Next year could be a watershed for electricals giant DSGi. In December, former Tesco operations director John Browett will take the helm as chief executive and he will have to tackle several key areas as a matter of urgency.

One of the first – and most important – tasks he faces will be to conduct a charm offensive in the City, where the retailer has few friends at the moment. Last week, DSGi posted total sales growth of 9 per cent, but analysts remained bearish about its long-term prospects and forecasts of stagnating profits abound.

Having had a long gardening leave, Browett will have plenty of ideas about how to improve DSGi’s fortunes and will be expected to pull a few rabbits out of the hat.

Tackling Italian chain UniEuro would be a good place to start. Despite DSGi’s extensive turnaround efforts, UniEuro’s like-for-like sales tumbled 8 per cent in the 24 weeks to October 13 and investors will want to see a significant improvement at this sick man of Europe before too long.

A more strategic challenge for DSGi is competing with the web on price. According to Landsbanki analysts, there is an 800 basis points gross-margin differential between pure web and store retailing.

Given the maturity of the European electricals market, Browett will also surely have to dust off his passport and go exploring in new, high-growth markets. India and China are pots of gold where DSGi might profit from rising incomes and aspirations of a growing middle class. If Browett is to become a DSGi legend, following in the footsteps of John Clare and Lord Kalms, he will need to be bold.

Decision day for grocers
 The Competition Commission will finally deliver the long-awaited provisional findings of its grocery sector inquiry next week. Speculation is rife that it will not land any bruising punches on the big four, following the damp squib of its Emerging Thinking document in January.

Of all the areas Commission chairman Peter Freeman has examined, the Supermarkets Code of Practice is the one most likely to come under scrutiny next week.

The share prices of Sainsbury’s and Morrisons could receive shots in the arm, but it is at Tesco Towers in Cheshunt where executives could engage in the biggest high-fives.

James Thompson is news editor of Retail Week

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