Page 139 - (DK) The Business Book

MAKING MONEY WORK 137

Clothing retailer Primark has built a
reputation for low-cost fashion in the
European ready-to-wear market. Its
success is due in no small part to the
opinions of its workers.

his engineers to start a special new
business division. This became the
nucleus of a new Semco, developing
new ideas that soon generated 66
percent of the company’s business.
Semler’s leadership approach
is to encourage his work force to
manage themselves in terms of
time-keeping, work-scheduling,
and career development. By doing
so, he believes that workers will
truly care about what they do; this
means that they will inevitably be
taking care of not just the business,
the time Primark had reached its beyond empowerment toward but its customers too.
strongest phase of growth in the worker fulfilment, even delight. Semler describes his methods
2000s, its senior executives were Born in 1959, Semler took over the in his book Maverick! (1993) and
in their 60s and 70s. It was critical, business from his father at the age outlines how much companies can
therefore, for directors to listen to of 21. Between 1982 and 2003, he benefit from the staff engagement
the young work force, who could drove Semco’s sales turnover from that results. This approach has
give insights into customer views. $4 million to $200 million. On his become known as participative
first day in the office, he fired nearly management. It holds that people
Democratic management two-thirds of the senior management are naturally capable of self-direction
Ricardo Semler, head of Brazil’s team, who he believed were too if they are committed to corporate
Semco Group, is perhaps the rooted in his father’s autocratic goals. And when your workers are
world’s most radical employer. He management style. In the late 1980s, your customers, the two sets of
believes that bosses need to move he backed a proposal by three of goals become perfectly aligned. ■

Arthur Ryan the name to Primark for the
business model that he was to
Born in Ireland in 1935, Arthur use in the UK, the Netherlands,
Ryan is the founder of Primark. and Spain. From 1973 until his
Work should be a pleasure, After leaving school, Ryan retirement in 2009, Ryan built
worked at a department store up the business to change it
not an obligation …
and then a fashion wholesaler from being a “bargain” store to
We believed that people
in London before returning to an inexpensive, on-trend fashion
working with pleasure could
Dublin, where he worked for retailer. In 2013, Primark
be much more productive. retailer Dunnes Stores. In 1969, employed more than 43,000 staff
Clóvis da Silva Bojikian Garfield Weston, CEO of in stores in Ireland, Spain, the
Brazilian former HR officer of Semco Associated British Foods (ABF), UK, Austria, Belgium, Portugal,
(1934–) hired Ryan to set up a discount Germany, and the Netherlands.
clothing chain with a seed fund ABF is still its parent company.
of $80,000 (£50,000). The first In the recessionary year of 2009,
store, Penneys, opened later that Primark’s like-for-like sales grew
year in Dublin, but Ryan changed by more than 7 percent.