Richard Greenbury
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Sir Richard Greenbury was both chairman and chief executive of the British retailing giant Marks and Spencer from 1988 to 1999. During his tenure the company continued to grow strongly until it reached its peak in 1997 and 1998 when it was the second most profitable retailer in the world after Wal-Mart, and the ninth largest company in Britain. Nevertheless, shortly after Sir Richard resigned from his post, the company plunged into crisis when Peter Salisbury was promoted, practically overnight, from a managing director to Chief Executive. After stepping down his critics assigned much of the blame to his autocratic approach to running the company, these included the new CEO who was said to have a bitter distaste for Greenbury despite the fact that he had risen through the business under the Chairman's wing.
Born in Carlisle three years before the war, but educated at Ealing County Grammar School in London, the young Richard Greenbury claimed to be “The most caned boy in school” an achievement, which he admitted, taught him “The importance of discipline.” Despite an academic enthusiasm, at over six foot, Greenbury showed real promise on the games field and played football for his school's 1st XI and later at county level whilst competing at tennis as well. Nevertheless, after his mother contracted cancer, Sir Richard felt obliged to leave school with only six O-levels; opting to start earning at the age of sixteen and missing out on the university education he had longed for. By a twist of fate this would later give him the opportunity to become Marks and Spencer's youngest director but now, before his seventeenth birthday, Greenbury took a far more modest job at Lilywhite’s.
His spell at Lilywhite’s, however, was short lived. After being accepted as a management trainee at Marks and Spencer, who fortunately did not require A-levels, Greenbury started to show his true qualities working both diligently and decisively on shop floors. This trait was eventually recognised by one of Sir Richard’s heroes, Simon, Lord Marks. Taken under the wing of the founding father’s son, the chairman dubbed Greenbury “Big Fellah”, and soon moved him to head office as a trainee merchandiser and personal assistant to his son in law.
Nonetheless it was in men’s knitwear where Greenbury made his name in the early 1960’s. As noted by Simon Marks, ‘Rick’ as he soon became known, was a retailer through and through. Spotting the trend towards casual menswear Greenbury formed a strong friendship with Harry Djanogoly, who ran the knitwear company ‘Nottingham Manufacturing’, and transformed the then unknown aisle in every Marks and Spencer store into a profits power house for the company, which reputedly got Djanogoly his KBE and Greenbury his promotion. Over the coming years it became apparent that Greenbury was a force to be reckoned with, despite allegations of an “Argumentative and over-competitive nature” those above him recognised his talent; “He was one of the best merchandisers I have ever met – brilliant, decisive, confident” a Marks and Spencer selector commented.
However, after his recent marriage to first wife Siân Hughes in 1959, thoughts of running the company were somewhat out of reach. Though in 1972 that would all change, as Greenbury was made the youngest director in the company’s history, only twenty years after being welcomed by the business. At the age of forty-one, Sir Richard was made a managing director. By 1978 he had worked in every area of the business including food, property and, of course, clothing. In 1984, shortly after becoming chairman, Derek Rayner decided it was time to outline his immediate successor, and in 1988, Greenbury took his place as chief executive. In 1991 he was promoted again, becoming chairman, in keeping with Marks and Spencer's business traditions.
Despite later criticism, when the company smashed the £1 billion profit barrier in 1997, the City sang the praises of Sir Richard; and only in hindsight did journalists criticise his tenure. For every year that Greenbury was in charge, Marks and Spencer held more than twice the clothing market of any other high street name, and even after the 'crash', and Greenbury had left, they were still the only retailer holding over 10% of the market.
Nevertheless, in 1999 his career as a CEO came to an all too public close. Greenbury, who would later describe the press as “hindsight commentators” with nothing to say but “a load of old tosh”, bore much of the criticism as he stood down. One journalist would later impart; "Life has been unfair to Sir Richard, he had forty years of unmitigated success followed by one poor one; and that's the one he'll be remembered for." Despite this Greenbury recently featured in a documentary about the crisis Marks and Spencer's underwent; here he talked openly about the problems with the leadership succession that ultimately caused the slump in confidence as the four possible candidates for the job engaged in a bitter power struggled that stimulated headlines such as; "Sparks Fly at Marks." The downturn in Marks and Spencer's fortune was also attributed to the Littlewoods acquisition that reportedly cost hundreds of millions and was taken from yearly profits. After stepping down Greenbury went on to serve as a director with ICI, Zeneca, C&G, Game, British Gas, Lloyds TSB and currently on the supervisory board at Philips. Though his tenure will be remembered for the downturn in profits and share prices that followed his departure we must remember that it was under Greenbury when Marks and Spencer undertook the greatest international expansion; had the greatest number of employees, stores and floor space; and the highest share prices, share of the market and pre and post-tax profits of any retailer in Europe and, excluding stores owning multiple chains, the world.
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[edit] Statistics on Richard Greenbury's tenure as Chief Executive (1988-1998 completed financial years)
Number of UK stores:
1985 (Before appointment) - 283
1990 (After appointment)- 284
1995 - 286
1996 - 294
1997 - 294
1998 - 300
Sales:
1985 (Before appointment) - £3,213,000,000
1990 (After appointment)- £5,608,100,000
1995 - £6,806,500,000
1996 - £7,211,300,000
1997 - £7,841,900,000
1998 - £8,343,300,000
Pre-tax profits:
1985 (Before appointment) - £303,400,000
1990 (After appointment) - £604,200,000
1995 - £924,300,000
1996 - £965,800,000
1997 - £1,102,000,000
1998 - £1,168,000,000
[edit] External links
- An article on Judi Bevan's 'The Rise and Fall of Marks & Spencer' which documents in detail Sir Richard Greenbury's life
- A letter from Sir Richard Greenbury outlining some of his business policies
- A short biography of Sir Richard Greenbury's life in business
- Articles from Harvard Business on Sir Richard Greenbury's tenure with Marks and Spencers
- An article ranking Sir Richard Greenbury's influence amongst business peers
