Peter Williams

Famous for the fashionable shirts that became his trademark while at Selfridges, Peter Williams’ distinctive sense of style brings a dash of colour to often gloomy circumstances.

In the last several years Williams’ career has taken a different direction than might have been expected after he spent more than a decade at the upscale department store group, latterly as chief executive.

These days, rather than in the glamorous aisles of one of the world’s best shops, he is more likely to be found in some of the worst, helping troubled businesses come back from the brink.

Having previously been parachuted in at JJB Sports and EMI, Williams’ latest assignment is at Blacks Leisure. He was brought in as interim chairman when the retailer found itself simultaneously facing a refinancing after tough trading and under attack from shareholder and rival Mike Ashley, founder of Sports Direct, who had forced the exit of Williams’ predecessor David Bernstein.

Despite his involvement in high-profile distress situations, Williams does not categorise himself as a retail emergency surgeon. “The trouble-shooting gets a lot of attention but I don’t just hang out with companies that are in trouble,” he says.

A scan of his portfolio, including directorships of online retail star Asos and leisure group Cineworld shows companies that “are expanding like there’s not tomorrow” as well as the walking wounded.

There is one consistent thread though, Williams says: “The common themes are that I like working in things that are in the consumer vein and that I can have some empathy with because I can visit the stores or use the service.”

But to focus on the business recovery aspect, the Selfridges story has more similarities with Williams’ recent postings than might at first be apparent – it too was a business journey from problems to pre-eminence.

When Williams joined as finance director Selfridges “was Grace Brothers personified”, he remembers. “It was a beautiful building outside but inside it was a terrible state.

“We made it one of the best stores in the world and that for me will be where I got my greatest sense of achievement.”

The lessons from Selfridges have been applicable at some of the troubled businesses Williams has subsequently become involved in. He points out: “In retail, people forget about the proposition. Why was it created?

“When a business was most successful, why was that? People lose the thread of what the proposition was all about. If you walk into a store and you don’t know what it stands for, you walk out again.”

Typically, Williams says, there are three questions he asks himself before joining any business, successful or otherwise: “Do I see that I can add value? Is it a business that interests me? Are the other people on the board people I can trust and like? “ The latter point, he says, is all the more important when a business is on the rack. “In turnarounds you need to work as one unified team very quickly,” he says. And he can pick and choose where to go so having the right people on board makes all the difference. “I’m 57 – I want to work with people I like,” he says.

Williams is confident that is the case at Blacks, where Julia Reynolds has just started as chief executive to lead a commercial revival. “Julia is a great appointment because she brings the product knowledge and retail pizzazz,” Williams maintains.

There is always a sense of realism too when Williams decides to get involved in a trouble-shooting role. “The secret is to join the wounded, not the dying,” he says. “Ultimately, you want to be associated with success.”

In his latest challenge then, Williams must be confident then that he will not have to exchange one of his colourful shirts for black mourning garb.