Profile: Simon Calver

Mothercare’s new boss has a mantra that could come in handy as he tries to get to grips with the problems facing the ailing maternity retailer.

Simon Calver, the Lovefilm boss last week appointed to lead Mothercare, likes to cite advice from Dell founder Michael Dell: “Fix a problem as soon as you find it.”

At Mothercare he may find a lot of fixing to do when he joins on April 30, but his ecommerce background should help him in transforming the retailer’s multichannel offer. It is a key plank in turning around the ailing UK business, problems at which resulted in profit warnings last year that led to former boss Ben Gordon being ousted.

Calver was a leftfield appointment but positively received by the market and provides clues about the babycare retailer’s future.

Mothercare chairman Alan Parker has promised “radical action” to turn around the business, and believes that the appointment of the 47-year-old Gloucesterman is an example of that.

“We wanted to look outside UK retail to find a leader who can take the business to new heights,” he said last week, adding that he did not want to “duplicate” existing skills in the business.

Singer analyst Matthew McEachran welcomes the appointment. He says: “Calver has a proven track record regarding team building, is a highly skilled operator and a good strategist. As well as having an obvious background in consumer products, he is well plugged into the key areas of web, media and ecommerce, which is an area of immediate need at Mothercare.”

Parker is leading a review of the business that is due to conclude in March – a month before Calver starts. Neil Saunders, managing director of retail consultancy Conlumino, believes it is an odd decision to finish the review before Calver’s arrival, but as a self-professed hands-on manager, Calver is likely to make his mark quickly.

Calver said last year in an interview: “Any decision that is going to adversely impact the consumer experience, I want to be involved in. It sounds like a lot of decisions for a chief executive to be involved in and it is, but when I have made mistakes it is because I have not listened to my inner voice.”

Despite his lack of conventional retail experience, Calver’s CV looks impressive. Starting out a Unilever, he rapidly climbed the ranks of the FMCG firms to become vice-president of PepsiCo aged 29, launching Pepsi Max while he was there. Computational science graduate Calver went on to take on roles as vice-president of Dell and chief operating officer of educational software business Riverdeep, where the commute between operations in Dublin and San Francisco no doubt took its toll.

Calver’s reputation was further bolstered when he became Lovefilm chief executive in 2006 after leading a merger with Video Island, which he was running at the time. He helped build Lovefilm into a £200m business and Europe’s largest DVD rental firm, before leading a sale of the business to global etail giant Amazon.

While his appointment will bring online strength, it is hoped he will influence the property strategy of Mothercare too. The retailer has begun shutting 110 of its 363-store UK estate, and analysts believe more closures are necessary.

“He future-proofs the business – Mothercare needs to improve online so it can slim down the chain,” says Saunders. It also needs to compete with burgeoning online specialists such as Morrisons-owned Kiddicare.

“Heavily pregnant mothers or mums with young kids do not want to schlep up and down the high street when you can shop online,” adds Saunders.

While it is hoped Calver will not throw the baby out with the bath water, analysts will be expect for sweeping action from the incoming boss to halt the dramatic decline in the UK arm.