Profile: Shop Direct's new boss Henry Birch

It’s been a well-storied career for the Greenwich-born Londoner – but not one that has included a stretch at a retailer so far.

However, all that is set to change when the University of Edinburgh graduate takes the helm of Shop Direct.

Of course, drafting in a retail newbie is nothing new for this etailer.

Birch will succeed Alex Baldock, who cut his teeth in the retail world by taking the helm at Shop Direct and has since left to take the reins at electricals giant Dixons Carphone.

“I think if you look at what Henry brings in terms of his experience at a customer-centric, competitive business that uses tech and data to make a difference, you can see why that was appealing to us”

Derek Harding, Shop Direct

Speaking at Retail Week Live about Birch’s appointment, interim chief executive Derek Harding said: “When you actually step back and look at what’s important to our business it’s understanding customer, putting customer at the centre of what we do, looking at tech and the use of data.

“I think if you look at what Henry brings in terms of his experience at a customer-centric, competitive business that uses tech and data to make a difference, you can see why that was appealing to us.”

Clarity managing partner Fran Minogue echoes that sentiment.

“Typically Shop Direct does not hire retailers into the chief executive job, they hire very senior business people who are data driven,” she says.

“They recruit strong product and trading profiles into commercial roles but they want data-driven leaders.”

Track record

Birch joins the online retailer after nearly four years as chief executive of Rank Group, a FTSE 250-listed casino firm that owns Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor Casinos.

Birch spearheaded a digitally focused overhaul of the business, which reported a 60% rise in profits in its last financial results.

Shop Direct chairman Adrian Barclay says it is Birch’s “track record of reshaping businesses to become more customer-focused, data-driven and technology-enabled while simultaneously driving outstanding financial performance” that made him the right fit for the etailer.

Nevertheless, the former Etonian has big shoes to fill – Shop Direct delivered five consecutive years of growing sales and profits under Baldock.

Birch joins at an interesting time for a business that has sometimes made headlines for the wrong reasons in recent months.

A mooted float or sale by the retailer’s fiercely private owners the Barclay brothers was canned last summer.

Since then, Shop Direct has suffered a raft of senior departures as a directors exited for roles at retailers ranging from Missguided to Matalan and Asda.

It will therefore be crucial for Birch to attract and retain top talent.

Innovation

It’s also likely that Birch will be expected to balance ongoing innovation at Shop Direct with shifting its structure to be more like a traditional retail operation.

Minogue says: “Alex has made a great start in terms of using AI and machine learning, so Henry will want to keep driving that forward.

“But the business also needs to be less reliant on financial services and strengthen its retail proposition, so that more customers pay as they buy.”

It has been speculated that one of the key reasons behind the Barclay brothers’ failure to find a buyer for Shop Direct last year lay in its reliance on its credit proposition to drive sales.

“In Very, the business has a much stronger brand than it did when Alex joined, but Henry will need to keep building its fashion credentials as well as its hardlines and electricals proposition”

Fran Minogue, Clarity

As consumer confidence continues to waver it is likely that racking up debt to make purchases will hold less appeal for shoppers – so to remain relevant, Birch may want to strengthen Shop Direct’s brand cachet.

“In Very, the business has a much stronger brand than it did when Alex joined, but Henry will need to keep building its fashion credentials as well as its hardlines and electricals proposition,” says Minogue.

Birch may live in Oxford today but has previously spent time in Silicon Valley working for the now-folded start-up Riffage.

Although that venture was unsuccessful, Birch has previously said it got him hooked on working in the tech world, so it’s no surprise that digitally driven Shop Direct caught his eye.

Birch’s biggest challenge may be making good on the promises that Baldock made during his tenure at Shop Direct that the business will become “a global ecommerce and technology titan”.

The business’s investments in AI and machine learning have been well-publicised.

But whether these bets pay off to dramatically innovate how Shop Direct’s customers shop and employees work is likely to be Birch’s biggest test in his new role.

If his career to date is anything to go by, Birch is not one to back away from a challenge – which is no doubt why Shop Direct put all its chips on the table for him.