then.

“Mums have the same needs in Moscow, Mumbai and Manchester. We don’t have to change it much from country to country,” he says. “Babies don’t come with a manual. Mums can come to Mothercare and find about the equipment they need and get advice.”

While rapidly growing India is one of the countries at the top of Mothercare’s growth agenda, there are more opportunities. Gordon is reluctant to reveal details of likely new markets until deals have been struck but is clearly sizing up Latin America. “We have nothing in South America. It’s a large and fast emerging market - countries like Chile as well as Brazil,” he observes.

Having worked for Disney Store before joining Mothercare, Gordon was used to a heavy international travel schedule and an international perspective. Disney remains one of the companies he most admires and where he learnt lessons applicable at Mothercare.

“The global vision of the brand and the way it exercises it worldwide is very powerful,” he explains. And the power of brands is at the heart of his thinking about Mothercare.

He points out that Mothercare’s company-owned stores account for only 35% to 40% of turnover; setting aside online, the rest comes from channels such as sales by franchisees and wholesale, including ventures such as the Mini Club clothing partnership with Boots - a new enterprise that analysts expect to become a £50m business.

“In some ways we’re not so much a retailer any more, we are more a branded goods company,” maintains Gordon. About 75% of product is branded Mothercare, but the company also owns the powerful Early Learning Centre brand.

The brand-led approach means Mothercare has to be recognised for great product and design, not just good in-store execution. He gives the Spin pushchair as an example of a design innovation that quickly became a bestseller. In the UK Mothercare has, like other retailers, experienced tougher conditions during the downturn. Gordon says: “It’s not a buoyant market by any means. We’re taking a cautious view and a self-help approach.”

But he backs the approach the coalition Government is taking to put the country on track and was a signatory to Monday’s newspaper letter from prominent business people in support of deficit reduction measures.

Gordon is taking a hard-nosed approach to costs such as property.

The retailer is increasingly opening out-of-town ‘parenting centres’ and whether it remains in some in-town locations depends on landlords as leases come up for review in the next few years.

Reductions of as much as 40% are being won in rent renegotiations. Gordon says: “If the landlord doesn’t want to drop it that’s fine - we close the store and move on. If landlords demand uneconomic rents we’re not going to play that game.”

When Gordon joined a rudderless Mothercare, he had a clear vision. “The main thing is to know what you want the company to do for its customers - what’s your raison d’être? I felt Mothercare was a fabulous concept and there was a huge need for it.” He has not lost that conviction.